How I use Mindfulness to Help Develop Children's Emotional Skills
You might be wondering 'What is mindfulness for kids?’ or think that it's something that children don't need until they're a certain age or if they are going through something particularly stressful.
However, I believe that mindfulness techniques can be useful to learn at any age, even for toddlers.
Mindfulness for kids is sharing ways for them to bring their focus to the present moment while being kind towards the thoughts inside their mind.
This can be done through fun and engaging mindfulness activities that can support children's mental health and increase their self-esteem.
I want to share a short story about what mindfulness for kids can look like.
This month, my nearly 2 year old was on the brink of having a big tantrum at breakfast. I know different creative breathing techniques for kids, but I hadn't tried them with him in the lead up to big emotions being expressed.
I brought out two feathers from a bag in the room (I have lots of random and creative materials in different locations in my house!). We had previously practiced blowing the feathers together for fun, so I thought that it could be a useful way to bring some calm.
I asked him if he wanted to blow a feather. He said yes. So, we took one each and started blowing them. It was almost instantly that his tears disappeared and we were regulating his emotions.
Mindful breathing is just one way that you can share mindfulness with kids.
In this blog, I share how to bring fun mindfulness activities into children's lives that can help develop their emotional skills.
Deep Breathing
When children are learning how to navigate big emotions they can find it tough to bring themselves to a place of calm.
Practicing taking slow deep breaths in fun ways, while they're already calm, can be a powerful technique to add to their emotional toolbox.
If you would like to try feather breathing, with a slightly older child, you can ask them to take a deep breath in, then tell them to slowly breathe out through their mouth while blowing the feather.
You can prompt them to notice their senses with this activity too. They can use the senses they have available to them. While holding the feather invite them to:
Notice the colour(s)
Feel the textures, they can brush it against their skin. Ask them if it's smooth/fluffy/soft?
Notice how they feel in their body while holding it.
If your child can't be around feathers, doesn't like them, or you want to try a different mindful breathing activity, you can try the same activity with a flower or leaf (real or artificial).
This simple activity can be a wonderful way to teach children emotional regulation techniques.
Empathy
It can be challenging for children to see the world from another person's point of view. Helping them to understand and show empathy towards others can support them to become a more mindful child.
Empathy is a skill that takes practice. One way that you can help children along the way is through using toys and puppets to teach with storytelling.
Often when listening to stories children will fully immerse themselves and be focused on the present moment (what is happening in the story).
Sharing stories in an interactive and engaging way can help bring mindfulness and children's wellbeing activities nicely together.
Creating a story with soft toys/puppets about realistic, with a twist of imaginative, experiences, can allow children to start relating to others.
When I was working with children in community education and school settings, from 2017, I used puppets as one of the main ways to help children develop their emotional literacy.
I noticed how children related to the puppet’s stories, shared their own similar experiences, and displayed empathy towards the puppets, and others in the group.
They can think about how that emotion makes them feel and how they react to certain situations. Which connects to how they communicate with their peers and adults in future situations.
Self-Awareness
Short Meditations for Kids
Introducing guided meditation to children is a wonderful way to help them relax and develop an awareness and understanding of their inner world.
Four years ago, I taught my first kid's creative mindfulness session, which was virtual. The last activity was a guided meditation. The child had his screen off for the meditation, so I didn't know how he was feeling during it. I had no idea if he was just sitting looking at the screen.
However, after I finished guiding the meditation and had no response for a few minutes after. I was wondering if he had gotten bored and went away.
It turned out that he had fallen asleep. When I spoke to his mum, she told me that he never falls asleep during the day.
That's how much meditation can help children relax.
When practiced regularly children can start to notice what thoughts come up in their mind and not put themselves down for thinking those thoughts. Instead, they can develop a kinder attitude towards their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
I share guided meditations inside my Supporting Siblings in Neurodiverse Families mini-course and my membership ‘The Mindfully Slow Down Club’.
Offering tools to support children to manage their emotions can make a huge impact on their overall mental health and wellbeing.
Grounding Techniques
The final type of children's mindfulness activities that I want to share with you today are external grounding techniques.
Depending on the age of the children, they may carry a lot of worries and/or feel anxious. Some children are able to express their feelings and emotions while others find it more challenging.
I believe that grounding techniques can be a powerful tool for all ages to learn and carry in their emotional toolbox.
Children can take a stone, pebble, or crystal that they carry with them when they go outside/somewhere that might cause overstimulation.
They can keep it in their pocket. When they start feeling overwhelmed, invite them to rub their fingers on their chosen object while closing their eyes or lowering their gaze and use the stone/pebble/crystal as their point of focus.
As they notice the temperature of the item, textures, and colours (you can prompt them with this) they can start moving their mind to the present moment, rather than be focused on the future.
54321 Method
Becoming aware of the senses is a beneficial way to help children feel more grounded and reduce feelings of stress.
My favourite way to share this is The 54321 Grounding Technique.
This involves bringing their attention to:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Children can use this technique at any time when they're indoors or outdoors, to help reduce fear and worries while having a few minutes of self-care.
I share an interactive way to remember this technique in my picture book ‘Slow Down Sammy’. The story explores how Sammy, an Autistic sunflower, discovers how to let go of worries with the help of his best friend Amaya, a butterfly who has ADHD.
Slow Down Sammy’ is my second picture book, my debut is ‘Slow Down Amaya’, in The Mindfully Slow Down Series.
A reader shared their thoughts about the book and commented that it was:
“A really thoughtful book about the importance of sharing your worries with others and being listened to. What I liked most is the exercise on how to manage worries and stay in the moment by practicing mindfulness. It’s a truly fun way to introduce the topic to kids. Highly recommended!”
- Lotta
Conclusion
Mindfulness can be introduced to children in many different ways. By sharing engaging activities it can help develop children’s emotional skills, and social skills, to support them to better understand themselves and others.
Children will have different needs and interests. Therefore, it is is important to be flexible and adaptable when delivering mindfulness and emotional literacy based activities to best meet their needs.
If you would like to bring mindfulness to your family to create more moments of peace, you can find a collection of activities inside my membership The Mindfully Slow Down Club.
Find out more and become a member today by tapping here (and scroll to near the bottom of the page).