Using Massage in KS1 French

Who doesn't love a massage? I walked into a Y1 class a while ago to see the class teacher, and SENDCO, telling the children a short story using the ´Story Massage’ approach. This involved her telling the story whilst using some of the Story Massage strokes on the back of a child at the front of the classroom. The rest of the children did the same on a partner’s back. It was lovely to see and I was excited about trying to incorporate some of these ideas in my lessons. 

In the Summer Term, I taught myself some massage strokes and incorporated them into a finger rhyme - Le Petit Jardinier - we’d been learning in Year 1. I’m happy to say the children loved it! I’ve since used the same approach with the new Year 1 class this year with a different rhyme and my intention is to build up a repertoire which we can use throughout the year.


It is important to give the children the chance to refuse the massage so we start each time by asking, 'Je te fais un massage?' and only if the answer is 'Oui' can we continue. If the classroom is big enough, I'd sit the children on the floor in one or more ovals/circles so that everyone is both massaging and being massaged at the same time. As this is not possible for me, we work with a partner and repeat the rhyme twice so that both children get the chance to give and receive a massage.

I have used massage at the end of a lesson, when I think it might be useful to have some 'calm time' or just because we enjoy it. The children tell me it feels nice and, to quote from the Story Massage site, they’re learning in 'a fun an interactive way combining the creativity of story with the benefits of positive touch.' 

Why not give it a go? Find out if anyone in your schools has done the training, watch them in action and learn from them.  Failing that, have a look on the internet or make up your own massage strokes. Here's an example from Youtube of some teachers on a training day.