Marv the Metal Detective! A Cosmic Kids yoga lesson plan for teaching fun story based yoga to kids! by cosmickids1

Marv the Metal Detective Kids Yoga Class Plan This is a fun story that helps younger kids IDENTIFY MATERIALS - specifically METAL. Marv is a Metal Detective - a friendly robot who helps us learn all about it! I wrote this story originally for preschool aged kids, but I find that even the 7 and 8 year olds love it - especially doing the BEEP BEEP METAL METAL catchphrase! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great fun to perform this story - one of my big favourites!

Set in the suburbs

Story script

Identifying materials. (Particularly metal!)

Pose checklist

Best for 2 to 5 year olds

Watch Jaime leading this adventure on YouTube

Character image

Spot the Difference Activity

Things to remember Print out the character pic and a Spot the Difference puzzle for each child.

Bring a pencil for each child for circling the differences in the puzzle

ÂŠ Cosmic Kids 2019

Bring something metal for everyone to touch

Marv the Metal Detective

ÂŠ Cosmic Kids 2019

Marv the Metal Detective - Story Script

We have a very exciting adventure today with Marv who is a Metal Detective! Let’s start our adventure today lying (relaxation pose) in our beds. We lie all the way down imagining we’ve just woken up from a lovely sleep. We begin to wake up. We do a nice big yawn! We stretch our arms up above our head making our whole body as tall and long as it can be. We roll over and we get out of our beds. Let’s open up the curtains. We bend forward, reach for the curtains and open them wide. Oooooop. Wow! What a beautiful sunny day! Let’s open the window. We bend forwards even further (ragdoll) to lift the window - reaching up with a oooooop! And we say “Hello Sun!” Time to get dressed. We need to put our socks on. Lift up one foot - trying not to wobble and stretch our leg forward popping on one. Now let’s try it on the other side too. Trying not to wobble! Well done everyone! Then we go down the stairs! Let’s march - Down we go, down we go, down we, down we, down we go! What’s that noise? We rub our ears. We can hear something.“Help! Get me out!” Who is that? It’s coming from the cupboard under the stairs. We open the cupboard door (door pose) and we find Marv… the metal detective! He’s a robot (mountain pose with elbows bent 90° palms facing). He’s always on the hunt for metals, but sometimes gets in a muddle with knowing what is and isn’t metal! We can help him out today. This will be fun and we’ll find out lots about metals! We help Marv out of the cupboard, close the door and hug everyone at home goodbye.

Outside we find our bicycle and Marv immediately says “Beep Beep Metal Metal” (high on our knees with hands by our faces, fingers spread wide). Yes Marv! That’s right! Our bike is made from metal. We get on our bike (bicycle pose) and cycle while Marv hovers by our side. We go over a big bridge (bridge pose). As we do this Marv says “Beep Beep Metal Metal” (holding bridge pose as we say Marv’s catchphrase). Yes Marv, that’s right again! Most bridges, especially the big ones are indeed made of metal. Clever you! Driving along the road next to us are lots of cars and buses (bumpy truck pose). Marv says it again “Beep Beep Metal Metal” (high on our knees with hands by our faces, fingers spread wide). Yes Marv, the cars and buses are made of metal too. He’s been rather good at spotting all the metal things so far, hasn’t he? We decide to stop in the park for a little rest. Ah! The fresh air! Along comes a gold coloured butterfly. Let’s open the butterfly wings to have a look at the gold (lifting alternate legs, and then both wings, showing the gold wings). The butterfly flutters over and lands on the end of Marv’s nose! Marv sees the gold butterfly and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal” (high on our knees with hands by our faces, fingers spread wide). No Marv! We tell him… the butterfly is gold-coloured, not made of the metal gold. The butterfly flutters off! There’s a lovely little duckpond in the park. We see lots of silver fish swimming around. Marv zooms right up to them (from low to high kneeling) saying “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (hands by our faces, fingers spread wide) No Marv! We tell him…the fish is the colour silver, not made of the metal silver.

There’s a big bronze statue of a lion in the park. Bronze is a metal, so this isn’t a real lion, but a metal statue of a lion. We can roar like a lion can’t we? Let’s try it now with our lion pose! We can also be baby lions by doing it again only this time, only sticking out our tongue as we haven’t learnt how to roar yet! Marv zooms right up to the lion statue and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on our knees with hands by our faces, fingers spread wide). Yes Marv. You are right. It is! So how do we tell that it’s metal? We can do a hah breath on it and give it a rub. Then it becomes all shiny. Metal usually feels cold when we touch it and it’s very hard when we knock on it (touch something metal and notice it’s cold and hard qualities).

How many items can you name that are made from metal?

