Mindfulness for kids

Mindfulness tips for kids

Whitney Stewart is a children's book author who has written multiple books on mindfulness for kids: Barefoot Books' Mindful Kids and Tummy Ride (coming in April), Albert Whitman & Co.'s Mindful Me for tweens and Mindfulness and Meditation: Handling Life with a Calm and Focused Mind (out in August, Lerner Publishing Group). Her Mindful Kids card deck works for kids in the classroom or at home: pull out a card and follow the activity instructions for exercises, visualisations and more, wherever you are. She gives us a few of her top tips for integrating mindfulness into your child's life:

1. 'Very few kids I know to want to sit down and meditate for thirty minutes. In my mindful kids classes, we do short meditations focusing for three to five minutes on the rise and fall of our tummy as we breathe. Then, I encourage kids to let mindfulness inspire their day. We learn how to focus on our thoughts or emotions, and how both can shift and change throughout the day – and both can influence the way we experience life.

2. We start with kindness. I ask my mindfulness students to do one kind thing for someone else (or for a pet) each day, for a week. We can also focus on the senses. We do short meditations on listening to the sounds around you. Or we do a tasting practice, chewing one raisin, for example, slowly, to notice how the flavor and texture change. I encourage kids to eat one bite, or one meal with their full attention on their food (no TV, devices, or talking) and experience how it feels to simply eat.

3. We also pay close attention to our emotions, and the physical sensations we experience when we have a strong emotion. That's easy to do any time, any place. Whenever anger or sadness arise, for example, we can pay close attention to what happens in our body – tummy ache, tight muscles, hot face, clenched fists, or whatever they experience. Or, we take a mindful walk. That means walking slowly, noticing our muscles as we move. We can also shift our attention to whatever is around us. If we walk outside, we may notice bird calls, wind, clouds passing over the sun, a rainbow or anthill, a barking dog. We also do relaxation exercises that use the breath, mind focus, and muscle tension and release to help ease our body and mind.'

Mindfulness journals for kids

The earlier we encourage children to start living the examined life, the better. Give your child a journal to help them reflect on their actions and remember what they most enjoyed – and didn't – over the course of the day. We love the HappySelf Journal (£19.90). Packed with inspirational quotes, in a sunny yellow cover, it's a daily diary where kids jot down their best moments and challenges and pick an emoji to describe their day. There are pages in which they get to catalog their interests and personality traits. It encourages gratitude and affirmations, helps to promote a growth mindset that gets kids thinking that if they work at something, they can improve, and gives them an opportunity to switch off for some much-needed reflection time.

Children's meditation stories

Head to your local library or bookstore and you'll notice there are now multiple picture books centred on emotions, mindfulness and meditation. A couple of our favourites for younger readers? Fearne Cotton's Yoga Kids and Lemony Snicket's The Bad Mood and the Stick. Also look out for new release, Your Mind is Like the Sky (pictured, Frances Lincoln Children's Books, £11.99), by psychologist Bronwen Ballard and Laura Carlin, which encourages kids to pay attention to their feelings, both good and bad, and likens the thoughts in your head to positive fluffy clouds and darker, more difficult rainclouds. The book has advice on how to discuss trickier thoughts with kids at the end of the book.

Meditation apps and podcasts

From staving off a tantrum to helping kids get to sleep, mindfulness techniques can be game-changers for kids, and the sooner you start integrating them, the better. Mindfulness and meditation app Headspace has dedicated meditations for kids (including Calm, Focus, Kindness, Sleep, Wake Up), for toddlers through pre-teens, focusing on breathing and visualisation. Bedtime FM's Peace Out is a podcast which also introduces mindfulness through visualisation techniques and stories, exploring nature and the universe with relaxation and emotion-based examples featuring characters overcoming feelings of frustration and jealousy or learning how to be kind to others.

Children’s wellbeing: London resources, activities and guidance

There are plenty of London-centric activities for children which encourage mindfulness, from yoga classes at Triyoga and The Shala to creative arts pursuits that encourage psychological well-being: SketchBetter in Kingston is all about promoting mindful creativity for kids and their adults, through art clubs that teach a range of different crafts while teaching teamwork and resilience.