Ten Simple Mindfulness Activities For Kids
Ask any parent if they’d like their child to be able to focus their attention on a task without distraction, calm themselves down when they are anxious or angry, or be kind to other children, and the answer would be a resounding yes! Mindfulness offers all these benefits and more, and can provide our children with valuable tools to help them deal with the many challenges they face growing up. Not only that, habits formed in early life shape the behaviours we adopt in adulthood. Starting at a young age with simple mindfulness activities that are kid-friendly can give our children the habit of caring for their mental health throughout their life.
The benefits of mindfulness for kids
Mindfulness gives children the tools to focus their minds on the task at hand without constantly getting distracted. It can help them deal with tough emotions and steady their impulses, helping them to hit pause, calm down and respond in a thoughtful way in situations where they need to make a choice.
Mindfulness also helps to develop valuable life skills such as the ability to regulate emotions, manage stress and improve performance. It can also lead to other qualities including empathy, kindness and compassion. It helps children to notice the positives, and develop a sense of appreciation, gratitude and contentment.
While it might be a bit much to expect kids to sit down quietly and meditate for 20 minutes every day, there are plenty of other kid-friendly activities that can help them flex their mindfulness muscles. Mindfulness training for children starts with learning focusing skills. When we learn to focus on just one thing, like taste, sound or our own breath, our mind calms down and its ability to focus grows stronger.
Here’s 10 simple mindfulness activities you can do with children:
10 Simple Mindfulness Activities For Kids
Take a mindful walk. The body is always in the present moment, even when your mind is wandering all over the place. Help your mind join your body in the present moment by paying attention to the physical sensations experienced when you go for a walk. Notice the feel of the air, sun or rain on your face, and the feel of the ground underneath your feet. Notice how your feet hit the ground, and how short or long your steps are. Pay attention to your breathing.
Cook a meal together or bake. Activities that require our focus and attention are great for helping us be “in the now”. Notice the different smells and textures of of the ingredients. Notice how they change as you prepare and cook with them. Pay attention to every detail as you weigh, peel, chop, crush, knead, stir, fold, sift and mix. Taste the final product. Notice the flavours and textures.
Squeeze and relax the muscles in your body. This can be done any time but can be a great way of helping kids relax their body for sleep when they get into bed. You can lie with them and do it together. Start with the feet and work up through the body. Tense each muscle and hold it for five seconds, then relax. Repeat with all the muscles in your legs and arms, noticing how your body feels after each one.
Play the Gratitude Game. This is great to play as a family when you are having dinner. Go around taking it in turns to say something that you are grateful for, for as long as you can. Practising gratitude is a great mindfulness exercise as you can’t feel grateful without focusing on your present moment feelings.
Press the pause button. When kids emotions threaten to boil over, take ten deep breaths together, focusing attention on the breath as it enters and leaves the body. The deep breathing has a calming effect on the central nervous system, and taking a few moments helps to avoid reacting in the heat of the moment. At the end of the ten breaths, move forward together with awareness into the next moment.
Dissect your music. Listen to some music together. As you go through each song, notice the voice and tone of the singer. Pay attention to the words. Can you make out all the lyrics? What is the song about? Notice the beat and rhythm of the music. How many different instruments can you hear? As you move between songs, notice how each one makes you feel.
Head outside and take a nature bath. Immersing ourselves in nature can increase our awareness and humble appreciation of the connectivity of all life on earth, and our place within it. Begin by getting everyone to put their hands on the trunk of a tree - or you can hug it if you like! How does it feel? Take a leaf and rub it between your fingers. Notice the texture and the smell. Bend down and feel the earth between your fingers. Notice the bugs and insects. Look up to the sky. Notice the birds, the clouds, the changing light of the sun and the wind in the trees. Take a few moments to marvel at the wonder that is our universe.
Zoom out. When problems and worries are bothering kids, take them on a trip of a different kind. Get them to close their eyes, and visualise the room they are in. Then guide them to zoom out and lift up into the air so they are looking down at their house from above. Zoom out even further, so they can see the rest of the street. A bit higher and maybe they can see the local soccer fields or the skate park. Zoom out even further, and visualise green hills, blue oceans and clouds so close you can touch them. Guide them to visualise holding their worries and problems in their hands, and putting them onto a nearby cloud. Then watching that cloud float away. Guide them back into the room feeling more peaceful and calm.
Listen near and far. When nerves or anxiety appear, focusing for a few moments on what you can hear can help take your mind off things and calm you down. Begin by focusing first on the sounds you can hear close by. Then after a few moments, switch your attention to the sounds that you can hear far away. How many different sounds can you hear? Are they continuous or intermittent? Low or high-pitched? Mindfulness is training your mind to focus on whatever you choose, and can be a powerful tool in helping relieve anxiety and stress.
Find silver linings. Whenever things don’t go according to plan, use it as an exercise to find the silver linings in the situation. This helps us to mindfully cultivate acceptance, gratitude and peace.
Mindfulness is a powerful tool for managing stress and finding joy in life. And although this is true for everyone, mums particularly can benefit greatly from living more mindfully. We run a 7 Day Mindfulness Experience which will show you how achievable it is for even the busiest mums to live more mindfully. With rich content, videos, and features, along with easily actionable tips and tasks delivered via daily text messages, the 7 Day Experience will equip you with a range of both formal and informal mindfulness techniques and practical ways that you can apply to your everyday life. Join us HERE.