Rest, Rights and Participation

Every year I find myself deep in conversation with teaching teams about the role of rest and relaxation in the classroom. It informs a very important part of our Responsive Routines Program at KGlearning. Values and practices can vary enormously - from all children lying quietly on a bed with a book for 30 minutes, to more flexible approaches that engage in intentional experiences designed to support body awareness, slow movement or quiet energy.

There can sometimes be a real divide and tension in perspectives, practices and values and it often leaves me asking:

• What are we really trying to teach here - compliance or genuinely useful life strategies?

• What is the purpose of rest and relaxation? Is it more than a holding pattern for educators to get jobs done?

• What choices do children genuinely have?

• Do we listen to children - I mean, really, really listen and hear them?

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) reminds us that children have the right to express their views in matters that affect them, and for those views to be taken seriously.

Participation is not a “nice extra” reserved for the 'formal curriculum', it is a fundamental right that crosses boarders into the care component of curriculum. It deserves to be woven through every part of the day.

When we genuinely involve children in decisions about their wellbeing, we honour their competence and leave room for a responsive curriculum that contributes to the holistic nature of the child and what it means to be human. We invest in the longer pedagogical view - recognising that the art of connecting the mind and body, shifting across different states of energy, takes time, practice, and scaffolding.

When we move beyond viewing rest and relaxation as simply a routine or a transition to the next part of the day, we begin to see and care for its deeper value. Relaxation becomes something meaningful and is deeply connected to our sense of wellbeing so conversations in this space are critical to be having with children. Children bring such thoughtful, creative and unique ideas that are worthy of engaging like these ones from 4 year olds at The Learning Space Early Childhood Centre below:

“Lying on the yoga mat feels like my body is breathing, it makes us feel quiet afterwards, in our legs.” “[When we’re lying on mats], it helps our body to fix itself”. (Offi)

“Relaxing is good for us like stretching and having a rest. If I don’t rest, it makes my body angry and want to go back home. When I wake up in the morning I always stretch.” (Juno)

“My body says if I don’t [rest] it will make me crazy, my whole body. My head tells me I’m feeling excited, and I want to play but I can’t sleep.” (Octavian)

“Resting gives you more energy to play. I like to read a book and snuggle up. We can read and by yourself.” (Booker)

In these four contributions alone, we see children drawing on familiar strategies from home, reflecting deeply on their own needs, and offering rich, lived insights. The language of energy and emotion sits alongside the strategies of stretching and breathing - such powerful possibilities emerge in designing a relaxation curriculum don't you think?

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Case Study: Learning Tai Chi - the Art of Slow Movement

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/8599d0_be8224015c144e989121b5f8ff8ae8a6/720p/mp4/file.mp4

I remember when my own son, Caleb, was in 3 year old kindergarten. For several days, as we arrived, he would declare, “I don’t want to do rest today.” After hearing this repeatedly and reflecting more deeply on what “rest” was communicating to children, the team decided to introduce small groups for relaxation that involved different opportunities such as movement, art experiences, oral stroytelling, quiet games etc.

Caleb soon came home eager to teach me Tai Chi which he opted to be part of - he learnt slow, intentional movements for his body. In the above video you can hear him at home teaching me “Waves in, waves out,”, completely captivated by all the ideas of slow movement. It was clear this approach suited him far better than the whole group rest approach. Movement supported his body and energy in ways that stillness and silence did not. Learning to slow his body through movement became a strategy he still remembers, even ten years on – what a lasting gift this has been. Rest does not look the same for every child.

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The Ladder of Participation

Roger Hart’s Ladder of Participation (1992) offers a framework to help us reflect on how genuinely children are involved in decision-making. The ladder includes eight rungs, moving from non-participation to meaningful engagement.

At the bottom are forms of non-participation - manipulation, decoration and tokenism. These are situations where children may appear involved, but have little real understanding, influence or choice.

As we move up the ladder, participation becomes more authentic. Children may be consulted and informed, or adults may initiate experiences while sharing decision-making with children.

At the highest rungs, children initiate and direct experiences themselves, or share decisions with adults in genuinely collaborative ways.

Hart’s message is not that every situation must sit at the top rung. Rather, participation should be genuine, transparent and influential. Children should understand their role, have a voice, and, where possible, have real influence. (Read more about agreements here)

In the context of rest and relaxation, this means taking the time to unpack what relaxation might mean, what it feels like, and what it might look like alongside children. It involves allowing this shared exploration to unfold over time AND for it to then inform the varied and responsive approaches we design in our curriculum. We are invited to be intentional about the language we use when making connections between mind, body and rest so that children connect easily to the message and practice of relaxation. These prompts might be useful for you team in considering the type of language you use for relaxation:

• What might slow movement look and feel like in your body?

• Let’s pause and notice the energy our body has right now.

• How does your body show you it is becoming quiet?

• What does your body feel like when it is peaceful?

• How does your body show calm?

Language is such an important bridge to helping children notice, name, and understand the connection between their mind, body, and emotional states. When we share the same langauge and connect it to practice as a team children are able to seamlessly enter the learning exchange. What is the language of rest and relaxation in your setting, and whose voices are shaping it?

