Mover Monday | Finding Their Own Movement

Hey MTDubberz! We're back for another Mover Monday! And it's another German one... get psyched. Today's post comes from Pia Brodtrager, a PeaceMover in Europe. Pia recently facilitated a kids' workshop and these are her thoughts! (There's an English translation after the cut for those of you who don't read German)

Obwohl der Workshop kürzer als geplant war, war es wunderschön den Workshop mit den Kindern zu gestalten und sofort zu erkennen wie sie unsere Botschaft erreicht. Die Kinder waren voller Enthusiasmus. Ich habe festgestellt, dass Kinder genau das selbe von mir erwarten was ich von ihnen erfrage. Bei der Endentspannung zum Beispiel war nichts zu machen, bis ich nicht selbst flach am Boden lag. Weiters durfte ich erkennen, dass es mehr bringt auf die Bewegungen der Kinder einzugehen, anstatt ihnen alles vorzumachen. Der Workshop mit den kiddies war interessant und spannend für mich, und ich freue mich schon auf mehr Einheiten mit den Kleinen.

Even though the workshop was shorter than normal, it was wonderful to do the workshop with the kids and immediately see what they like and understand. The kids were really enthusiastic, and we could see right away that they understood our message. I learned that I have to do exactly what I want the children to do, in order for them to be happy to follow me. For example, during relaxation at the end of the workshop, I lay down flat myself. I also realized that kids learn better when they find their own movement themselves, instead of keeping on repeating mine. The workshop and the whole experience were interesting and exciting for me, and I’m looking forward to facilitating more sessions with the youngest pupils.

Mover Monday | Update from Europe

What's up, MTDubberz! Today's Mover Monday is going to be a little different... it's in German! European PeaceMover, Gisela Zeindlinger, talks about a recent workshop she facilitated. This workshop was her first one with children instead of adults. Below you'll find Gisela's story about her experience. We've also included an English translation underneath the cut. We hope you have an excellent week. Don't forget to Move This World!

Meine Eindrücke vom ersten Workshop waren sehr positiv.

Die Kinder haben mit Begeisterung mitgemacht, ihre Freude an der Bewegung war vom ersten Moment an spürbar. Vor dem Workshop hatte ich leichte Befürchtungen, dass es schwierig werden könnte, ihnen Antworten auf verschiedene Fragen zu entlocken. Da uns die Klassenlehrerin noch vor Sprachbarrieren gewarnt hat, dachte ich es könnten vielleicht Probleme auftreten das Thema „Vielfalt schätzen“ zu kommunizieren. Die Schüler waren aber mit Aufmerksamkeit bei den verschiedenen Übungen dabei und freuten sich etwas beitragen zu können.

Mir wurde klar, wie wichtig es ist, konkrete, für Kinder greifbare Beispiele zu liefern und alles so bildhaft wie möglich zu beschreiben. Dadurch ist es uns, glaube ich, ganz gut gelungen, den Schülern die Botschaft verständlich zu machen.


My impressions of my first workshop were very positive.

The children took part with great enthusiasm and you could see that they were loving the dance from the very beginning. Before the workshop, I was a bit worried that it might be difficult to elicit answers to questions from the kids. The class teacher had told us that there were a number of pupils who spoke very little German, and so I thought it might be pretty difficult to convey our message and explain to them what it means to “appreciate diversity.” However, the pupils were very attentive for all the exercises and were really happy to be able to contribute to the workshop.

This workshop made me realise just how important it is to give children concrete examples and to explain everything as vividly as possible. By doing this during the workshop, I think that we were able to communicate our message to the children very clearly.