Mindfulness Activities for Children

World Mental Health Day is on October 10^th and this got me thinking about the ways in which we can support children with their mental health. Encouraging children to practice mindfulness by focussing on the present and being aware of what is happening and how their bodies feel can help children in a number of ways.

Being mindful can;

• Help children to understand and regulate their emotions
• Help children to manage stress
• Help children to become aware of their bodies
• Help children to become aware of their senses
• Help children to develop compassion and empathy for others
• Help to increase a child’s attention span

Here are a few ideas of simple mindfulness activities you might like to try;

• Twist and Turn – sit with the child on the floor with legs crossed and follow these steps together;
  • Sit up tall, pull in your tummy and make it strong
  • Put both hands on your left leg and take a big breath in
  • Let the air out and twist your body to the left while looking over your left shoulder
  • Breathe in and out and see if you can twist to the left a little bit more
  • Untwist your body so you are looking straight ahead
  • Repeat above steps with your right-hand side before untwisting your body again
  • Shake your body out and then hold it still
  • Take a deep breath in and then let it all the way out!
• Sunflowers – begin by explaining to the child that you are going to pretend to be sunflowers that are growing. Encourage the child to curl up in a ball on the floor next to you and talk through the stages as you go.

Begin by explaining you are both small seeds that are slowly growing and begin to slowly stand up. Once you are both standing up encourage the child to push their feet in to the floor as hard as they can as these will be the roots of the sunflower. Next suggest the child slowly moves their head and neck as if they are looking for the sun. Ask questions about how the child thinks the sunflowers would feel with the sun on their face. Ask the child to place their hands next to their face to act as the petals, invite them to stretch their fingers out as far as they can. Finally encourage the child to slowly sway their body from side to side as if they are swaying in the breeze.

• Rock and Roll – Lay down, on your back, on the floor and invite the child to join you ensuring you both have sufficient space. Bring your knees up to your chest and ask the child to do so too whilst closing their eyes. Both rock from side to side three times followed by rocking backwards and forwards three times while breathing softly. Repeat this three times before stretching out your arms and legs as far as you can and then letting your bodies go limp. Speak with the child about how their body felt during this activity.

You can find many more ideas to support children’s mindfulness via the link below where you will find a collection of activities, written by a clinical psychologist and produced by Alderhey Children’s Hospital, that suitable for different age groups and numbers of children;

https://alderhey.nhs.uk/application/files/9815/8515/7280/Mindfulness_activities_for_kids.pdf

Written by Harmony at Home Limited. All Rights Reserved, 2021.