Time to go. We take our bikes and Marv the Metal Detective through a tunnel (dog pose). We go through the tunnel one by one (tunnel group pose, using a line of house pose for younger or larger groups, or a line of dog pose for older or smaller groups of children. Starting from the back, the children take turns wiggling in snake pose through the line of legs/dogs. Once they get to the front they rejoin the tunnel. Continue until all children have been through once.) We arrive at the train station to catch a train. When the train arrives Marv goes “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide) Yes Marv, the train is made of a metal called steel. Let’s board the train and off we go! Clickety clack, clickety clack …Toot toot! (train pose - in a group or individually). We arrive at the beach! Marv the metal detective zooms off to a tree. He’s hovering around the trunk of the tree and can’t stop saying “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide). We go and have a look at the tree (other side). Marv says it again. “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide) The tree Marv? That’s not made of metal! “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide) No?! Ah ha! Now we understand! He’s not beeping about the tree! He’s beeping about something underneath it...in the ground! What could it be?

We start to dig (woodchopper pose). Folding forward saying Diiigg! Let’s do this three times! Look! Marv was right! We find a treasure chest. The treasure chest is closed (fold forward over feet). Mmm. We need a key don’t we? Now what are keys made from? YES! METAL!! And who is really good at finding metal? YES! Marv the Metal Detective! Marv goes zooming along the beach - he looks like a surfer! He goes all the way up the beach then (surfer other side) all the way back down again. All of a sudden Marv stops! He calls out “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide)

Time to dig (woodchopper pose) again! Folding forward saying Diiigg! Yes! We find a key. We go back to the treasure chest. We turn the key and it clicks open (slowly lift head and upper body). Sitting with our legs crossed we fold forward (resting on forearms to open hips) to investigate our find. We keep our bottoms planted on the ground as we look! Inside we find all sorts of coins… gold coins, silver coins and bronze coins! All different metals!

e. Take time to really look at things. Notice their shape, feel and textur This is a great mindfulness practice! © Cosmic Kids 2019

Wow! Marv the metal detective helped us find real treasure… metals like gold and silver are valuable. We should take the treasure home and get some help learning about where it came from - the coins look very old - not like the coins we use today. Because the coins are made of metal they last for a very long time - hundreds and thousands of years! It would be interesting to know how this treasure got here... That could be a very exciting story! Time to get home. We ride on our bicycles and as we do, Marv beeps away - “beep beep Metal metal!” (hold bicycle pose). Yes Marv! We know our bikes are metal! We head home, along the road, round the corners (hold opposite elbow to knee in bicycle pose), the other way, up the hill pedal slowly and down the hill pedal fast.

We get home, coming to sit with our legs out long. And with a bit of help from the grownups in our family we make sure the treasure is handed over to the right people. Some of it goes into a museum! All of a sudden, the telephone rings. Bbbrriiinnng bbbrrrinnng! We answer it! It’s the Museum, saying thank you for returning the treasure and allowing us to share it so everyone can see it. Oh you are welcome! We put that phone down and it suddenly rings again (phone other side). We pick it up! Hello? It’s the Queen! She’s invited us and Marv the Metal Detective to Buckingham Palace (house pose) to recieve a special gold medal for finding the treasure and being so good at sharing it with the world! Oh wow! What an honour! At the palace we bow forward (standing half forward fold, both sides) to receive our special gold medals for sharing. Marv can’t help himself and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” (high on knees, hands by faces, fingers wide) Yes Marv! Your medal is made of metal. It’s Gold! What a day. We had so much fun finding all the different metals with Marv the metal detective. And we had to help him when he got confused with some things too. We have definitely earnt our rest time. Let’s lie back and let our arms and legs feel heavy as we enjoy a few moments of stillness and peace..

Relaxation

Lets lie back now and let our eyes close. So much of the world is made of different metals. Some of them are really valuable, like gold and silver. Others are around us every day. Like our knives and forks, the pots and pans we use for cooking, door handles, gates, keys, coins – money just like the treasure we found. Cars, trains, buses, our bikes, tools like hammers, screw drivers, spanners and spades (for digging). So many things are made of metal! And we are glad to have a friend - a robot friend in Marv the Metal Detective to help us discover them all! It’s interesting to notice the everyday objects around you and take a moment to look at them - what are they made from? How do they work? What job do they do? And think of the amazing person or people who made the first one. Having ideas and inventing stuff comes from understanding the world around us and thanks to Marv we are hopefully better able to notice and understand metals a bit better. Slowly we come back to sit with our legs crossed and our hands together at our hearts. We finish by closing our eyes, enjoying a brief moment of peace as we sit, before saying our secret yoga code word to finish. After three, 1,2,3 Namaste.

We do a nice big yawn! We stretch our arms up above our head making our body tall.

And we say “Hello Sun!”

We put our socks on - stretching our legs forward one at a time and popping each one on.

