Practicing mindfulness with young kids might seem impossible but it is a skill that can be fostered starting at an early age.
First, let's just start with some basic tips for any teacher using mindfulness in their classroom.
Make Mindfulness a Scheduled Habit: Practicing daily, at the same time, will allow students to get in the habit of the practice. They will expect the activity and maybe even look forward to it.
Use it to Your Benefit: Have an especially active class in the mornings? Is it hard to get kids to calm down after recess? This is a great time to integrate the practice in your classroom and can be done in just a few minutes.
Tell Students Why: Research supports the idea that when students are informed on the meaningfulness of a topic chosen by the teacher, they are more motivated to learn and more likely to engage. Here is a list of really great reasons why, just in case you need to refer back to them.
Involve the Students: Can you use your students in anyway to help with the practice? This will give them the opportunity to lead the mindfulness time and will help you keep the routine up because
Introducing Mindfulness to Your Class
Figuring out how to explain what mindfulness is to kindergarteners might seem like a challenge but there are some great videos that do all of the hard work for you, here are a few examples.
Ways to Practice Mindfulness
Body Scan
Students should lay on the floor, with their eyes closed or looking towards the ceiling.
Encourage students to pay attention to their feet for 5 or 10 seconds. Then move up their body until the you get to the head, pausing on each body part for 5 or 10 seconds to ask the following questions. Questions to ask during a body scan: – How does this body part feel? – Is it cold or warm? – Does it feel tight or relaxed? – Is all or part of that body part touching the floor?
The questions should bring the student's awareness to their body in the moment.
You can also ask students to squeeze and release that body part rather than asking the questions about it..
Mindful Breathing
Pinwheel Breathing
Mindful Bell
5 Senses
Have other practices that work for your students? Any that did work so great and that want to warn others about? Leave them below in the comments!
Nothing on this blog should be taken as replacement for medical, clinical, or professional advice or intervention. All content is for educational purposes only.
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