Being a kid isn’t easy. There are challenges at school, like learning new things, trying to fit in, and playground bullies. Despite best efforts to make home a haven, there are often familial stresses and sibling rivalries. Life is hard for kids, and it’s affecting their mental health.
According to the CDC, more children than ever before are being diagnosed with a variety of mental health disorders like ADHD, anxiety, behavioral challenges, and depression. With limited access to care and long waits for professional support services, many parents are turning to mindfulness as a way to help their kids right away. Based on the centuries-old practice of meditation, mindfulness activities, support kids struggling with anxiety, emotional regulation, and sadness. Mindfulness activities can help kids feel more calm, peaceful, and positive.
It’s a big word that simply means being present, in this moment. Being in the present moment helps kids with anxiety because it keeps them from worrying about things in the future. It also helps kids who have experienced trauma, because when kids are mindful they are not ruminating about the past, with its painful memories.
Being mindful is about focusing on the here and now. This practice also helps kids with ADHD develop concentration skills which can lead to better focus and attention to detail.
Engaging fully in life. The ability to be in the present moment, with complete acceptance and without judging or trying to change things, offers adults, and kids numerous benefits.
One of the biggest benefits of being mindful is that the very practice, of being in the here and now, allows you to be fully engaged in life. In a world of constant multi-tasking and living life on autopilot, being mindful allows you to actually experience what you are experiencing, without being zoned out or mentally somewhere else. The experience of driving somewhere, arriving, and realizing you didn’t pay attention to how you got there is all too common. By being caught up in thoughts of the past, or worries about the future, you miss out on the here and now.
By being present, you savor the present moment, which in reality, is the only time there is. The past is the past, the future isn’t here yet. Taking time to notice the colors of a sunrise or enjoy the smell of bread right out of the oven really does add a lot of satisfaction to busy lives. Being in each moment helps keep thoughts from worries and ruminations that cause stress and take a toll on mental health over time.
Improving mental and physical health. Mindfulness improves mental and physical health because it can reduce mental stress, which can contribute to illness. When you aren’t dwelling on past problems or future worries, and just deal with what is, you feel better. Being able to accept things, even unpleasant emotions or situations, boosts mental health and the ability to cope.
Adults and kids who practice mindfulness are better equipped to deal with stress and adversities as they come up. Being in this moment keeps thoughts from a negative spiral, and allows engagement with the world, moment by moment.
A tenant of mindfulness involves not judging, meaning there is no labeling of events as good or bad, and there is no need to try to change things. Dealing with what is, with acceptance, reduces a lot of mental stress. With reduced mental stress people experience less anxiety and less depression. Better mental health can result in improved sleep, enhanced immunity, less chronic pain, and better overall health.
One reason mindfulness may work is because of the primary tenant of mindfulness, in one word: acceptance. When people accept things, instead of trying to fix them, run from them, or avoid them, they relax. For example, fighting pain usually makes it worse and causes a lot of stress and anxiety. But noticing the pain, with kindness and self-compassion, allowing it to be as it is, and simply relaxing the mind, often reduces the stress surrounding chronic pain which can alleviate physical symptoms.
Allowing things to be as they are reduces the stress that comes from being in control, changing things, and needing something be a certain way. When kids learn how to allow and accept things, they become less reactive, they get along better with adults and peers, and they have a greater ability to self-regulate and manage big emotions. Mindfulness gives kids perspective, it shows them the big picture. It helps them reduce negative thinking and increases their ability to have a positive outlook on life.
Anything can be a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness might be listening to the sounds around you. Do you hear birds or raindrops, or the wind whispering through trees? Are the sounds soft or loud? Do you think the sound is nearby, or far away? Do you feel sun on your skin, or smell the freshness of the air after rain?
Mindfulness might be washing your hands, noticing the temperature of the water , the fragrance of the soap, and the way it feels on your hands. Mindfulness might be walking outside and feeling each foot connect with the earth, hearing the birds sing, and feeling the wind in your hair.
Mindfulness is noticing all the parts of every experience, so, in fact, you fully experience life, instead of living on autopilot. Mindfulness activities for kids is all about taking the things they already love, and teaching them to slow down and notice each part of what they’re doing.
This can be as simple as taking a few deep breaths on the bus or on the car ride home, or doing a more focused practice.
In this imaginative practice, kids take slow breaths, in and out, like they are blowing up a balloon. On the inhale, they feel their tummy expand, like they are blowing up a balloon. On the exhale, their tummy goes down, like the air going out of a balloon.
