cover photo by: Heidi Forbes Oste, https://www.flickr.com/photos/forbesoste/15655214702
What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and the world around you. In other words, your mind, body, and the environment. It is when we focus on the "here and now" and are fully in the current moment. An important part of mindfulness is not only making sure you are present in the moment, but having the ability to accept the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing. This, of course, is a lot easier said than done. With practice, mindfulness becomes easier and unconsciously part of your everyday routine.
The following activities, when practiced regularly, can help you and your child to increase your mindfulness skills. Being mindful is a great way to reduce anxiety and help you to find more enjoyment in your everyday life.
Activity 1: Mindful Breathing
There are plenty of ways to be mindful when it comes to your breathing. In a simple explanation, you are practicing mindful breathing if you are focusing on the breath, and slowing it down. A fun way to encourage kids to practice mindful breathing is to utilize shapes. To start, take out a piece of paper and have your child draw any shape. Then, have your child trace the shape with their pointer finger, while breathing to the particular shape. For example, if your child chooses to draw a star, have your child put their pointer finger on the tip of the star. When they lead their finger down this side of the first point, have them breath in. When they continue moving their finger to reach the next point, have them breathe out. Follow this style of breathing as your child traces the entire star. Complete this activity 3 times, or until you feel your child has successfully slowed down their breathing.
Pathway2Success has some create examples of shapes with child friendly directions.
https:www.thepathway2success.com/5-free-mindfulness-activities/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=732017366_29634366_115008
Activity 2: "Feelings Tracker"
Creating a Feelings tracker can be simple and fun. Using a Feelings Tracker is not only a great resource to help kids practice mindfulness, but one that encourages the use of social-emotional learning as well! The most basic way to create one, is to print out a blank calendar. Each day, have your child color the calendar day to represent how they are feeling that day. It may be helpful to create a "key" on the side to help your child remeber what each color stands for. For example, if on Monday, your child feels angry in the morning, hungry around noon, and tired in the afternoon, they can color in the day with 3 different colors (can put times for more accuracy). Angry = red, Hungry= orange, tired = blue (or whatever color combination best represents your child's emotions.) This can help you determine what emotion your child experiences the most, and encourage a discussion on what can we do to prevent any negative emotions from surfacing, or create coping skills for these emotions.
Activity 3: Mindful Bingo
This activity is a simple and fun way to pass the time! Below are Mindful Bingo boards that present different mindfulness ideas for kids and their families to try. By using these boards, the goal is to be the first player to complete 5 mindful skills in a row! After playing with the pre-filled boards, try thinking of your own mindfulness skills that you and your child could use together in your house/community. (Some of the skills on the board require the usage of an activity from this blog post, or the Social- Emotional Learning blog post).
