8+ Simple, Easy Mindfulness Activities for Kids You Can Use Now!
In today’s increasingly stressful world, we adults can be so egocentric sometimes; we tend to think that we are the only ones affected by stress. Nothing can be further from the truth; our precious children are more affected by stress than we would care to know about. Mindfulness activities for kids can go a long way toward helping them deal with everything thrown at them.
While we are attempting to manage our stress, we also need to educate our kids on how to manage theirs. Stress is not going away; we must learn how to manage and deal with it so that we have the tools to navigate life in a healthy manner. Let’s talk about how to help our kids deal with stress.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the state of being present and in the moment in our thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. There are many benefits of mindfulness for kids, especially when it comes to focus and calm. To practice mindfulness is not as easy as it seems; our brains are always moving, always thinking fast forward. Even children are thinking about the next move, the next activity, the “what ifs” that are keeping them from being fully present. Being mindful is not an activity; it’s a state of mind. Here are some mindfulness activities for kids that may even help you be more mindful and stress less.
Some mindfulness activities for kids
Play the ‘5 Things’ Game
Simply noticing objects and attributes about your surroundings can be enough to bring you back to the present. Mindfulness activities for kids that ask them to focus on 5 things that they see around them, 5 things they hear, or 5 things they notice about their environment helps with this.
Shifting their awareness to the present moment that they are experiencing will move them from a place of anxiety and fear about future events to the now moment, which is a place that they can learn to appreciate more and more with practice.
Take 10 Breaths
Consciously slowing down our breathing can do wonders for slowing down brain wave activity, which will then produce a calming effect on the entire body. These calming mindfulness activities for kids can be helpful at bedtime especially.
Have your child sit or lie down on the floor, placing a hand over their belly. Have them take 10 deep breaths, filling in the belly completely, then exhaling slowly while their eyes are closed.
If 10 is too many to start, begin with 5 breaths. Model this type of mindful breathing with them until they, too, begin to notice the difference in mind and body that this type of breathing makes. You could also use the free Valentine’s yoga poses to help.
Focused Handicrafts
It may sound a bit old-fashioned, but learning simple handicrafts requires a great deal of focused attention. Weaving, knitting, DIY sewing cards, crochet kits for kids, or even using push pin poke art if your kids are a little older, all help many anxious children calm down, and children with ADHD focus. These activities not only promote mindfulness, but they improve hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity and fine motor control, and teach a life skill. Learning a handicraft can be an enjoyable mindfulness activity for kids.
Tracing
I love those wooden finger mazes for this. It is really calming. Bead mazes can be used in the same way for the smallest children. An easy and inexpensive way to capitalize on the power of tracing are tracing printables such as a number tracing printable. Check out the free winter tracing cards, too!
Mindfulness activities for kids using creativity: draw your emotions
Kids have big emotions, and sometimes these cannot be expressed with words when they are too powerful. In cases like this, it is helpful to be able to “draw them” out of the body.
Explain to your child that you are going to release your emotions by drawing ANYTHING on paper; it could be a series of slashes, scribbles, wavy lines, or a detailed landscape. The point is, the child sets the intention to release any big emotion being experienced through the medium of a drawing. It may become of their favorite mindfulness activities for kids as they learn to just let it go without judgement. Conversely, you can use a guided emotions journal to help facilitate the process. Older kids might also enjoy journaling.
As he/she draws, invite them to breathe deep and see if they can connect the breath to their strokes. Practice non-judgmental observance when noticing what they choose to express in their drawings, and praise them for their courage in being able to let go.
Play the silence game
In a world that is increasingly stimulating to minds and bodies, it can be hard to know the power of “being still”. Children love the silence game; it awakens the competitive spirit within and it also pushes the boundaries of personal limitations. In this game, you set a timer while children sit or lie quietly on the floor, eyes closed. It is important that they not only refrain from speaking but also from moving. Everything must be still. How long can your child remain quiet and still?
Where am I now?
Ask your child to close his eyes and focus on the sensations of his body. Then, touch the top of his lightly and ask, “Where am I now?” See if he can tell you where he feels your hand. Try different pressure and different locations, all while his eyes are closed. See how accurate he is and how long he can focus.
What did you see?
One of my favorite mindfulness activities for kids is a variation on I Spy. It encourages kids to be very careful observers of their environment, which requires them to be fully present. Here is how you play.
Whatever room or setting in which you decide to do this, tell them they have one minute to “see” everything in that space without moving from their spot. After one minute, tell them to close their eyes and you start asking questions about the setting, such as,
- What color is the _____________?
- How many _______________ were there?
- What was the __________________ doing?
- Were there any _______________?
- What types of _______________ were there?
When kids get tired of this or you get tired of coming up with questions, a great alternative are I-Spy games that encourage presence and keen observation skills.
Adventurous mindfulness activities for kids: the blindfold game
Yes, this one of those mindfulness activities for kids in which your child is blindfolded. It is best played in a very familiar setting, such as your home. It requires your child to use all his senses in the present moment to navigate from one part of the house to another to receive a “prize,” whatever you determine that to be, such as a favorite nutritious snack.
If you have a regular snack time routine, I suggest simply making snack time a game with this activity. So, be sure your path doesn’t involve stairs! Set her up at one end of the house or apartment blindfolded and ask that she finds her way to the kitchen for snack time using her senses to guide her. Watch her carefully so she doesn’t injure herself.
What did I say?
This is one of those mindfulness activities for kids that requires a lot of focus. It not only will improve your child’s mindfulness, but it will also help with memory and listening skills. After all, wouldn’t it be great if kids heard and remembered what was said to them the first time? Imagine how that would help their school performance!
This game is simple. You make sure you have your child’s attention and you say, “I’m going to tell you a very short story and then, I want you to repeat back to me exactly what I said. Are you ready?” Start with a two sentence story for children under age 4. Then, gradually make them longer and longer such that an eight-year-old needs to remember and tell back a story of at least eight sentences. Here are some ideas you can use for very short stories:
- I went to the grassy park and saw a beautiful red balloon tied to the swings. I really, really wanted it, but when I tried to untie it, it blew away.
- My sister got a doll with sparkly purple hair for her birthday and I felt sad because I wanted to play with it. When my sister saw my sad face, she suddenly set the doll in my lap and smiled.
- After dinner, my brother got a treat and I felt angry because I didn’t get a treat. But then, my dad set the box of treats on the table and said that I could have one after I finished my dinner.
For more stories and ideas, check out 3 minute stories for kids.
Modeling these behaviors for your child is extremely powerful as well; you will create experiences that you can bond over, and you’ll discover an awakening within yourself that you might not have otherwise accessed. Hey, you might even find these to be great ways for how to relieve stress in yourself. Practice these mindfulness activities for kids together, and see what wonderful things transpire!
