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

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later.

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use.

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more.

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more.

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women.

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here.

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