Mindfulness Activities

Mindfulness Activities

For Teachers and/or Students:

1.     Belly breathing for one minute, hand on belly, feel belly go up and down

2.     Take a nature walk with students, find a pebble, make it their calming stone

3.     Spend a minute looking out the window at the leaves fluttering on the trees

4.     Sharing “Mindful Mantras” to students (i.e. “I think I can,” “I can do it,” “just try my best,” “Let it go,” etc.)

5.     Smell your favorite food and blow out your birthday candles

6.     Cup of calm – clap hands together, rub hands quickly back and forth, hands should get warm, place hands on face, repeat 3 times.

7.     Heart/Light – eyes are closed, relax, place right hand over heart, place left hand on belly, slowly make small circles over heart and belly for 30 seconds.

8.     Go play in your mind – find a quiet space and sit, close your eyes, think about your favorite place/activity for 30 seconds.

9.     From: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/tips_for_teaching_mindfulness_to_kids/

Use the instructions and script below for a daily mindfulness lesson; it can be done in just one or two minutes. If you like, you can get more creative and add more in-depth lessons, or practice for longer periods. You can do the same thing every day. A simple lesson to repeat daily is one minute of mindful listening and one minute of mindful breathing.

1. “Please get into your ‘mindful bodies’—still and quiet, sitting upright, eyes closed.”

2. “Now place all your attention on the sound you are about to hear. Listen until the sound is completely gone.”

3. Ring a “mindfulness bell,” or have a student ring the bell. Use a bell with a sustained sound or a rainstick to encourage mindful listening.

4. “Please raise your hand when you can no longer hear the sound.”

5. When most or all have raised their hands, you can say, “Now slowly, mindfully, move your hand to your stomach or chest, and just feel your breathing.”

6. You can help students stay focused during the breathing with reminders like, “Just breathing in … just breathing out …”

7. Ring the bell to end.

10.   www.mindfulteachers.org

Human Camera Have the children get into pairs. One child is the camera; the other is the photographer. 

The photographer walks behind her "camera," with hands on her camera's shoulders. She carefully guides her partner, who keeps his eyes closed. She will have the chance to make three photos.