Practice Mindfulness  

During this stressful time, it’s important that we practice mindfulness to decompress and refocus our attention. Below are mindfulness activities you can do at home.

• Create a Sensory Jar - Creating a sensory jar is not only a fun craft, but a way to settle our “glitter” (emotions)! (K-12)

  • Understanding Sensory Jars

  • How to Make a Sensory Bottle

  • Guided Mindfulness Activity with Sensory Bottle 1

  • Guided Mindfulness Activity with Sensory Bottle 2

• Diaphragmatic breathing (or “belly breathing”) is an effective relaxation technique that helps us relax, lower our heart rate, and calm our anxious minds.

  • Belly Breathe with Elmo (Sesame Street) (K-1)

  • Sitting Like a Frog - Mindfulness Breathing Video (K-2)

  • Rainbow Breath - Flow (GoNoodle)  (K-8)

  • Guided Imagery (1-8)

  • Morning MeditOceans - Guided Meditation with Critters (All)

• Coloring - As with meditation, mindfulness coloring allows us to switch off extraneous thoughts and focus on the moment... Much like other mindfulness activities, coloring directs our conscious attention away from ourselves and into the present moment. Click here for printable coloring pages.

• Mindful Schools - Live Mindfulness Classes - Free mindfulness classes online every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. (K-5)

• Mindful Tips- Mindfulness techniques/activities

Get Moving! Brain Breaks 

Brain breaks help our brains shift focus. It also reduces stress and anxiety, making it easier to focus on important tasks.

• Free YMCA classes online (All)

• Alo Yoga YouTube Channel (K-8)

• Cosmic Kids Yoga (Yoga & Mindfulness YouTube Channel) (K-3) 

• GoNoodle - Get Moving (YouTube Channel) (K-5)

• GoNoodle - Movement and Mindfulness Videos (K-8)

• Breathr - A mindfulness app.

• Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame Street - This is a resource app for you to share with your child to help teach skills such as problem solving, self-control, planning, and task persistence. Help a Sesame Street monster friend calm down and solve everyday challenges. (Grades PreK-1)

• Calm - A meditation, sleep, and relaxation app. Click here to view Calm’s free toolkit.

• Colorfy - Coloring therapy for adults available on your device. Let the colors fill your mind in a relaxing painting experience. 

• GoZen! - Teaches children 5-15 coping skills and how to manage stress and anxiety. (Grades K - 8) 

• Happify - Free, effective tools and programs to help you take control of your feelings and thoughts.

• Headspace - Practice mindfulness and meditation with this free app.

• Healthy Minds - Increased focus, less stress, more compassion, better health.

• Insight Timer - Free app for improving sleep, reducing anxiety and stress.

• MindShift - A free app that helps you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge and manage your worry. 

• Plum Village - A mindfulness app.

• Sanvello -  More than a meditation app, Sanvello gives you clinically validated techniques for dealing with stress, anxiety, and more.

• Shine - Daily meditations and self-care programs. There is also a free “Care For Your Coronavirus Anxiety” toolkit - click here to view the toolkit. 

• Smiling Mind -  A free mindfulness app.

• Tide - This free app integrates sleep, meditation, relaxation, and focus into an app, Tide is an app aiming at physical and mental care.

• White Noise -  Discover or create your perfect soundscape and then listen, relax, and calm your mind.

• Youper - An app to help monitor and regulate your emotional health.