15 Mindfulness Exercises For Kids – That They’ll Love!

Inside: A basic introduction to mindfulness, 15 free mindfulness exercises for kids, a free printable guide, and lots of recommended resources, books, and videos.

Mindfulness is like a superpower.

Practicing mindfulness will equip you with life-long skills to minimize stress and anxiety, increase energy and happiness, improve focus and concentration and equip you with practical coping strategies when life gets tough.

But when you can teach these skills to your kids?

That’s when you can slap an “S” on your chest…

….because you and your kids will be unstoppable.

And today I have something that will make you feel like you have parenting superpowers:

15 mindfulness exercises your kids will love.

And the best part?

You can start right now.

Look:

Most people think mindfulness is all about meditation or yoga, or only for super hippie adults.

But in my experience, mindfulness is for everyone and anyone.

We all want to be happy and enjoy our life.

Every.single.one.of.us.

We all want to be peaceful, calm, focused and emotionally sound.

And what could be a better gift than teaching your kids these skills?

Yes, please!

What is Mindfulness?

Imagine being fully engaged in a task, aware of your thoughts and feelings, but not obsessed or controlled by them.

You’re focused on the present, not obsessing about the past or worrying about the future.

Your attitude is positive, curious, and non-judgmental.

That’s mindfulness.

I recently wrote an article on why it’s so important we teach mindfulness to our kids and you can read it here. But to sum it up, Coles notes style, kids are stressed out these days. Like stressed in a way I can’t even imagine.

The world today is much different than when we grew up. It’s fast, and information is everywhere.

Check out our ultimate guide to mindfulness for kids right here.

Kids have big pressures at school, they are busy with after-school activities, and keeping up with technology and social media, well that’s an entirely different can of worms.

And the worst part?

Kids can’t just “be.”

The sad reality is that many kids are now suffering from mental health issues. The statistics for kids turning to drugs and suicide are staggering. 70 percent of mental health cases are reported to begin during childhood.

Benefits of Mindfulness for Kids

It’s important we teach our kids how to slow down.

Mindfulness helps kids in the following area’s:

• Teaches children to focus on the present moment
• Equips kids with skills to regulate their emotions
• Improves concentration
• Increases compassion and kindness
• Teaches kids how to manage stress and life challenges
• Enhances relationships

And in the real world, this translates to better performance on tests and in sports, enhanced relationships, better decision making, and more compassion.

We have the opportunity to teach our kids healthy ways to manage stress and ensure they have a healthy balance not just right now, but for the rest of their lives.

Can you see how HUGE this is?

From the moment we are born, mindfulness for kids can keep anxiety under control (get our detailed 12-step plan for managing anxiety in your kids here) and promote a happy life.

Early Habits of Children

Children are exceptionally susceptible to mindfulness as habits form early in life (under 5) and these habits will carry forward into adulthood. What a gift we can give our children, a gift of peace, kindness, and acceptance.

Now:

15 Mindfulness Exercises For Kids (Any Age)

To get started with this life-changing practice, check out the fun mindfulness exercises for kids below:

Oh, and enjoy!

These exercises are tons of fun to do with the kiddos!

Focus

1. Mindful Listening

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 4+

Supplies: A bell, chime or app that makes a bell sound

Instructions:

Instruct your little one to sit in a relaxed position, resting hands on knees or at sides. Now say the following: “Close your eyes and listen to the sound of the bell. Try to focus on the sound, and see if you can pinpoint when the sound completely fades away.”

Instruct your child to open their eyes when they think the sound is gone.

Guiding Questions:

Was it easy or difficult? Did you get distracted? How did your body feel? Remember there is no “right” answer, and a big part of mindfulness is welcoming ALL of our experiences.

2. Secret Bag

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 4+

Supplies: A bag, interestingly shaped objects (paper clips, coins, marbles)

Instructions:

Place several small, interestingly shaped or textured objects in a small bag. Ask your little one what they think is inside. Be encouraging, make suggestions and try to get their imagination going.

How do they feel about not knowing what’s inside? Frustrated, curious, anxious, excited? What they feel doesn’t matter, it’s the acknowledgment. Spend a little time communicating your emotions.

Have your little one reach in to touch an object, one at a time, and ask them to describe what they are touching.  Is it circular, sharp, hot or cold? Make sure your little one doesn’t take the objects out of the bag.  Force them to use only their sense of touch to explore the object.

After the exercise let your child examine the objects, and again encourage them to talk about their emotions.

3. Peacock Posing

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 4+

Supplies: None needed

Instructions:

Standing on one foot is a simple pose and it can be helpful in many situations. (Think lineups and doctors office visits.)

Ask your child to focus their gaze on a point slightly below eye level. Then ask them to stand on one leg and try to keep their gaze on the focal point. How long can they balance like this?

Then try the other leg. To make the activity more challenging, engage your child in conversation or ask them to close their eyes.

Pro Tip:  Guide your child in mindful breathing and see if the exercise becomes easier.

Awareness

4. Spiderman Senses (Rated A+ In Mindfulness Exercises for Kids)

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 5+

Supplies: Just your imagination

Instructions:

One of Spider-­Man’s superpowers is his ability to tune into his senses. Like a spider, he has super smell and sight and can hear very tiny noises. Ask your little one to activate their spidey-senses and pay attention to what’s going on around them.

Ask them the following: (and this will prompt them to notice their senses)

– What can you hear?
– What can you see?
– What can you taste?
– What can you smell?
– What can you feel?

Guide your little one to explore the room or outdoor space as they stay in this spidey state for 2-3 minutes.

Explain that when you pay very close attention to your senses, you enter into the present moment and this calms your mind and start to rid you of all those noisy thoughts swirling around in your head. With practice, you can refine this skill to tune into the present moment whenever you choose.

5. Googily Eyes

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 4+

Supplies: A flower or plant

Instructions:

In this exercise, we will pay close attention to the experience of seeing. Before sitting, find a flower or plant for your little one to use as a “focus flower.” We will look at this flower very closely and notice all of its interesting details.

Once you have your flower, sit on the floor with your legs crossed, or on a chair if more comfortable. Rest hands on knees and sit up tall and reach for the sun, (like a flower or plant) but keep your neck and shoulders relaxed. You both now close your eyes and take ten deep breaths.

Open your eyes and examine your flowers. Notice the colors, the smell, the intricate lines, and details.  Notice the texture and the overall shape. Does your flower look different when you pay close attention?  Discuss your observations together.

6. Watchful Walk

Duration: 15 Minutes

Age: 15+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

Go for a stroll and designate 5 minutes of your walk to discuss what your little one sees, feels, hears, and smells.

Designate short periods of time to zone into your senses.

LOOK at the trees, dandelions, butterflies. Try to find bugs, ants, and other creepy crawly’s.
LISTEN for birds, woodpeckers, and lawnmowers.
FEEL the weather and the sensations in your body.
SMELL the flowers, spring scents, or even rain.

Pro Tip: Spend one minute in complete silence just noticing and feeling what’s around you both.

Sleep

7. Warm Fuzzy Wishes

Duration: 15 Minutes

Age: 5+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

Climb into bed. Take five deep breaths to calm our bodies.

Explain to your child how kindness can send good vibes out into the world. And that’s it’s important to send well wishes to those we love. Have your little one pick any two people they want. (Don’t forget the family pet.)

Instruct them to say out loud something they love about this person. Then, you will take turns sending a well wish out to the universe. You will need to guide your child at first.

Warm Fuzzy Wishes Examples:

• I hope Johnny does well on his mid-term tomorrow.
• I want Olivia to play well at soccer tomorrow.
• I will take Rocket for a walk tomorrow.
• I send peace and love to grandma and grandpa
• I send healing vibes to our baby brother who isn’t feeling well.

8. Breathing Buddies

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 3+

Supplies: Teddy Bear or Stuffy

Instructions:

This is a fabulous mindfulness exercise for a toddler or preschooler.

Ask your little one to lie down and put his/her favorite teddy on their belly.

Ask them to inhale deeply for a count of three. Then ask them to exhale for a count of 4.

Watch the teddy rise and fall as they breathe in and out. Do 5 to 10 rounds.

See if they can rock teddy to sleep.

9. Silly Puddy Stretch

Duration: 2 Minutes

Age: 4+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

Upon waking up (or before bed), ask your little one to stand tall at the foot of the bed (or beside).

Guide them in this three-part stretch.

Circle arms up to the sky. (Sun Salutations) Hold and breathe for a count of two.

Swoop your arms below your knees and hang there for a count of two breaths. Feel your neck relax.

Swoop back up to standing position and bring your hands in prayer position at your heart. Stand very tall, shoulders down and back, neck long.  Hold for a count of two breaths.

Repeat this sequence three times.

[su_box title=”Bonus:” style=”soft” box_color=”#68b6b1″ radius=”1″]If you’d like to find out more information about our full eBook Mighty Mindful Kids, (which has a whopping 40 step-by-step activities) you can learn more here. I’m very excited to offer this printable exercise book for parents. It’s a life-changing journey.[/su_box]

Calm

10. Counting Breaths

Duration: 1 Minute

Age: 2+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

When your child is overwhelmed, whether it be overstimulated or upset. Ask them to take 10 deep breaths. Count together out loud. Say 1, deep breath in, 2, deep breath out. 3 deep breath in, 4 deep breath out.

Rest your hands on your belly, notice your hands moving each time you breathe in and out.

Breathe deep, right now into your belly on your inhale. Underneath your belly button. Hold your breath for 3 seconds. Exhale deeply.

Variations

Imagine a sailboat that rises and falls with each breath. can you envision your breath as a color? Your favorite color perhaps?

11.  Wacky & Wild Weather Systems

Duration: 2 Minutes

Age: 3+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

This is another one of my favourite mindfulness exercises for kids.

Teach your child to relate to their feelings and emotions like a weather system. It helps your child to verbalize what they are feeling instead of reacting.

Sunny = Happy

Stormy = Angry

Wintery = Lonely

Rainy = Sad

Be creative and create new variations.

Sample Script:

When your body feels happy inside it’s like a warm, sunny day. You can say, “I feel sunny inside.” But when you are angry and clenches muscles, chaotic, blustery, and feel like stomping your feet and/or lashing out, you can say “I am stormy, my body feels stormy.” A stormy body might feel like a quickened heartbeat, holding your breath and the urge to scream.

When you verbalize your emotions in such a way, it takes the power out of the emotion and helps our kids. Just like the weather our emotions (no matter how strong) will pass. We can get through them. We can start to realize that we are not the storm, even though we feel stormy. Accept the rain, snow, sun, and storm and you will be happier with life.

Describing emotions like weather events can be used as a fun shorthand with your child when talking about emotions feels hard.

12. Thought Busters

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 6+

Supplies: None Needed

Instructions:

Sit down together and each pay attention to the thoughts going on in your head. To make this easier first sit for a couple of minutes and breath in and out, focusing on the breath entering an leaving our nostrils.

Then pay attention to one thought in your head. Watch the thought, watch how it changes. Then imagine poking the thought with a pin and watch it bust, dissolve and dissipate. We can learn that thoughts come and go, they aren’t necessarily reality and they can easily change or dissolve.

This exercise helps kids learn to pay attention to what they are thinking. It’s a skill that will follow them throughout their lives and help them to recognize negative, or harmful thought patterns, and by recognizing them we can work to change them.

Relationships

13. Dinner Dates

Duration: 20 Minutes

Age: 5+

Supplies: None Needed

As often as possible sit down to eat dinner together – minimize distractions. No phones and other devices. Share a moment of silence before you eat. Take a moment to be grateful for each other and the food you are about to eat.

Expressing gratitude cultivates kindness and thoughtfulness. During dinner, each takes a turn telling each other the best part of your day. Your kids might scoff at this now but this ritual will be a treasured memory that might even be carried down to their kids.

14. Thirsty Plants

Duration: 10 Minutes

Age: 3+

Supplies: Watering can

The act of watering the plants can be a great way to calm down. There is something soothing and therapeutic about it. Spending time with nature and spending time together is a wonderful way to deepen your relationship while invoking a sense of peace and calm into your body.

Invest in two watering cans, one for you and one for your little guy. Make it a routine to water your plants together. You fill up both watering cans and go at it. While watering the plants talk about how alive the plants are and take a moment to examine their leaves and color.

Pro Tip: In the summer, don’t wait till your kids are in bed to water the gardens, do it together. It’s a great exercise for you both.

15.Koala Kindness

Duration: 5 Minutes

Age: 3+

Supplies: None Needed

Pick from the following three activities and do one once per week for this month.

Send a handwritten letter or thank-you card to a friend, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, or teacher. (You’ll likely need to help them with this).

Purchase a gift for someone you love or purchase a gift to donate.

Call someone out of the blue.

Help make favorite dinner for mommy, daddy, sibling or have a friend or extended family member over.

WAIT THERE’S MORE!!!

Get your hands on the FULL VERSION of our guide Mighty Mindful Kids which includes a whopping 40 exercises (25 mindfulness exercises (plus 15 bonus exercises), pro tips, and a color-coded, organized template that you can print out and put into a binder.  Please click here.

Don’t miss out — get the colorful Ebook now and start this life-changing journey with your kids. It costs less than a couple Starbucks coffee’s, can you afford not to?

I hope you enjoy these 15 mindfulness exercises for kids. And I’d love for you to check out our free mindfulness for kids guide or our Ebook Mighty Mindful Kids.

I’d love to hear from you below, what is your favourite mindfulness exercise for kids?

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