The ultimate guide to mindfulness for kids

Mums Tips

Parenting Skills

Published on Tuesday, 18 October 2022 11:30

Last Updated on 18 October 2022

Monica Costa

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As a parent, you want what’s best for your child. You desire for them to be content, healthy, and adjusted. However, with the unstoppable onslaught of media and technology, it’s hard for kids to stay concentrated and focused. Therefore, practising mindfulness will help you and your child to develop mental faculties. But what exactly is mindfulness for kids? What are the advantages? How can you teach it to your kids? And why is it so crucial for children to practise mindfulness?

These are a few burning questions answered in this article that would help your child ease anxiety, improve focus, and find calm.

What is Mindfulness?

Being fully present and aware of the present is the practise of mindfulness. This entails being conscious of your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without assigning them moral or ethical values.

It sounds simple, right? But for kids who are used to living in a constantly stimulating world of screens and toys and constant motion, mindfulness can be a tough concept to grasp.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide of activities, games, and tips to help your kids learn mindfulness and improve their focus. Further, to delve deeper beyond the shore of knowledge, you may navigate into the EMOM Guide for Learning Mindfulness for exhaustive learning on this topic. 

Benefits of Mindfulness for Kids

There are so many advantages of mindfulness for children. A few of the most well-known benefits are improved focus, decreased anxiety, and increased self-awareness. 

Mindfulness can also help kids regulate emotions, sleep better, boost their immune systems, and reduce stress. Practising short mindful activities throughout the day can greatly impact your child’s well-being. 

How to Teach Mindfulness to Kids

It can be a tough task to teach mindfulness to children. They’re often full of energy and easily distracted. You can help them learn this important skill, though, in a few different ways.

• Start With Yourself First

You must set an example for your children if you want them to learn about and practise mindfulness.

Tell your children what mindfulness is and why it is crucial. Then start incorporating some mindful activities into your daily routine so they can see how easy and enjoyable it can be. 

• Make It Fun

Kids learn best when they are having fun. Many great games, books, and apps make mindfulness fun for kids. Consider including some of these in your child’s daily routine to help them connect mindfulness with fulfilling experiences. 

• Keep it Short

Children have short attention spans like adults. When you’re first starting mindfulness, keep the activities short so as not to overwhelm them (or yourself).

You can gradually start lengthening the activities as they get more comfortable with the practise and learn to hold their nerves for longer.

• Breathing Exercises

Paying attention to your breath is one of the simplest yet most important things you can do to practise mindfulness. Have your child sit comfortably with their eyes closed and take slow, deep breaths through their nose and out through their mouth.

Ask them to focus on how their chest rises and falls during each breath. If they start to get distracted, gently bring their attention back to their breath. 

• The 5-4-3-2-1 Method

This is great for kids to pay attention to their senses. Close their eyes and ask them to list the five things they can see, the four they can touch, the three they can hear, the two they can smell, and the one they can taste.

After they’re done with that, have them open their eyes and choose one thing from each category that stood out the most to them. 

• The Body Scan

Children become more aware of how their bodies feel through this activity. Have them lie down on their back (on the floor or in bed) and close their eyes.

Encourage them to start at their toes and slowly move up their body, noticing how each part feels. As they scan their body, encourage them to notice any areas of tension or discomfort and breathe into those areas until they start to feel better. 

Conclusion

Mindfulness is a valuable skill that all kids should learn. It has many benefits that can help improve your child’s focus, concentration, anxiety levels, regulation of emotions, sense of self-awareness, and more.

With a little practise, you can easily incorporate mindfulness into your child’s daily routine in a fun and enjoyable way for both of you!

 

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