We bend forward, reach for the curtains and open them wide. Oooooop.

Let’s start our adventure today lying (relaxation pose) in our beds.

Marv the Metal Detective - Pose Summary

Then we go down the stairs! Let’s march - ‘Down we go!’

He’s a robot. He’s always on the hunt for metals, but sometimes gets in a muddle about what is and isn’t metal!

We open the cupboard door (door pose) and we find Marv… the Metal Detective!

Outside we find our bicycle. Marv says “Beep Beep Metal Metal” Yes Marv! That’s right!

We get on our bike (bicycle pose) and cycle while Marv hovers by our side.

We help Marv out of the cupboard, close the door...

We go over a big bridge (staying in bridge pose). BEEP BEEP METAL METAL!

Let’s open the window. We bend forwards even further (ragdoll) to lift the window. Oooop!

What’s that sound? We rub our ears. We can hear Help! Get me out!” coming from under the stairs.

... and hug everyone at home goodbye.

Driving along the road next to us are lots of cars and buses (bumpy truck pose).

The butterfly flutters off!

We see lots of silver fish swimming around.

We decide to stop in the park. Along comes a gold coloured butterfly.

Let’s open the butterfly wings to have a look at the gold (lifting alternate legs showing the gold wings).

Marv zooms right up to them (from low to high kneeling) saying “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” No Marv!

EV Marv zooms right up to the lion statue and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” YES! That’s right, Marv.

We can also be BABY lions (no sound comes out)

Starting from the back, the children take turns wiggling in snake pose through the line of legs/dogs.

Marv sees the gold butterfly and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” No Marv!

Marv says it again “Beep Beep Metal Metal” Yes Marv!

We arrive at the train station. When the train arrives Marv goes “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” YES, Marv!

So how do we tell that it’s metal? We can do a hah breath on it and give it a rub.

Let’s board the train and off we go! Clickety clack, clickety clack …Toot toot! (train pose - in a group or individually).

There’s a big bronze statue of a lion in the park.

We go through a tunnel (dog pose). We go through the tunnel one by one (line of dog or house poses)...

We arrive at the beach! Marv the metal detective zooms off to a tree.

We find a treasure chest. The treasure chest is closed (fold forward over feet). We need a key!

Marv goes zooming along the beach - he looks like a surfer!

We go and have a look at the tree (other side).

Marv says it again. “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” The tree, Marv? That’s not made of metal!

He goes all the way up the beach and (surfer other side) all the way back down again.

EV We go back to the treasure chest. We turn the key and it clicks open (slowly lift head and upper body).

Time to dig (woodchopper pose) again! Yes! We find a key.

We ride home on our bicycles. Marv beeps away - “beep beep Metal metal!” (hold bicycle pose). Yes, Marv!

He’s beeping about something underneath it! We start to dig (woodchopper x3).

He’s hovering around the trunk of the tree and can’t stop saying “Beep Beep Metal Metal!”

At home, we sit with our legs out long. Some of it goes into a museum!

Sitting with our legs crossed we fold forward (resting on forearms to open hips) to investigate our find.

The telephone rings. It’s the Museum saying thank you!

All of a sudden Marv stops! He calls out “Beep Beep Metal Metal!”

We find all sorts of coins… gold coins, silver coins and bronze coins! All different metals!

We put that phone down and it suddenly rings again (phone other side). It’s the Queen!

We bow forward (standing half forward fold) to receive our special gold medals for sharing.

Marv can’t help himself and says “Beep Beep Metal Metal!” Yes Marv! Your medal is made of metal. It’s gold!

What a day! Let’s lie back and let our arms and legs feel heavy as we enjoy a few moments of stillness and peace. (Relaxation)

She’s invited us to Buckingham Palace (house pose) to recieve a gold medal!

For more detailed guidance on how to instruct the poses, download our 253 page The Big Book of Kids Yoga Postures • • • • • •

220 kids yoga poses, including partner poses and breathing exercises 400 high quality pose images Clear, child friendly instructions into each posture Anatomical focus, benefits and contra-indications for each pose Teaching tips to make the poses work for kids A linking index to each pose

Follow-on Activity (Marv’s Spot the Difference)

Print out the following Spot the Difference puzzle on the next page and hand them out to everyone along with a pencil each. There are 12 differences between the pictures. The children need to circle each of the differences on one of the pictures. This is a great activity to encourage the children to notice details and be aware of the world around them. It’s a lovely calm activity that works well at the end of the session, or as a take home activity if time is short.

The areas that should be spotted are: 1. Rug 2. Candle 3. Books 4. Cushion 5. Marv’s eyes 6. Butterfly 7. Banana 8. Book colour 9. Bow-tie / tie 10. Curtains 11. Clouds 12. Time on clock