Teach Mindfulness to children
Mindfulness is a state of mind when one can take things positively and relax despite a number of troubles surrounding him. It is all about how you handle the things in a troublesome situation. With sress levels increasing in the current scenario, i is necessary to teach mindfulness to children so that they learn to remain calm and cool in an awkward situation. Here are some techniques to teach the children about mindfulness:
1. Listen to the Bell
This is a perfect technique to draw one’s attention by making her/him concentrate on the sound of the ringing bell. Children should be made to listen to the sound of the bell with closed eyes. They should be later asked to describe what they had heard. The process can be repeated with similar sounds. They are then asked to form a circle and describe the sounds they had heard.
2. Breathing exercise with the help of toy
In this exercise, the kids are given a toy. They are asked to lie down and keep the toy on their belly. Now they are asked to breathe and see the movement of the toy on their belly. The toy moves rhythmically with the breathing. Ask them to imagine that a thought invades their mind and then floats in the air like bubbles. This helps them to imagine and meditate well. This exercise proves very effective as kids treat it as a game.
3. Squish and squeeze
The exercise of squish and squeeze is also effective and can be done with the children. For this exercise, ask the kids to squish and squeeze all their body muscles tightly. Ask them to suck their belly in and first squeeze their legs, chest and shoulder muscles and then relax them. The kids will enjoy doing this and the process of tightening and loosening body muscles will help them relax.
4. Touch the toy exercise
In this exercise, you can give a ball, a toy, a piece of cloth, a small bag, etc. and ask the children to touch the thing with closed eyes. Later ask them to describe the shape of the given thing. This exercise can be done in pairs. This can be repeated with different objects. This exercise helps them in analyse the shapes and the items and to describe the item in a better way. The kids will have fun doing this.
5. Take the smell exercise
This exercise requires different smelling items. It can be a flower, a feather, a piece of cloth, a toy with a beautiful fragrance or anything. Ask the kids to smell the item with closed eyes and try to guess what the item is. This exercise makes their senses extra alert and it is great fun doing the exercise.
These are a few exercises that can help the kid learn mindfulness with fun. As they do the exercise with closed eyes, it also helps them to visualize the item and imagine its shapes. These exercises are very effective in teaching mindfulness to children.
