5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness with Kids
Mindfulness is the practice of cultivating awareness and acceptance without judgement; being present in the moment. Being mindful means to see things as they are, without reacting from an emotional place. To be mindful of others is to response, without judgement, to the stimuli from the environment.
Having a mindfulness practice can:
Regulate our moods,
Increase our response to stress,
Cultivate empathy for others,
See things in the world without judgement,
Be more aware of our world and everything that surrounds us,
See another perspective not just our own,
Realize that everything is impermanent,
The only constant is change,
Things cycle from one moment to the next,
Respond from a calm place, not from an emotional one,
It’s okay to feel emotion, it’s not okay to act out from an emotional place.
At times teaching children mindfulness needs a more creative approach. It can begin with noticing your breath, or it can take the form of noticing the environment using the 5 senses. Bellow you will find 5 mindful practices for the senses. Practice these anytime, anywhere, with your kids to be more present and aware of the surrounding environment.
5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness for Kids: Mindfulness of the Senses
1. Sense of Sound – begin with a simple mindful listening activity. To strengthen our listening skills, we will focus on our sense of hearing with a mindfulness practice called Nature Listening. The benefits of mindful listening are awareness of sounds without becoming distracted, concentration, and focused attention.
Nature Listening
Sit inside or outside and listen for a few moments to all that you hear.
Breathe in and out of the nose, just listening
Share with each other the things that you heard.
Practice once a day, or all through the day at different times and places.
*Optional write or draw about listening to the sounds around you and what it feels like to connect with nature.
Using a Nature Sounds App is also helpful
Take this a step further and go on a walk today. Just listen. No talking.
2. Sense of Sight – To strengthen our powers of observation and insight practice gazing. Go outside, lay in the grass, and watch the clouds float by. Gaze up at the trees. Make a fire and gaze at the flames, watch a sunset, watch the rain fall, sit by a waterfall, and watch the falling water. Any of these gazing activities can lead a child to be more aware of their sense of sight. Take in the big picture, then focus on a smaller portion of the scene and see what pops out. Share what you see with each other.
3. Sense of Taste – Being mindful of our eating and slowing down to enjoy our food when we eat, is beneficial for the digestion. Most of the time we are eating on the go, while doing something else, or talking with others. Sitting down to eat a tasty meal, quietly without distractions, even if it just a small snack, can bring a more awareness to this sense.
Mindful Eating
Before you eat, take 3 soft, slow, mindful breaths
First sniff the food you are about to eat, take a deep whiff
Next, look at your food carefully. Notice the texture, crunchy or soft, hard, or mushy.
Take one bite. Chew it slowly until it is a mushy paste. Notice the flavor, sweet or salty, bitter, or tart.
Swallow your food and notice the sensations in your body as it goes down.
How is Mindful Eating different that how you normally eat?
4. Sense of Smell - Develop a strong awareness of smell with The Nose Knows. This activity requires 2 or more people. Each person goes around the house and finds 3-5 objects that have a strong natural smell like flowers, spices, and food. No chemicals, perfumes, or dirty objects.
The Nose Knows
The youngest person chooses to be the sniffer, or giver
The sniffer closes their eyes, and the giver places an object under their nose
The sniffer breathes in and tries to guess what the object is,
Say "The Nose Knows!" when they think they know the object
Switch giver and sniffer until all objects have been tried
Throughout the day notice if your sense of smell is sharper, or not.
5. Sense of Touch
I Can Feel It! - Go around the house and gather a bunch of different small items, maybe 10-12, of different shapes and sizes, textures. Place them in a bag and have one person reach in and feel around the bag for an item. When they find it, don’t pull it out, they must feel it with their fingers and describe it to you, and try and guess what it is before they pull it out. Take turns. Have your child go gather their own items and take turns feeling and guessing the objects.
Take Mindfulness Further with Yoga, Relaxation, and the Chakras
Colors of Change Yoga for Kids - A kids yoga lesson plan about changes, our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Kids can use yoga, breathing, and relaxation to feel all the color of change that are happening around them.
Rainbow Relaxation - A guided relaxation practice for kids to feel all the colors inside and out.
Chakra Yoga for Teens - Explore the chakras, energy centers, that correspond with colors, feelings, and emotions. This is an at home yoga practice that has 49 different activities. It is a self-study, independent program that allows teens to use mindfulness to balance out their chakras. Learn more about the chakras here.
30 Day Mindfulness Challenge for KIDS! - Having a daily mindfulness practice gives children the tools needed to navigate the challenges of an every changing world. This 30 Day Mindfulness Challenge introduces the practice of mindfulness and meditation on a daily basis.
Ms. Brandon, RCYT, RYT500, holds a Master's degree in Special Education from Western Carolina University, is a highly qualified educator, and has 20 years' experience working with children and children with special needs. Information for this resource page come from Ms. Brandon’s 95 hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training RCYS, and is approved by Yoga Alliance.