⭐️ Tip: Want a guided version? Listen to Balloon Breaths, a mini meditation perfect for teaching your child the basics of mindful breathing.
Pinwheels are a great way to teach kids about using their breath as a tool to help their bodies relax. To practice pinwheel breaths, give your child a pinwheel and show them how to make it move by blowing on it with big, but controlled, exhales. Ask your child to notice if they feel more calm after taking pinwheel breaths and remind them that they can always take pinwheel breaths to relax their mind and body.
Invite your child to imagine it is their birthday and they have their favorite cake on a table right in front of them. They can imagine the cake’s flavor, the color of the frosting and sprinkles, and how it smells. They can notice the candles, with their gentle flickering flames, just waiting to be extinguished.
Ask your child to take a big breath in through the nose to the count of three. They can inhale for 1-2-3, and imagine the smell of the cake and how it will taste. Ask them to hold their breath for a second, and then exhale slowly through the mouth, for a count of four, 1-2-3-4, and imagine blowing out all the imaginary candles on the imaginary cake.
After they have done this, ask them if they notice that they feel a little more calm and relaxed. Invite them to repeat this exercise, with the 3-count inhale and 4-count exhale, three more times, again noticing how taking slow deep breaths helps them feel peaceful.
Like Birthday Cake, Warm Cup is a breath work exercise that involves kids using their imaginations. Have your child imagine, or actually hold, a warm cup of soup, tea or hot chocolate.
Invite your child to take a slow three-count inhale, hold their breath for a second, and then do a longer, four-count exhale, using their breaths to cool their imaginary, or real, warm beverage.
⭐️ Tip: Explore mindful breathing techniques in Warm Cup, a cozy mini meditation that will teach your child how to control their breath.
There are many ways for children to decompress and play mindfully.
Coloring is a wonderfully soothing activity that elicits a relaxation response in kids and adults. This is because the repetitive motion of fine motor movements serve to ease anxious thoughts. Coloring is a very sensory experience, involving focusing on lines and shapes, the texture of the coloring medium on the paper, and also the smell of the crayons, markers, and pens. All of this sensory focus tends to ease anxious thoughts and keep minds in the present moment.
Some children enjoy coloring quietly, while others like listening to relaxing, or mood music, to color or create art. Music like dinner jazz, classical, Celtic instrumental or nature sounds are perfect companions for mindful coloring, drawing or creating.
⭐️ Tip: Introduce mindful coloring with our guided story meditation, Bunny’s Magic Coloring Book.
Like mindful coloring, mindful drawing involves the child spending time mindfully drawing, painting, or finger painting, which is also a very sensory experience. Your child can notice the textures and smells of the paint, see the shades of the colors they are using, etc. Encourage them to notice all the sensations of being an artist as they lose themselves in their creativity.
There are so many ways for kids to be mindful when they participate in arts and crafts. Some ideas include mindfully creating with craft kits, knitting or crocheting, needle felt art, using foamies, stringing beads, etc. Any craft the child enjoys can be done mindfully and with presence, as long as your child is fully noticing the sensations of their chosen activity.
Using play or therapy dough is a very soothing mindful activity. Some kids enjoy scented dough, which adds another layer of mindfulness, or just feeling the dough in their hands releasing tension, or perhaps even making a soft dough sculpture.
Most preschools have a sensory bin that is filled with items that feel soothing to the touch: marbles, gemstones, kinetic sand, water beads, buttons, pebbles, beans, etc. A sensory box is the home version of a sensory bin, filled with similar items that children engage in using their senses.
There are many ways to use bubbles in mindfulness. For this practice kids will use bubble wands to practice mindful breathing.
Give your child bubble fluid and wands and invite them to take a slow three-count inhale, hold their breath, and then use a four-count exhale to blow through their bubble wand and make as many bubbles as they can.
Glitter jars are a fun and beautiful craft to make. They are also a great way for kids to practice mindful crafting and visualize their thoughts settling. Help your child fill a little jar with water, glitter, and food coloring, if desired. After shaking the jars, they can watch the glitter settle, and imagine their thoughts settling and calming too.
Ideally this practice is done outside, with children somewhere in nature, watching clouds make shapes in the sky. Kids without nature access can do this from a window as well, with their imagination, or through a guided audio.
⭐️ Tip: Take gentle breaths while watching puffy clouds float across the sky with Pictures in the Sky.
Most kids enjoy playing in water and sand, so it is usually easy to turn their natural inclination into mindful practices. You can use a sensory table, large bin, a sink or a sandbox as their space for mindful exploration. You can add water toys, pebbles, cups, funnels to create a rich environment.
