Mindful Games

Games are a good hook for students who think mindfulness is "boring," and they can be a good way to practice mindful skills that you have already taught. Remember, you can do ANYTHING mindfully. This challenges the notion that mindfulness= calm. It doesn't necessarily. 

Here are a list of games that you can use to teach/practice mindful skills. 

Mindful process questions may include:

• What were you most aware of when you played this game?

• How did you feel playing this game?

• Did you use any strategies to reset while playing this game?

• When else could you use/practice this mindful skill?

Game: Night at the Museum

Mindful Skill: body awareness; spatial/interpersonal awareness

Instructions:

• Choose one student to be the museum guard.

• Select the theme of your museum.

• Students should freeze to represent a statue of something you would find in this museum (variation: yoga poses).

• The guard walks around the room.

• When the guard is not looking at them, students should move.

• Students must freeze when the guard is looking.

• Anyone that the guard sees moving is eliminated.

• The final person becomes the guard in the following round.

Game: Sky, mountain, earth, tree

Mindful Skill: body awareness; concentration; emotional awareness/regulation

Instructions:

• Teach students 4 poses:

  • Sky- stand tall and reach your arms up overhead

  • Mountain- stand tall and have your arms at your sides

  • Earth- Bend over and reach your hands towards the earth

  • Tree- Stand tall with arms overhead; rest one foot against the leg, or bring it up to the calf to balance in tree pose

• Level 1: lead students through poses; start slow and model, then gradually get faster and stop modeling 

• Level 2: switch the command for "sky" and "mountain". When you say "sky," students do mountain pose. When you say "mountain," students do sky pose. Earth and Tree stay the same. Take your time moving slowly with them. Then build speed. 

  • Reflect: How does it feel to switch the commands and get moving so fast? What can you do if you feel like you can't keep up (preteach- pause. take 3 deep breaths. relax your body. begin again OR other skills)

• Level 3: Level 2 AND switch the command for "earth" and "tree." Run the game again. Invite students to use a strategy when they notice their body getting buzzy/mind getting frustrated

Game: "You are a magical unicorn"

Mindful Skill: emotional awareness/regulation; interpersonal connection

Instructions: 

• Students sit in a circle; Students must keep a straight face and make eye contact as they do this. Start at one end of the circle. One student looks at the other students and says, "_______ (person's name), you are a magical unicorn." The second person replies, "Thank you." The second person than passes to the person on the other side of them, all the way around the circle.

  • Reflect: What does it feel like when you want to laugh? How do you keep yourself from laughing when you really want to? 

Game: Switcheroo

Mindful Skill: body awareness; spatial awareness

Instructions:

• Have students circle up around the outside of the classroom.

• Students must move slowly from one side of the room to the other without touching anyone or anything. 

• Invite them to move more quickly with time, keeping in mind that can't touch anyone or anything.

Game: Don't steal my keys

Mindful Skills: listening, body awareness, spatial awareness

Instructions:

• The Key Guard sits in the middle on a chair with their eyes closed (or blindfolded). Place a set of keys (or something noisy) under the chair.

• Everyone else sits in a circle around the Key Guard.

• If students want to be the Key Thief, they raise their hands and the facilitator silently picks one person by pointing.

•  That person tries to get the middle, get the keys, and sneak back without the Key Guard noticing. (Easier variation is just to get the keys off the ground) 

• The Key Guard points to where they think the Key Thief is coming from. If they get it right, the Key Guard wins and someone else gets to try.

•  If they don't get it right in three guesses OR the Key Thief makes it back to their seat, someone else gets to try and be the Guard. 

Game: Stadium Wave

Mindful Skills: body awareness, interpersonal awareness

Instructions: 

• Students stand in a line or circle

• Students courch down with their knes bent and hands touch the floor. The second player starts when the first player has their hands in the air.

• "When I say go, start the wave." 

  • speed it up

  • switch directions

from mindful games Susan Kaiser Greenland

Game: Mind, Body, Go!

Mindful Skills: emotional awareness, body awareness

Instructions:

• Have students stand/sit in a circle.

• Students will roll the ball to one another. When you receive the ball, name one thing you're feeling in your mind, one in your body. (example- my mind is excited and my fingers are tingling!)

from mindful games Susan Kaiser Greenland

Game: Ghost

Mindful Skills: spatial awareness, sound awareness

Instructions: 

• Everyone stands up, spaced arm’s length from walls, furniture, and people.

• Eyes stay closed, and participants remain still.

• One person is secretly tapped to become the Ghost.

• When the teacher says “go,” only the Ghost opens their eyes.

• The Ghost tries to “haunt” others by standing behind them, silently counting to five, then tapping their shoulder.

• If tapped, the person sits down and becomes a silent observer.

• If someone suspects the Ghost is behind them, they may ask, “Is there a ghost behind me?”

  • If correct, they switch roles with the Ghost.

  • If wrong, they sit down and become an observer.

• The Ghost must haunt if they approach someone—no fake-outs or dodging.

• Multiple rounds can be played if time allows.

Game: Change Two Things

Mindful Skills: Observation

Instructions:

• You’ll be paired with a partner and have 30 seconds to study each other’s appearance.

• When told to “go,” turn back-to-back and each change two subtle but visible things about your appearance (e.g., untie a shoelace, flip a hood up).

• Changes should be physical and observable—not thoughts or preferences.

• After 30 seconds, turn back around and try to guess what your partner changed.

• Then switch partners and repeat the activity.

Game: Snow ball fight!

Mindful Skills: listening closely

Materials Needed: Blindfold (bandana or shirt), crumpled paper “snowballs” or other soft tossables, and a bucket.

• One brave volunteer is chosen to be It and waits outside the room with a blindfold on.

• Everyone else finds a spot in the room to become a statue—you can sit, stand, or hide quietly anywhere.

• Once ready, It returns with a bucket of snowballs and puts on the blindfold.

• It moves around the room, listening carefully for any sound (giggles, movements, squeaks).

• If It hears something, they can toss a snowball in that direction.

  • If a statue is hit, that person is out.

• Statues may move quietly to avoid being hit, but risk making noise.

• When all snowballs are used, a new volunteer becomes It.

• Repeat as time allows.