Mindfulness activities for kids

Spend a few hours doing one or a few of these every day. Slowing as they become your habit, you become aware of things around you. You become mindful.

Discovering interdependence

Find a big leaf and draw around it on a piece of paper. Next, close your eyes and follow the journey of the leaf. See how it grew with the help of sunlight and rain. Think about the nutrition from the soil that made it grow strong and healthy. Now, inside the leaf that you drew on the paper, draw all the things that you saw on its journey, like the sun and clouds. Count how many things you drew.

Following the journey of life

Find a living thing that has become old or is fading like a dying flower or a fallen leaf. Next, close your eyes and follow the journey of the flower of leaf. If you thought of a flower, think how it looked as a bud. Later how it appeared when it was open, what it looks like now and how it will look in a few weeks. Draw four pictures of the journey of the flower. Later, write what happens to the flower after it dies and is thrown on the ground.

Touching life

Pour a glass of juice. Close your eyes and begin to drink. Don’t think about anything. Only taste the juice. Feel its sweetness on your tongue and coldness on the side of your mouth. When you swallow the juice feel it go down your throat and into your stomach. Finish the whole glass of juice like this. You’ll feel happy!

Opening your heart

Close your eyes and think of a moment when you felt hurt by someone’s words. Feel the pain inside, but don’t react. Just sit and feel the sensation. Resist the wish to run away or respond. Just sit quietly, and let the pain touch you. Slowly, you’ll find that the pain doesn’t scare you anymore. You can do this every time someone says something hurtful. Because you face the pain directly, you’ll discover that it no longer has the power to hurt you.

Sending out kindness

Close your eyes and imagine that you are a lotus in a mountain lake. The water is clear. The sky is deep blue. Feel the warm sun rays touching your petals. You feel very peaceful. Now, think that not everyone is as happy as you. There are people suffering with covid-19, orphan children in the streets of the big cities, and injured animals in the mountains. Imagine that every time a breeze touches your petals, you send out a beautiful white light that contains all your happiness. As soon as this light touches the sick and sad people and animals, they become relaxed and happy. Do this every day before you sleep and when you wake up.

Touching the earth

Go outside and sit on the earth. Rub your hand on it and feel its dampness or dryness. Smell it. Think that the earth is an old friend. When you feel lonely or sad, just sit and touch the earth. The earth is very old. It is like the grandmother of many things. The fruit the flowers are all grandchildren of the earth. They are born from the earth and also return and nourish the earth. When you touch the earth, you will be touching all these things.

Listening to the earth

Sit outside with a friend and close your eyes. Listen deeply for seven different sounds. At first, you might hear the sound of cars or people talking. As your mind becomes quieter, you will hear the sound of birds or the sound of the breeze passing through the trees or even the flow of distant a river. Sit like this for some minutes, and then you and your friend tell each other what you heard.

Who’s the boss?

Sit quietly, and try to think who is the boss of your body. At first, you might think your brain is the boss, but can the brain work without blood and oxygen? Maybe you will think that your heart is the boss, but can the heart work without the liquid from the kidneys or the veins that carry the blood? Think about it deeply, but don’t worry if you can’t find a boss. Maybe there is no boss.

Finding the magic in an orange

An orange takes many months to grow from a flower to a small tight fruit and finally a large juicy orange. It needs rain, sunlight and nutrition to become sweet and tasty. All these wonderful things are in the orange, but to find them you have to be very quiet. Slowly begin to peel the fruit. Smell its fragrance, and look at the colour. Slowly, break off the pieces and put them in your mouth. Close your eyes and taste the sweetness. Feel the juice flow down your throat. If you really concentrate on the taste, you may feel the rain and sunlight in the fruit. Try it!

Discovering the universe

Lie on your back under the stars. Stare deeply into the sky. Look as far as you can see and ask yourself where the universe begins. If you can think of a place where it ends, then ask what is outside. Perhaps the correct answer is that the universe has no end and no beginning, but think about it deeply. Later think how the ground that you are lying on is connected to the never-ending universe.

Mirroring a friend

At safe distance, stand facing a friend or a brother and sister and choose a leader. If you are the leader, then hold the palms of your hand towards your friend. Slowly start to move your hands. Your friend puts his palms to face your palms and begins to follow your hand movements like an image in a mirror. Later, you can sit down and do the same with the souls of your feet. Don’t move too fast. Otherwise, your friend will be unable to follow. After some time, change positions. Your friend becomes the leader and you become the mirror image. But remember to keep a safe distance between you and your partner.

Finding the anger

Next time you are angry, try to find the place in your body where the anger starts. Is it in your heart or in your brain? How does it feel? Don’t block the anger or continue it, just be aware of the feeling in your body. Later, use bright colour crayons and draw your feelings on a big piece of paper. You can do the same when you feel happy or sad.