Mindful Kids: 50 Mindfulness Activities for Kindness, Focus and Calm (Mindful Tots)

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Some of these toys, like the mindfulness bear described below, are newer toys designed specifically for boosting mindfulness, but many “classic” toys can also help to boost mindfulness in children. Split your group into teams (two teams might work best, but you can always do a few smaller teams) and give a spoon full of water to each team. Challenge them to carry their spoon to the next person on their team without spilling any of the water. Looking for mindfulness exercises for anxiety or for kids? Then you'll want to try this STOP mindfulness technique. Be sure to grab the free printable mindfulness cards and poster too!

Once a player chooses their penny from the basket, have them explain how they knew it was their penny. Video games teach us how to regulate our emotions; since getting too angry or frustrated sets us up for failure, we must learn how to deal with these emotions to succeed in our video games (Trunk, 2015). Have you ever played Jenga? If so, you know that it can be a lot of fun but that it also requires concentrated attention and awareness. Take advantage of that fact and use Jenga to build your child’s mindfulness.

If you’re interested in tapping into some of these benefits for your own children, you’ll probably want some tips and techniques to get them started on the right path. Read on to learn about ways you can incorporate mindfulness into your children’s daily routine. 3 Mindfulness Activities for Preschoolers and Toddlers Counselor Keri. (2018). 4 strategies for teaching mindfulness in kindergarten. Counselor Keri: Resources to Spark Student Growth! Retrieved from https://www.counselorkeri.com/2018/10/01/mindfulness-for-kindergarten/ If a player follows one of Simon’s instructions that is not prefaced by “Simon says,” he or she is eliminated from the game.

Blow on your pinwheels together using long, deep breaths. Notice how you feel—calm and relaxed? Having trouble sitting still? To use this resource, simply print and laminate these cards, then place them in a container. Pull one out every day to use as a “mindful minute” in your classroom. You might also be interested in adding some of our other brain break cards, or you might want to explore our Brain Gym PowerPoint. More Twinkl Favorites There is a lot more flexibility when teaching mindfulness to teens vs. teaching mindfulness to younger children. The five simple exercises below offer a good opportunity to allow your teenager to try mindfulness on their own. These exercises come from D’Arcy Lyness at KidsHealth.org. 5 Mindfulness Exercises and Activities for Teens 1. Mindful Eating Next, there are instructions on how to complete the rest of the worksheet: “Sit quietly and pay attention to what is going on right now using your five senses. Reflect on what you experience below.”Each of these toys can capture a child’s attention and keep them grounded in the present—batteries not required! The Mindfulness Bear Mindfulness-based interventions for children are not only feasible, but seem promising in their impacts as well (Burke, 2009; Greenberg & Harris, 2011).

PositivePsychology.com has many resources and worksheets to help you start your personal mindfulness habit or teach clients essential practices and exercises. Keep timing in mind; keep mindfulness exercises short and sweet and plan them for times when your students may have a bit less energy (Counselor Keri, 2018). Video games train our brains to stay focused and regulate our attention, just like meditation does. Mindful Staff. (2014). What is mindfulness? Mindful.org. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/Improved social-emotional skills (e.g., emotion regulation, better behavior in school, higher empathy and perspective-taking, and better social skills). As a result, mindfulness-based treatment protocols have been integrated into DBT and ACT for clients with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues (Hofmann & Gómez, 2017). DBT is a modified form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, encompassing elements of mindfulness and focusing on developing the skills required to manage highly emotional situations and events (Leonard, 2020). Schwartz, S. (n.d.). How old-school toys can help our kids practice mindfulness. Motherly. Retrieved from https://www.mother.ly/life/old-school-toys-help-children-with-mindfulness Once limited to contemplative traditions, mindfulness now plays a central role in many therapeutic approaches, including DBT and ACT.

Langer, Á. I., Schmidt, C., Mayol, R., Díaz, M., Lecaros, J., Krogh, E., Pardow, A., Vergara, C., Vergara, G., Pérez-Herrera, B., Villar, M. J., Maturana, A., & Gaspar, P. A. (2017). The effect of a mindfulness-based intervention in cognitive functions and psychological well-being applied as an early intervention in schizophrenia and high-risk mental state in a Chilean sample: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 18(1). Mindfulness techniques offer positive and far-reaching benefits for both physical and psychological health, including immune function, stress reduction, better sleep, and our sense of self-compassion (Shapiro, 2020). For depression The instructions are as follows: “Sometimes when we want to be mindful we are still. We can also be mindful when we move. Practice walking like a deer. Move slowly and deliberately, with purpose, and pay attention to where you are going. Practice pausing in stillness, as though you are camouflaged.”

How do mindful minutes help children in class?

Jones, P., Blunda, M., Biegel, G., Carlson, L. E., Biel, M., & Wiener, L. (2013). Can mindfulness-based interventions help adolescents with cancer? Psycho-Oncology, 22(9), 2148–2151. While the therapist can apply the following exercises to individuals, they are particularly valuable in group sessions: Consider using the following to manage unhelpful or negative thoughts and emotions and foster a greater perception of control: Mindfulness training for children with ADHD and their parents can lead to significant reductions in parent-rated ADHD behavior, significant increases in mindful awareness, and significant reductions in parental stress and over-reactivity (van der Oord, Bögels, & Peijnenburg, 2012).