Narutogi

Tell an engaging story that incorporates movement and wellness for Grades 1-5

Here’s an easy way to share wellness activities such as breathwork, yoga and movement with children (ages 4 - 9) while tapping into the power of storytelling. This was done with students in Grades 1-5 with great success, laughter and participation.

Goal: Tell an engaging story that incorporates movement and wellness for Grades 1-5.

Repeated phrases/poses throughout the story: Naruto – “I am Amazing”, Village – house pose, Tree – Tree pose, run - anime run (bent forward, arms extended).

Story: Naruto’s untold story

Start in corpse pose

Once upon a time there was a boy named Naruto (I am amazing!). He was a happy boy who wanted to be the best ninja ever. Naruto (I am amazing!) lived in a village (house pose) called the leaf village (house pose).

The amazing thing about the leaf village (house pose) was that it was surrounded by a beautiful forest and when Naruto (I am amazing!) woke up, every day he used to listen to the wind blowing through the trees (tree pose, move like the wind), the birds chirping and singing, the insects buzzing and the sounds from the village (House pose). It always put a big smile on his face (smile). He loved to stretch before getting out of bed by first pulling one leg to his belly, then the other one and slowly rocked side to side. Then he slowly sat up, crossed his legs, took 3 deep breaths. And to increase his chakra, his energy he breathes and pumps his arms up and down (10x priming).

Now Naruto (I am amazing!) jumps up to start his day (quickly get up)! First he has to brush his teeth and wash his face (motions to do that), then he puts on his goggles and eats his amazing breakfast!! (all of those motions). He runs (anime run) out the door to start his day, and jumps across buildings like a frog (hop, hop, hop) and around people and animals, there’s a cat, there’s a cow, watch out! Uh oh, watch out for the elephant!

Just like every day, today is a training day for Naruto (I am amazing!), he’s going to learn some basic ninja moves because his goal is to be the best ninja ever! First he bows to his teacher - Sensei Iruka and then gets into the ninja stance (chair pose to horse stance). Then he needs to gather all of his chakra, his energy (wim hof pose). He lifts one arm up and then punches the air with all of his energy (breath out), he does that 10 times. Next he practices his blocking and does that 10 times. Then he practices his kicks x 10. Whoa that was an amazing workout, he feels his chakra, his energy has gone up so much more now (horse stance and breathing harder). He rests against a tree (tree pose) and catches his breath (3 deep breaths).

All of a sudden, there was a loud noise that went boom on the other side of the village (house pose)! Naruto (I am amazing!) begins to run (anime run) towards the sound with Sensei Iruka and is joined by his friends Sasuke and Sakura and all of you. It’s a giant bad snake known as Orichimaru. Naruto (I am amazing!) knows that alone, he will have to stop Orichimaru before he causes trouble in the village (house pose). He wouldn’t be able to win against this monster alone but with his friends and his sensei, he will succeed. First, he closes his eyes, then he gathers his energy in the horse stance. Punch x 10, block x 10, snap kick x 10. With the help of his sensei and his friends, including all of you, Naruto (I am amazing!) is able to stop Orichimanu from bullying the leaf village (house pose). Naruto (I am amazing!) also realizes that Orichimaru was just being mean because he wasn’t being treated nicely. He sits down next to Orichimaru, looks into his eyes and gives him a huge smile and a hug. Wow, what an adventure! Naruto (I am amazing!) and all of his friends, including Orichimaru are very hungry and run (anime run) through the trees (tree pose) to a ramen noodle shop in the the leaf village (house pose) and eat all the noodles in the shop. Naruto (I am amazing), is very full and very tired now, he says good night to his sensei and his friends, slowly walks back to his house in the village (house pose), lies down and breathes peacefully until he falls asleep. He saved the village (house pose), made a new friend and is one step closer to his goal, thanks to all of you.

The End