1. Gather students in a circle, preferably outside or in a room where they can spread out and have their own space.

2. Explain to the students that you will soon be doing a Sit Spot: a place where they will sit silently, away from others, to notice your surroundings or reflect on your day or a certain topic.

3. The first time you do a Sit Spot, you may want to introduce the concept with a story or book (see below).

4. Tell your students that when they leave the circle, they will find their own place to sit by themselves. This is a place that is away from friends and other distractions. Sometimes, a guideline such as finding their own tree, bush, or section of a fence can help. If they have a spot in mind, but someone sits in their spot, then it was not their spot and they should look for an alternate spot.

5. The object of the activity is quiet reflection or noticing the environment around them. To help students at the beginning, the teacher can suggest a challenge or guideline:

• Notice the clouds in the sky and try to find different shapes
• Notice what is going on in the grass or on the ground. Do you see any insects?
• Notice snowflakes falling, and observe the crystals as they fall on your clothing.
• Listen to the different sounds in your schoolyard or neighbourhood.
• Staying still enough that creatures (squirrels, birds, butterflies etc.) will come close to your spot.
• Listen to the wind blowing through trees, branches, or leaves, if it is a windy day.
• Notice the patterns in the bark of nearby trees, in leaves laying on the ground, in other objects close to your Sit Spot.
• Notice what the ground feels like under your body.
• Notice what different smells are in the air today.

6. Before leaving for their Sit Spot, let the students know what the signal will be to indicate the end of Sit Spot time. Students will then join hands in the circle, raise arms over their heads, and let out any sillies, yells, or noises that have been bottled up inside. As the group lowers their hands, the veil of silence descends, and there will be no other talking until the end of Sit Spot is signalled. Students will then silently go off to find their Sit Spots.

7. Depending on the group, you may want to start with a 5 minute Sit Spot time, gradually moving up to a 10 to 15 minute Sit Spot time.

8. After the signal to end Sit Spot time, students will silently gather back to the circle, join hands, and lift the veil of silence. It is a good opportunity to hold a community sharing circle at this time, an opportunity for students to share what they saw, they heard, experienced, felt, or thought about.