TOOLKIT
Mindfulness and More for Kids and Adults
Mindfulness for Teachers
Mindful Moment
A mindful moment is a short opportunity to pause, even amidst a busy day. There are many resources for short meditations that can be done during a school day, even when you're with students.
- Video: Stop and Notice [Mindful Teacher, Mindful School]
- Video: Mindfulness Stop Skill [NowEffect]
- App: Headspace
- Resource: A Basic Meditation [Harvard Health]
- Resource: 10 Mindful Moments [Happiness Project]
Body Scan
Body scans bring awareness and attention to each part of your body, helping you notice how each part is connected, and ultimately bringing curiosity, openness, and calmness to your physical and mental state.
- Learn More: 7 Ways Mindfulness Can Help Teachers [Greater Good Magazine]
- Video: 3-Minute Body Scan [Fablefy]
- Video: 8-minute Body Scan Meditation [Jess Fleming]
Mindful Journaling
This can be a daily or weekly practice of reflecting on the day by bringing awareness to feelings, accomplishments, and challenges. Take 10 minutes each day or at the end of the week to respond to the questions: How do I feel right now? What is going on in my mind? Am I attentive to the present?
- Resource: Mindfulness Journaling for Teachers [Edutopia]
Mindfulness for Students
Meditation
These videos and teacher-led narrations help students explore listening, breathing, recognizing, and reflecting.
- Video for lower grades: Mindful Breathing [Class Dojo]
- Video for upper grades: Arrive – Mindful Minute [Mindful Schools]
- Home Resource: Meditation Choice Board
Movement
Lead students in simple movements to practice integrating the body and the breath..
- Video for lower grades: Activating the Brain with Movement Breaks [Edutopia]
- Video for lower grades: Mindful Movements [Class Dojo]
- Video for upper grades: Yoga for the Classroom [Yoga with Adriene]
- Video for upper grades: Mindful Movement 6-12 [Healthy Kids Learn More]
- Video: 5 Mindful Movements Practices for Youth [Mindful Schools]
- Resource: Breathing, Stretches, Workouts for the Classroom [Go Noodle]
- Home Resource: Movement Choice Board
Observation
Teach students to use their five senses to raise awareness and become better at calming and focusing.
- Strategy: Drawing Your Breath [Creativity in Therapy]
- Strategy: Mindful Observation [Momentous Institute]
- Strategy: Explore the Five Senses During a Nature Walk [Mindful Schools]
- Video: Countdown to Calm [Edutopia]
- Home Resource: Observation Choice Board
Tips for Reluctant Kids
Build Routine
When first introducing mindfulness to your classes, it is important to build a routine. Let the students know that this will be a daily practice, for starting, ending, or transitioning between activities. Practice is key!
- Learn More: Mindfulness for Children [New York Times]
Let Kids Lead
You can support students in taking on mindfulness practices by allowing students to lead them. If you often facilitate the same meditation, ask a student to lead the meditation! There are tools you can bring to your classroom that a student, even a young one, can easily lead, like a breathing ball, chimes, or singing bowls.
- Resource: Breathing Ball [Blissful Kids]
Encourage Student Choice
There are so many options for practicing mindfulness, and one may not work for every student in your classroom. Provide options for students so that they can select the option that is best for them.
- Resource: 51 Mindfulness Exercises for Kids in the Classroom [Waterford]
- Resource: FREEBIE – Mindfulness Choice Board [Teachers Pay Teachers]
Show Them the Research
Share the reasons why you decided to bring mindfulness to your classroom. Be transparent with your students about what you are hoping to achieve. Explain the research, and express the aspects that you want to support them in developing.
- Resource: Mindfulness and the Brain: How to Explain it to Children [Blissful Kids]
- Resource: Convincing Skeptics to Try Meditation [Greater Good]