Lets Talk Tensions

There are plenty of tensions too of course, here are 7 that I have regularly come across when engaging in pedagogical discussions around rest and relaxation:

• Managing larger groups often leads to reliance on whole-group routines, limiting individualised approaches to rest.

• Established practices - “we’ve always done it this way” - can keep teams anchored in routine, making it harder to notice missed opportunities for more responsive approaches.

• Reduced staffing during breaks can make responsive, personalised support difficult.

• Limited planning time restricts the ability to design intentional relaxation experiences.

• Balancing regulations, duty of care, and individual needs can create uncertainty in practice.

• A lack of confidence or clarity in translating policy into practice can make it difficult to uphold children’s agency while also responding to family expectations.

• Differing expectations within teams and with families can add tension to how rest is approached.

Perhaps these tensions might offer you a springboard for braver conversations that engage advocacy for children and their rights to a context that is responsive, respectful, and inclusive of their perspectives.

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The Learning Space – Preston (Case Study)

Jen and Amy co-teach in a 3-5 year old kindergarten group (26 children a day) in a long day environment and share their reflections on relaxation and the shift in approach they have undertaken as a team this year – moving from a whole group to a more responsinve approach that has included an ongoing discussion with children as they co-construct a meaningful relaxation curriculum.

Jen's Reflections:

As educators we understand how important it is for our children to have a pause for rest at some point in the day. Nothing makes me feel more uncomfortable though, than children being herded into resting on mats as a whole group, with one book to read over and over, whilst being shushed into silence. At the beginning of the year as our new team came together this was a topic that we all had varying perspectives on, and it ignited a frank discussion. For me, rest times need to be reflective of children’s choices and needs. I can’t imagine anything worse on my lunch breaks than not being able to choose what I want to do to relax. I used to have a colleague who needed to go for a walk every day at lunch, whereas my mind needs me to read a book or do some drawing. Just like us, children have different needs. Trying to fit these into the prescribed idea of rest that often happens in early childhood settings, is not going to help children to unwind or reset with any meaningful effect.

What we found as we unpacked relaxation times alongside children, was that the children began to enjoy our relaxation rituals and the learning was flying 'higher' than the routine aspect of it. They enjoyed trying yoga and pilates so much that they started to run the sessions for us and become the teachers; some children did yoga before sleeping so that it became part of their transition to rest.

Suddenly we found that these rituals offered opportunities to make connections with children in slower moments, like storytelling or even building cubbies for their own resting space. Children that didn’t often want to sit and draw would gladly find a spot on the mat to journal in solace for a few moments.

We know that sometimes our bodies need a little physical preparation to help the mental preparation and there’s no reason we shouldn’t apply that to how children transition to relax too! This has led us to the understanding that rest is a process and not a destination.

Amy's Reflections :

After being in the world of early childhood education for a while now I have found my belief in the value of rest has developed and evolved over the years, I see how much it supports children to fully engage in a program and learning when they have time during the day to participate and practice in ways that matter to them. At the beginning of this year our team engaged a radical discussion around rest, we each voiced how important it was to have children's involvement and to offer choice. So we started with with this joint value in mind which lead us to re-introduce more of a structure around rest and relaxation time. It quickly became clear that the way we were doing it just wasn’t working, we could see the barriers we faced by having the whole group work as one (well at least thats what we tried), we had to face the fact that this just did not embody our value about children being able to share their perspectives.

So, we focused on changing things up, involving the children more fully in this part of their day and bringing rest and relaxation time to a place that focused on a variety fo menaingful startegies that children would not only enjoy but give them choice . We began to experiment, ask questions and gather data on the ways children wanted to rest and relax, what makes them feel comfortable, and the spaces they choose to relax within.

After many discussions in meetings and small groups we came to a decision, this needed to be more visual. The wellness wheel was born; our kinder community got together and began creating a wheel where they could collate their ideas and choices. We regularly found small group experiences to stop and pause and to show each other what possibilities for rest there were, “it needs real pictures too” Liam suggested of our wheel documentation, so we moved around our space collecting images to add too.

Once this was under way it became a living piece of documentation that the children continue to add to and reflect upon. It has created a way to make visible all the options our space has for rest and relaxation and made choices more accessible. It truly amplified that we do not want a one size fits all approach and this is achievable when we include children in that decision making process. As Juno said:

“I can’t decide today but the wheel helps me and now I want to do yoga and read a book together”.

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When we move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches, we begin to see relaxation for what it

can be: a dynamic, responsive process co-constructed with children, not thrust upon them as a routine. Children's insights are and can be the foundation of our planning and curriculum.

This work is not without tension. It asks us to challenge the norms, rethink structures, and sit with uncertainty. But it also opens the door to richer relationships, more meaningful learning, and practices that genuinely support wellbeing.

We must be willing to critically reflect and ask ourselves deeper questions around relaxation:

Are we simply engaging in cosmetic listening with children or do we genuinely give them a voice which results in shared power and collaborative decision making?

Love to hear your thoughts?

Want to research further.... here are some links and connections

• National Quality Standards 1.1.3 and 2.1.1

• Rituals for relaxation by Toni Christie purchase the Rituals Book Here

• Children's perspective on relaxation by Gowrie QLD

• How to relax when you need to relax - Mayo Clinic - this relates to anxiety and relaxation but great language and suggestions in here.