1. How to Teach Mindfulness to Kids:

   1. First, work on your own mindfulness: Model mindfulness practices (e.g., meditation, yoga, mindful eating, mindful breathing) for your kids and use them regularly.

   2. Find a good time to teach mindfulness for the first time: If they are too full of energy they might not be ready to try it yet. Try it during a positive situation initially to establish the practice as a positive experience. Perhaps try it right after a bike ride or when they are ready to transition from active play into a quiet academic activity.

   3. Explain what mindfulness is: It is being aware of what is happening in the present moment. Start by talking about the senses, breathing, and listening to your body.

   4. Watch this video from North Star Paths stop motion video series called Long Story Shortz. This is a great video explaining mindfulness in a child friendly way!

   5. Work on mindfulness as a family:

      • Try simple breathing exercises such as using a breathing buddy. Focus on the senses. Try listening mindfully, eating a snack mindfully or taking a walk mindfully using all of your senses.

      • Mindful Schools has three guided mindfulness practices to give you an introduction to how to practice mindfulness through breathing, body scans, and walking.

      • Sitting Still Like a Frog from Shambhala Publications has other free audio guided mindfulness practices for kids.

   6. Set a routine for practicing mindfulness: If you build it in as part of your schedule every day, it will be much easier to generalize the practice to other situations when you most need it throughout your day.

   7. Make the activities fun to solidify the practices as a positive experience!

References/Resources we used to help us compile this list (they have other great activities, too!):

1. Ackerman, Courtney E. “25 Fun Mindfulness Activities for Children and Teens.” PositivePsychology.com, PositivePsychology.com, 4 February 2020, https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-for-children-kids-activities/

2. Bergstrom, Chris. “Why Mindfulness Is Good For Children – Benefits Any Parent Can Relate To.” Blissful Kids, Blissful Consulting, Ltd, 16 Dec 2015, https://blissfulkids.com/why-mindfulness-is-good-for-children-and-benefits/.

3. Bergstrom, Chris. “Mindfulness For Kids – Teddy Bear Belly Breathing aka Breathing Buddies.” Blissful Kids, Blissful Consulting, Ltd, 15 March 20157, https://blissfulkids.com/mindfulness-exercises-for-kids-teddy-bear-belly-breathing/.

4. “Sitting Still Like a Frog Audio.” Shambhala, Shambhala Publications, (n.d.), https://www.shambhala.com/sittingstilllikeafrog.

5. “What is Mindfulness?” Mindful Schools, Mindful Schools, (n.d.), https://www.mindfulschools.org/what-is-mindfulness/.

2. Tips for Teaching Empathy to Children

Parenting Science has an excellent article with 10 tips for teaching empathy to children. The first tip in the article is to “provide children with the support they need to develop strong self-regulation skills,” a concept directly related to mindfulness practices!

Read that article here!

3. How to Talk to Your Kids About Their Mental Health

The website BETTER from nbcnews.com has an excellent article on how to talk to your kids about their mental health to help you "open the lines of communication and . . . keep an eye out for the warning signs of anxiety, depression and bullying."

Read that article here!

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