Mindfulness is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. Some schools are opting to teach mindfulness as a part of their lesson plans. When linked to social-emotional learning, mindfulness helps children learn to focus, channel their emotions and deal with them in a healthy manner. With the transition from virtual school to returning to the classroom, some children may experience heightened emotions.
Children can display their emotions in many ways. From acting out to reverting to silence and shutting out the world. Some might be vocal while others might cry — either way children are telling you how they feel. Here are some mindfulness games that can help calm your child down.
Anxious or angry?
Blowing bubbles
Adults are often taught to take deep breaths to help with anxiety or stress. Well, blowing bubbles is the children’s versions of deep breathing. Have them pick out their favorite color bubble bottle and on your count take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. After three to four times, calmness will take over.
Rock-a-bye baby
The chance of a child falling asleep after this exercise is high. Have them grab their favorite stuffed animal and lay on the ground. Place the stuffed animal on their belly and have them close their eyes. The next step is to take a deep breath in and out — slowly, so the animal doesn’t fall off their belly. This will help them focus the anger or anxiety into something else while implementing deep breathing techniques.
To regain focus
Whether it’s one child or a classroom full of kids, getting them to focus can be a struggle. There are a few fun exercises that can happen at any moment during the day to help refocus their attention back to you or the task at hand.
The balancing act
Get in a circle if there’s more than one child, or just stand facing one another. Have them mimic your movement as you slowly balance on one foot then switch to the other. To make the game more fun, introduce a prize at the end, maybe a few more minutes of play time at school, or letting them pick a movie for movie night at home. This exercise not only helps them focus on their balance but on the prize at the end.
The snow globe
Mindfulness expert Susan Kaiser Greenland shared one of her many tricks to help children calm down and verbally communicate what they’re feeling. In this video, she demonstrates shaking a snow globe and having the child watch intently as the flakes fall to the bottom.
For extra energy
Kids don’t have an on or off switch. Sometimes they get bursts of energy out of no where. It’s important to channel that energy instead to avoid them lashing out. Trying these exercises allows them to be silly while channeling that energy into something productive.
Shake if off
Shaking it off is an exercise that’s exactly what it sounds like. Standing upright, with your feet planted on the floor, shake your body to get all the jitters out. To make it even more fun, you can grab something to signal to the child when to move and when to stop.
Simons says
Almost every child has played this game one way or another while growing up. The game is classic for making people be quiet, because they have to focus on “Simon” and do what he says. When children are a little too rambunctious, a quick game of Simon says is fun and will instantly grab their attention.
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