Mindfulness is the act of being fully attentive to the present and it will greatly serve your child’s mental growth.
In most schools nowadays, especially private ones, mindfulness is part of their curriculum.
There are plenty of studies out there proving its effectiveness when schools include mindfulness programmes. Take this recent study, for example.
The most important fact is that mindfulness helps children build an overall positive outlook and attitude towards life.
When children are thought to be mindful of their present surroundings, they are thought to self-regulate emotions- big or small. Thereby leading to yet another huge benefit to your child—they become calmer in mind and body, able to stay engaged and well-focused in tasks at hand.
Many studies out there have attested to how mindful children exhibit better participation in their education.
Their grades become boosted and they perform better in tests and their curriculum. This is due to:
- Improved attention, focus, and cognitive development
- Enhanced social and emotional skills, such as greater empathy
- Improved behaviour at school
- Increased resilience
- Reduced anxiety and stress
8 Ways to Practice Mindfulness with Your Little Ones
One great thing about teaching your child to be mindful is that you don’t need a school for it—you can be the teacher too!
The concept of mindfulness may sound like an alien concept to the Malaysian education system but it’s very well embedded in the Montessori method, amidst other exercises.
Let’s explore the list of activities and exercises you can try with your little one!
#1 Meditation Regulates Thoughts and Emotions
The Child Mind Institute provides us with a list of studies attesting to how meditation helps children in abundance.
Those with ADHD, anxiety, depression, anger management issues, and even autism may very well benefit from being able to meditate their way out of strong emotions.
They speak of Mindful Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which is to ‘pay attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally’.
The ultimate goal is to steer one’s mind from disturbing or intrusive thoughts, enough to make way for focus and clarity.
It essentially trains our attention span by first, focusing on our breathing, to the thoughts circling our mind, and back to our breathing.
Here’s how you can practice with your little one:
- Find a comfortable sitting position and relax your mind and body.
- Pay attention to your breathing.
- Empty your mind from intrusive thoughts and take note when it starts to stray to other thoughts.
- Steer your attention back to your calm breathing.
- Stay in this silence and comfort for as long as needed.
#2 Breathing Exercises During Emotional Times
Breathing exercises don’t just stop at meditation.
You can also use this technique during any particularly stressful or emotionally intense times, like during tantrums and meltdowns.
Here are two breathing exercises to guide your little one apart from the step above.
According to pediatric integrative medicine specialist, Ana Maria Verissimo, try:
- The Bunny Breathing:
- Have your child pretend they are a bunny; kneeling with their hands drawn up and their chin tucked down.
- Twitch the nose to get ready for breathing.
- Take several short, quick ‘sniffs’ in through the nose.
- Exhale in one long, smooth breath and repeat!
- The Flowers and Bubbles technique:
- Have your child imagine that they have a flower in one hand and a bubble wand in the other.
- Smell the flower: Breathe in slowly and deeply through the nose.
- Blow bubbles: Breathe out slowly through the mouth.
- Repeat as needed.
#3 Food Preparation: Savour, Then Devour
Food preparation is a creative way to integrate mindfulness with your kids!
For one thing, we eat every day three to five times a day and most of the time in the case of children, they consume anything edible to their liking without really thinking about it. Let alone their health benefits!
Whether you are out grocery shopping or putting together a meal, this is one way to have your child understand the types of food they consume daily.
As they prep their meals, equip them with child-friendly utensils.
This ensures a safe time for them to patiently and carefully chop, slice or dice up ingredients.
As you include them in preparing their meals, you are also essentially training their overall motor skills!
#4 Keeping it Green with Gardening
Gardening is a fun and relaxing activity to teach your child mindfulness.
Here is a chance for them to reconnect with nature and its serene elements while honing new skills!
From planting seeds to watering flowery and green plants, every act of gardening requires careful thought processes and exposes them to new information.
This ranges from the different insects, soils, plants, and the colours and textures that come along with them.
#5 Arts and Craft to Express
Teaching your little ones mindfulness becomes especially easy and fun when you include arts and crafts!
There are plenty of concepts for your to choose from or even concoct yourself in order to teach them basic education to even everything about themselves and the world they live in.
For example, you can teach them to identify their emotions by selecting colours they think depicts their current or recent state of emotions.
Colour in different types of plants and animals or even create toys and items to aid in your mindfulness teaching like a magic wand to help with their breathing techniques!
#6 A Game of I-Spy
When you play a game of ‘I Spy‘, you are essentially directing your child’s attention to something else within their surrounding environment.
This is a perfect way to keep your little ones on their toes as they scour around them in search of the object or person that fits the description.
As hints, we often include the object/person’s:
- Colour
- Height
- Weight
- Texture
- Features and attributes
- First letter of the word and many more descriptive words.
These ensure your little one takes their time to guess the possible answer.
A perfect yet simple activity to train their observation skills and improve their overall language and comprehension!
#7 Trigger the Spidey-Senses
Karen Young is among many experts who speak of this simple yet effective game!
It plays with your child’s five senses, requiring them to state what they see, hear, taste, smell and touch within their surrounding environment.
It’s a call-and-response game just like ‘I Spy‘, so it’s yet another activity you can play at just about anywhere.
Simply call your little one to turn on their ‘Spidey Sense’, like Spiderman.
And much like a superhero, they ought to sense what is it that’s particularly enticing to their senses!
#8 A Mindful Bedtime Routine
Your daily bedtime routine doesn’t need to stop at bedtime stories.
A good day well spent is worth an insightful chat with your little one.
So once you’re done with their nightly stories, tuck them into bed and begin your nightly round-up as well.
It may mean talking or asking them about the blessings in their life or even saying a prayer to God.
Have them count their blessings to evoke feelings of gratefulness and even anticipation for what is to come—big or small.
These activities are among numerous that you can find anywhere through a search online or even books.
You can also cook up activities and materials of your own catering to your little one’s interests.
Most importantly though, don’t forget to be mindful enough for a fun, quality time with your child.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.
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