Mindfulness for Kids

Start being mindful early

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Teaching your kids to be mindful can help them manage stress, focus better, control emotions, and develop a positive attitude in life. Mindfulness can be defined as slowing down to pay full attention to what you’re doing. It’s quite the opposite of staying on autopilot, rushing things to get done, and switching between tasks. In kids speak, this may mean to pay attention to their breathing in order to focus and be mindful of the present situation — no wondering and wandering.

Below are some practical tips on how kids can practice mindfulness:

Be their role model for mindfulness. What better way to teach your kids to be mindful than to show them that you practice mindfulness? Start with the basic steps first (sit, set a time limit, breathe, when your mind wanders, simply return, don’t think, rinse and repeat). Practice it daily with them around the same time and place at your home.
Go on a safari at your local park. Tell your kid that you’re both going on a safari at a nearby park. Notice and try to identify the sights, sounds, smell, and touch (no tasting, except for ice cream at the park). They can range from anything that flies, swims, crawls, hops (other children), and walks around them. This mindful exercise keeps them grounded and concentrated on the present surrounding. An alternative could be to go to the beach and pretend you're both on a cruise.

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Strengthen the mind-body connection by striking a pose. Most parents don’t realise it, but children may already be ahead when it comes to being mindful. When children strike a pose, they’re actually being mindful and in touch with what they’re feeling at the moment. You, as the parent, should make them realise that they're already mindful. Ask them to strike up a pose like the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Wonder Woman or Superman and ask them what they feel.
What does your spider-sense tell you? This is especially applicable if your kid loves Spider-Man. Tell your kids to activate their spider senses and focus on what they can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. This is just like Spider-Man trying to become aware of his immediate surroundings and sense if danger is nearby. It helps them bring their focus to the present situation and makes them aware of their environment.

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Simple games that can encourage mindfulness like:
- Texture bag. Small and easily identifiable objects are placed in a bag. Have your kid reach into the bag, touch the object, and try to identify it. Your kid should only use his sense of touch.
- Bounce balloons gently and slowly using different parts of their bodies. It helps if you tell them that the balloons are fragile and will pop if they hurry.
- Bubble time. Tell your kids to inhale deeply and exhale slowly and steadily into the bubble. Ask them to focus on each bubble as it forms and floats away.
Even mindfulness has its own set of apps. Most apps are available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store with free and paid versions (in-app purchases). Examples include:
- Meditation for Kids – for ages four years old and up.
- Smiling Mind – has the widest selection of mindfulness programmes for all ages.
- Stop, Breathe & Think Kids – for ages five years old and up.
- Calming Bottle – for ages four years old and up.
- Headspace: Meditation & Sleep – for ages four years old and up.
Pause, Breath, Smile (PBS) is New Zealand’s homegrown and well-researched mindfulness programme for kids. It includes lessons that teach students to foster kindness and empathy, explore happiness, develop self-regulation skills, learn the basics of neuroscience, and practice simple mindfulness techniques. PBS aligns with New Zealand’s education curriculum making it easy for students to make it a part of their daily school activities. PBS was started in 2013 for Year 2-8 learners. It’s an eight-week mindfulness course developed by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. The foundation trains and certifies educators from different schools to teach their programmes.

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In this present time and place where our children are constantly bombarded with a ton of information, their ability to focus their attention and concentrate can be fragmented and become inefficient. Being mindful at a young age can greatly help them deal with the constant challenges of daily living, whether at school or home. We have more articles on mindfulness you may want to take a look at: