Mindfulness Activities for Kids

May is Anxiety Awareness Month, and for kids it can be an especially anxious time with end of year tests and projects and things. But any time is a great time to talk to kids about anxiety and give them tools to help calm them down, and mindfulness is a big part of that.

Kids (and people) of any age need practice noticing how they feel in the moment and understanding that those feelings can and will pass. Even just being reminded to check in on their feelings a few times a day (whether they are feeling anxiety or not) can help them build mindful awareness and naming of emotions that is so important.

Mediation is not a thing that a lot of kids like (my teen has always hated it) but sometimes you can sneak in some mindful breathing even if you’re not formally meditating. There are lots of ways to make breathing fun for kids, and you can find a bunch of them at Calm Ahoy Kids. My daughter learned some of these at school like the candle and balloon, but they are all fun for kids to try. They also have an ebook and printable cards available on Etsy if you want these for a classroom or to use at home.

This mindful breathing stick craft from Local Anchor is an easy one for kids to make and keep in their backpacks (or even wear as a bracelet) to use as a tool for mindful breathing. I also love this one for making a calming stone of out clay. Get the details on that one from Hands On Teaching Ideas. Having something to hold that reminds you to breathe or pay attention can be super helpful.

Other mindful things you can practice in the classroom or at home include listening to calming music and really focusing on it, taking a very slow walk around the room or outside and paying attention to what you see, doing a slow body scan or eating something very slowly. Get more details on some of these ideas and others from The OT Toolbox and from Very Special Tales.

Another one that I like (which is also on the Very Special Tales list) that my daughter used a lot during covid was a variation on the 5-4-3-2-1 idea, which has you notice five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell and one you can taste (or you can change the last one to just taking a deep breath). This is a great way to ground and pay attention to your surrounds and it helps people of all ages, too.

Encouraging Self Care for Kids

Patriotic Yoga to Get Kids Moving

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End of the School Year Classroom Activities

Not all of us live where there is a lot of snow in the winter (or even where it is winter as I write this, but it can still be fun to learn about snow, what it is and why it falls, so let’s get into it!

First, let’s talk snowflake science with The Homeschool Scientist. They have a free prinatble snowflake science less that’s more than 60 pages long and good for multiple grade levels. The blog post linked here includes some fun snow facts, information about how snowflakes form and why they are both six-sided and (probably) all different.

Expressive Monkey has a great post about how snowflakes are formed and why they have six arms, and also shows some of the pictures taken by W. A. Bentley in the 1920s (more on him below).

You can also grab a free snow facts worksheet with space for kids to draw their own unique snowflakes from Education.com. Simple Living Creative Learning also has a paid snow study resource set that includes things like different types of snowflakes, the snow cycle, symmetry drawing with snowflakes, tips for snow safety, snow-related vocabulary and more.

Homeschool Superfreak has another great page for learning about snowflakes, which includes information about Snowflake Bentley, a great book to read (and person to learn about). It includes lesson plan ideas and links to activities.

Speaking of activities, if you happen to have snow around you can make snow ice cream or maple candy, paint on snow or with snow, or do some snow science experiments. If you get a ton of snow you could maybe even build an igloo or snow structure.

If you don’t get snow you can learn about how animals keep warm in the snow and cold temperatures with this experiment from I Can Teach My Child. Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls can help you learn why big paws (or snowshoes) make it easier to walk in the snow. Or make a snowstorm in a jar like this one from MomBrite.

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