How to calm kids after recess?

Playing relaxing music is incredibly powerful, especially when little minds need some quiet time. Researchers have found that when playing relaxing music in the classroom, the music lowers students’ blood pressure, reduces muscle tension, slows down the heart rate and increases their attention span. Simply head to YouTube and search for ‘relaxing music for children’. Colouring-in is a low-stress activity that allows students to focus, calm down and release their creative potential. To add another element of relaxation, I would still have quiet music playing in the background. Breathing exercises are another powerful tool that can be taught to children to empower them to self-regulate their emotions. Encouraging children to sit quietly and focus on their breathing is a quick and easy way to calm your students after lunch. Let your students relax and listen to a story, encourage them to visualise what is happening in the story. Allow them time to unwind and focus on something different. It’s amazing how just one story can assist students to calm down. Dim the lights, in my class, I had the lights dimmed or off and had classical music playing.

In my classroom, we happen to transition from lunch right back to the classroom. Before moving onto grabbing our math workbooks, we "Rest and Digest." During this time, students are still and quiet. The lights are off as they grab a drink of water, make their way back to their seats, and settle in. I usually play soothing music or nature sounds from a YouTube video while students are making their way in, and all the while as their sitting at their seats. Using whatever materials students have easy access to, they can simply doodle. This is literally no prep on your part, reading while resting is an effective way for many students to calm down. Teaching children to control their breathing gives them the ability to focus, it also helps instill self-control, many deep breathing exercises can be explicitly taught, deep "belly breathing" is a great place to start. If transitioning from RECESS back to the classroom is what you want to focus on, you can check out the companion to Rest and Digest, Rest and Reflect.