Mindfulness for Kids at The Baby Room

In the past, I often found myself telling my children to “calm down” or to “relax” but never showing them what these things actually meant or in fact, how to achieve them.  Through my studies and self-practice of Mindfulness, I began to realise that just as I was learning ways to acknowledge and work through stress and emotions, my children needed the resources to do the same. 

Mindfulness means paying attention, in a particular way, on purpose and in the present moment.  It involves acceptance – paying attention to thoughts and feelings, without judging or reacting to them.  Studies suggest that mindfulness can help develop our children’s concentration and self-awareness, providing tools to help calm down and to make better decisions.  Children who practice mindfulness benefit from improved cognitive outcomes, social-emotional skills, and wellbeing. These benefits may lead to long-term improvements in life, such as improved education, employment, crime, substance abuse and mental health outcomes in adulthood.

There has been an explosion of research into the neuroplasticity of the brain, which seems to conclude that brain training, using mindfulness practices, strengthens the areas of the brain that are responsible for attention, emotional control and problem solving. Specifically, mindfulness can help us to shift our attention and regulate our reactions.  Compassion based mindfulness practices, both towards ourselves and others, also appear to combat the production of negative emotions.

It can be a difficult enough concept for the adult brain, so finding ways to teach practices to my children has been a really creative process.  We started with a nightly body scan, which is one of the fundamental ways of bringing consciousness to different parts of the body and we incorporate a level of gratitude practice into this – thanking our bodies for being strong, and brave and for helping us have fun throughout the day.  The responses of my own children to this and to breathing work, led me to want to develop a programme of work with other children and so our Mindfulness for Kids Programme at The Baby Room was devised.  

Over the course of four weeks, children are introduced to mindfulness in a fun way, fostering the development of those calming and relaxation skills.  We introduce the concept of Breathing Buddies, helping children to connect with their breath.  Bubbles and balloons are other simple ways of tuning in to our breathing. Our Spider Hero Super Senses encourage us to notice what our senses are bringing to us, the noises we hear, the smells we smell, the tastes we taste. Weather Reports and Gratitude Practices help us to identify our feelings in a safe, supported environment. Physical craft activities such as making Worry Trees, Mindful Colouring, blow painting and the making of a Mind Jar give our practice of a sometimes abstract concept, a more concrete basis.  Games, songs and stories that require focused attention are also interspersed through classes.  The children are really embracing the concepts and the class is fast becoming one of my favourites to teach, helping me fine tune my own practice into the mix.