As they play, invite kids to notice all of the sensations of the water or sand. Does it feel wet or dry or cool or warm on their skin? Do the toys make sounds when they are in the water or the sand? How do they feel when water or sand sifts through their fingers?
Invite children to use their imaginations as they play. Might the water be a moat that surrounds a dragon’s castle? Is the sand from a magical beach with dancing sea horses? The more immersed kids get in the sensory play, the sights, sounds, textures, using their imagination, etc., the more they will relax.
Like a sensory box, or a water/sand table, kids often feel relaxed while running their fingers through a bowl of pebbles. Immersing their hands in the stones, feeling their coolness, their smoothness, the sound they make, etc. contributes to a very calming mindful experience.
Walking, or moving with their wheels, allows kids to be mindful while on the go. Mindful walking, or moving, can be done indoors or out, and kids can notice things they see, hear, smell and feel in their environment. Unlike taking a regular stroll, mindful walking is not about the final destination, but rather experiencing all the senses that comprise of the walk.
Doing yoga, or taking time to do some stretching, with or without music, helps kids release muscle tension, ease anxiety, and move their blood which releases endorphins and makes kids feel more relaxed and optimistic.
To do a sunflower stretch, invite kids to pretend to be a big, yellow flower. If they have never seen a sunflower, show them a photo. Then invite them, as they are able, to stand and stretch and sway, like a beautiful sunflower in the wind, stretching toward the bright, blue sky.
⭐️ Tip: Sometimes a gentle stretch can turn into playtime for little ones. If you’re looking to introduce mindful stretching, try listening to Sunflower Stretch.
Kids can partake in these activities like jumping or swinging while paying attention to how their bodies feel doing the movement. While trampoline jumping, how do they feel when their feet touch the trampoline, or when they are in the air? For swinging, can they notice the wind in their hair or the rhythmic back and forth motion of the swing?
For this practice, your child can pretend they are an eagle, soaring through a beautiful forest. Invite them to flap their wings (arms) as they walk or remain seated. With each inhale, they raise their wings. With each exhale, they lower their wings.
In mindful mountain, your child can hold out one hand and trace the outline of their hand, imagining each finger as a mountain. As they trace up the finger, they climb the mountain, with an inhale. As they trace down the finger they descend the mountain, with an exhale.
You can find soothing instrumental or nature tracks that kids enjoy listening to. Bonus if you live near a body of water, so they can listen to ocean waves, a rushing river or wind whistling through the trees.
⭐️ Tip: Want the benefits of nature sounds, but don’t have access to the quiet outdoors? Dragon’s Magical Forest will bring the calm of the forest right to you and your child.
If you happen to have a tinkling bell or a Tibetan singing bowl, that’s wonderful. If not, you can use a music track. Ring the bell, play the bowl, or use a music track and slowly turn the volume down. Have your child listen to the sound as it completely fades away. They may want to do this several times, and perhaps nod their head or raise a hand when they hear the sound stop.
For this practice, go on a walk and invite your child to notice all the different sounds they hear, from birds to airplanes, to cars and the buzzing of bees. See how many sounds they notice and then how near or far they think the sounds are.
⭐️ Tip: Curious about trying a mindful listening walk with your little one? Deer’s River Walk will introduce the concept in a fun and immersive guided story meditation.
Drumming is a very enjoyable activity for most kids. Research shows that drumming mindfully, as a form of music therapy, helps reduce anxiety, anger and other pent-up emotions.
The practice of drumming is very mindful because the focus is on what the hands and or mallet are doing, the movements you take, and the sounds you make. As kids begin drumming, they often forget about their worries and become in the moment. Drumming is an especially good practice for kids who are non-verbal, have a speech disability, or those who have trouble expressing themselves.
Kids can use a drum and a mallet, or their hands on their lap. Whether they drum to the beat of their heart, a song, or make a rhythm all their own, kids will feel more calm and relaxed as they practice. Experts say it’s good if kids can drum for at least four minutes to get the full relaxation effect. To drum mindfully, invite kids to notice all the sensations drumming produces in their mind and body.
These activities will help your child understand what mindfulness is and how they can use calming techniques in their daily lives. As children get more comfortable with the practice, they often will begin using mindfulness techniques on their own, without guidance from an adult.
Ready for your child to experience the benefits of mindfulness? Wee Meditate teaches meditation and mindfulness through our storybook world where kids gain skills that will last them a lifetime.
