Mindfulness Activities for Children

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness refers to a state of being in the here and now—quieting the mind and just being present. When we aren't mindful, it's easy to hole up in our own minds, thinking about all the little tasks and stressors that are waiting for us. We've written about how mindfulness benefits adults, but what about children?

Teaching children about mindfulness can result in some big benefits related to attention, mood, and socially appropriate behavior. So, we've created a worksheet to help therapists, teachers, and anyone else who works with children, bring mindfulness into their office or classroom.

This worksheet describes seven fun activities to help children begin practicing mindfulness. We suggest only giving a brief explanation of mindfulness, and how it can be helpful (we describe it as "paying attention to the world"). Focus primarily on the activities where children can find some success and have fun. This worksheet was written with a small group of children in mind, but these mindfulness exercises can also work one-on-one. Oh, and even though they're written for kids, adults can get a lot of benefit from these activities as well!