Four Mindfulness Exercises For Kids Of Any Age
In the words of Mallika Chopra, mindfulness means becoming “more aware of our thoughts, bodies and surroundings.” Even young children can practice mindfulness by engaging in simple activities designed to encourage the development of self-regulation skills. Treating mindfulness as a skill you can practice helps kids gain better control of their bodies, emotions, and reactions to stress.
You don’t have to be an expert to help your children or students practice mindfulness. Here are four activities that you can read to a group or print out and give to kids to practice on their own.
Name My Feelings
This five-minute exercise can be done anytime, anywhere, and is a great way to learn how to respond to the ways our thoughts wander throughout the day. The goal is for kids to better understand their own feelings, so they can make more informed choices and take better care of themselves.
View the Name My Feelings exercise from Just Feel
What Frustrates Me?
This five-minute activity is about spending time with one of our most difficult feelings: frustration. When do you feel it? Why? What’s one thing you can do the next time you feel frustrated to help yourself feel better?
View the What Frustrates Me? Meditation from Just Feel
Draw My Feelings
Using feelings as a guide, this exercise encourages kids to express what’s going on inside. It’s another way to encourage curiosity and a way of looking at feelings without judging them. The goal is to let kids be as free as possible in what they draw.
View the Draw My Feelings activity from Just Feel
Setting Intentions
Learning how to set your own intentions can change your life! This activity teaches children to notice their own goals, express what they want, and take steps towards achieving what’s most important to them.
View the Intentions exercise from Just Be You
Featured Titles
Teach your kids how to understand their emotions and communicate in a healthy and productive way with this full-color guide to growth from Mallika Chopra, the daughter of Deepak Chopra.
Following in the footsteps of wellness author Mallika Chopra's successful Just Breathe and Just Feel, her third book, Just Be You, is an engaging, easy-to-read guide for young kids to learn tools that will help them live a good life. The United States and other nations are quickly becoming aware of the importance of children's ability to be independent and meet challenges head on; parents are eager for resources that help kids learn how to navigate life on their own.
Just Be You will help kids become focused on growth mindset by self-reflection, setting intentions for their lives, and being of service to themselves, their families, and the global community. Designed specifically with kids ages 8-12 in mind and with full-color illustrations throughout, Mallika's book offers mindful exercises to help young people explore and find their voice. Mallika believes that if children learn early on to reflect, to be comfortable with uncertainty, to contribute in a way that's unique to them, and to feel good about the journey, they will lead healthier, more adjusted, and happier lives.
Just Breathe is a fun and accessible, fully illustrated go-to meditation guide written by none other than Mallika Chopra, wellness expert and the daughter of Deepak Chopra. For kids ages 8 to 12, this book is full of specific exercises to help deal with day-to-day challenges and tips to lead a healthier, happier, and more connected life. The book includes practical advice on breathing techniques and guided meditations for a number of topics and scenarios, including:
- Dealing with stress
- Getting to sleep
- Building self-confidence
- Focusing on school/tests/other work
- Ridding oneself of anxiety
Beginners will learn the basics of meditation and how to get started, and those more experienced will learn how to improve their practice. This book will also teach kids how to prepare their own meditation spaces. Just Breathe is the go-to book for kids who want to learn more about mindfulness and meditation.
Wellness expert Mallika Chopra speaks to a younger audience in this new picture book about feeling emotions in your body through color.
Did you know that your body is absolutely amazing? It can do so many things at the same time, explore the world both inside and outside, and help you feel the feelings deep down inside. When you start to feel big feelings, it's helpful to use colors, words, and breath to explore your body and to make yourself calmer and more at peace.
In wellness expert Mallika Chopra's debut picture book, she helps children imagine a rainbow of colors radiating from their body and combines this color connection with breathing exercises to help them relieve stress, tension, fears, and sadness and to feel happier and more at peace. My Body Is a Rainbow, adapted from her middle grade guidebook Just Feel, is sure to be a go-to resource for parents, caregivers, and educators to help preschool-aged children feel safe, creative, strong, loved, unique, wise, and perfect just the way they are.
Featuring full-color illustrations, Just Feel is an engaging and easy-to-read guide that introduces kids to the building blocks of resilience and grit. The U.S. and other nations are quickly becoming aware of the importance of children's ability to be independent and meet challenges head on; parents are eager for resources that help kids learn how to navigate life on their own. Just Feel is one of the very few books on social and emotional health that speaks directly to kids. Designed specifically with kids ages 8-12 in mind, the book clearly addresses important topics such as flexibility, responsibility, communication, creativity, and self-knowledge. Written by the respected writer and wellness expert Mallika Chopra, Just Feel will effectively teach kids how they can balance their emotions and make positive choices for themselves.
More Resources
