Salamander Eyes by James Newton Howard (KIDS)

Coaching Notes:

Pre-Teach: Yes
Focus: Internal
Purpose: learning about the life of a flower, balance and bringing heart rate down
Pre-teach the activity of the first move, since you only have one minute to explore it with the music.
First move: Opening and closing flower petals. Start Lying on the floor on your back. If you are working with the youngest kids; 4-11 year old tell them you are going to pretend being a flower and that your arms and legs are the flower petals.
Start slowly closing and opening the petals by bringing arms and legs in towards your chest and stretching them out again as if the flower is opening up to receive the sunlight. Repeat this activity for the first minute.
If you are working with the older kids/teens, instead of the playful flower image, just invite them to take big stretches and curling up in a fetus position, and repeat. Whatever age, ask them to be gentle and to move slowly.
Second move: Seed growing and blooming into a flower balancing on one leg. After the first minute, you can hear a slight change in the music and you guide them gently to a seated curled up position on their toes. Now, for the younger kids the image is pretending to be a small seed, and then slowly growing up towards the sky becoming a flower (kind of in fast motion compared to real life). Ask them to lift one leg and really stretch up growing taller. Reaching their arms in different directions. Then release the stretch and move to another spot on the floor and sit down becoming a planted seed again, repeating the activity until the end of the song. For the Teens and Tweens you can instruct a simple balance on one leg, stretching their arms and leg in creative ways, releasing and finding a new spot on the floor to repeat. Third move: Flower withering. By the end of the song, hold the flower/position and melt to the ground.
With the 4-11 year old kids you can tell them the flower is now withering in the autumn, becoming soil. Now is the perfect time for stillness.
Transitions:
0:00 Flower opening and closing flower petals
1:06 Seed growing and blooming into a flower balancing on one leg
When the song is done you finish by allowing your last flower to wither