Mindfulness Exercises for Kids to Try at Home

Mindfulness has wonderful benefits for the emotional health of children. Helping children to be present in the moment and self-aware helps them to understand and regulate their feelings, develop self-control, and to make good decisions for themselves. Here are a few easy activities for children to try at home from Angela Pruess of Parents With Confidence: 

• Practice kind thoughts by asking your child to think of five people they’d like to send kind wishes to.

• Pretend to blow bubbles in slow motion, taking in a deep breath through the nose to fill the bubble and out through the mouth as slow as possible.

• Tune into the body by getting down on your child’s level and feeling each other’s heartbeats.

• Have a “mindful” snack by talking about the smell, tastes and texture of the food.

• Explore textures in nature; take a walk to collect several different objects and observe and describe how each one feels.

• Explore smell by inviting your child to help cook a meal while taking notice of each smell present.

• Try “buddy breathing” and invite your child to place a stuffed animal or toy on their tummy while they take slow, deep breaths.

• Explore gratitude by going back and forth with your child naming all the things you are grateful for.