Career Day Help!

[Fenny]

I have been asked to speak to 8th graders at a local career day. Yikes! I was told that bringing visuals (PT is bringing therabands, pilates ball) would be a good thing. I have no clever ideas. My only tools are my hands! I can not bring a massage chair as all kids are underage. Any ideas out there? Has anyone else ever done this and has good tips? Thanks!

Jill
Ahu Massage & Bodywork

 

[BUDDY]

Do you know any of the kids? Could you get one of them, and their parents, to sign a consent form in advance to be a (clothed) body in your chair?

How about including some information about aromatherapy and bringing a few "sniff samples". You can ask the kids to identify which aromas are stimulating vs soothing vs medicinal. BODY AWARENESS! "When you smell this, what do you feel in the body and where do you feel it?" Get the kids to participate in stuff that has no wrong answers.

Get the kids to pair up and have them do light effleurage (no oil) on their partner's forearm, then light compression, then light tapotement and get feedback on how it felt and, of course, talk about the benefits of each.

Since I live in Mexico, I tend not to think about the legalities and liability, so if this is way too scary to think about doing in the U.S.... never mind!

 

[LillyB]

If you have a little time, you could call some of the massage lotion companies and see if they would send you freebie samples for the demo.

I have known someone who got a ton of freebie samples for a similar project.

 

[Fallon]

What about making a visual display with posmassageplanet.netoard, pictures of various massage techniques, such as chair massage? Maybe an anatomy chart and a reflexology chart. Even some kind of simple outline with bullet points of what one can expect to study in massage school.

 

[Joh]

Great ideas! I do not have a lot of time and don't know anyone in the class but maybe the essential oils put on cotton balls and passed around is a good idea. A little pepermint or eucalyptus might perk them right up!
Thanks so much!
Jill

 

[Magenta]

Awhile back I remember Sherry starting a thread on biodots! They change color as a person's stress level comes down. That would be interactive and they're not very expensive. It would be a great opportunity to let them know what stress does to a body and how massage can be a great preventative measure.

 

[weemundo]

Hey, Jill!

This is a great opportunity for you! I agree with Vita that the biodots would be a wonderful thing to share with the 8th graders. (If you check out the Biodots thread you can find them very cheap and receive them quickly.) Have them place the biodots on their hands as indicated and then give them a quick lesson on abdominal breathing for a few minutes and have them check to see if their dots have changed in color. (You can also send them home with a couple of biodots to experiment with.) You could also hand out a sheet with the major effects of stress on the body and how massage helps to alleviate those effects.

If I were you, I would also bring your chair! Talk to someone in administration and see if any of the teachers might volunteer (and sign the appropriate form) for a brief chair massage as a demo. I doubt you will have any trouble finding one or more volunteers!

The is a wonderful opportunity to introduce massage to the students, teachers, parents and administration. Have fun with it!

Sherry

 

[Polly <3]

I just wanted to thank all the people who responded again. It turned out that I only had 15 minutes for the first talk and 10 minutes for the second talk. I used the essential oils on cotton balls which the kids loved but had little time to talk about much but education and employment prospects. Bio dots would of been great and I will remember that for next time- if there is a next time!
Thanks again,
Jill