FOR ALL AGES
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Our children have had to adapt to big changes in their lives with no warning and like us, they may be feeling a little overwhelmed. By incorporating mindfulness into our daily lives we can help our children to explore their emotions and encourage a more positive way of thinking. We’ve collated a list of eleven mindfulness games and activities to help get you started.
We love the concept of the calming glitter jar and it’s a great way to practice mindfulness with children. The glitter represents all of your thoughts and feelings, when you shake your jar, imagine your head full of whirling thoughts and emotions then watch them slowly settle to the bottom while you calm down representing that you can now see things more clearly.
Your glitter jar can be used as and when you feel it would be helpful. You could use it as a tool for meditation or if your child struggles with expressing emotions and needs to take five minutes why not try using the glitter jar as an alternative to time out. This works for grown-ups too! You’ll be surprised at how calming it can be as you watch the glitter slowly settle to the bottom of your jar.
How to make your calming glitter jar:
Jar with a screw lid or for younger children we would recommend a plastic bottle
A jug of warm water
60ml glitter glue
3 drops of gel food colouring
60g-80g glitter
Method:
1. Add warm water to your jar or bottle until it reaches about a third of the way up
2. Add the glitter glue and give it a good stir until it’s all combined
3. Add your gel food colouring
4. Pour in your glitter. You could add different colours to represent different emotions
5. Give it a good stir and pour in some more water leaving a small gap at the top so it has room to move.
6. Your calming glitter jar is ready!
This activity is a great way to practice mindfulness with children of all ages. All children love bubbles so this is a really simple but fun mindfulness exercise you can try at home together.
How to do it: Get your child to slowly inhale deeply, feeling their breath fill up their chests then slowly exhaling to blow out the bubbles. Ask them to pay attention to the bubbles as they float up in the sky, land on the floor or pop. Repeat this several times, reminding them to take their time as they concentrate on their breaths . For older children, you can take this exercise a step further by asking them to use the bubbles to represent any bad feelings. So when they inhale ask them to think about anything that’s making them feel angry or upset, then as they exhale and blow out their bubbles that those bubbles are taking those bad feelings away. Stand and watch the bubbles float away.
A jar full of happiness is like gold dust, a special place to store all of your happy thoughts that you can delve into whenever you need a little pick-me-up. Creating your own happiness Jar is a great way of teaching mindfulness to your children and a fun activity which the whole family will benefit from.
How it works: Each day, talk with your children about what they’ve enjoyed most about their day, if something funny happened, what made them smile or made them feel good inside then ask them to write it down on a piece of paper along with their name and date. Get them to fold their note and pop it into your happiness jar. This is a great way to help children to focus on positive thoughts and feelings. Encourage younger children to get involved by simply asking them what they enjoyed best about their day or what made them feel happy and you can write it on a note for them. This is something us parents will benefit from too, sometimes there will be difficult days and we may feel stressed or overwhelmed, but by focusing on the little things and being thankful for what we do over what we don’t, it will encourage us to adopt a more positive outlook.
How to make your Happiness Jar: All you need is a large jar, some paper and pens and you're ready to go. If you want, you can let the kids get crafty and decorate the jar with glitter, stickers and ribbons.
When to open your jar: Some people save up their happy notes until New Year and sit and go through them all together, others save it for special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries and so on. It is really up to you, you can just use them simply if you're having a bad day and need something to help lift your moods. There’s no rule to it. What we do know is that this is a wonderful way to express gratitude and a simple daily activity you can do as a family to help revisit some of your happiest moments.
This is a fun mindfulness game that children of all ages can join in with. Simply fill a bag with a variety of different objects and the idea is that your children will have to explore their senses to try and guess what the object is without them seeing it.
How to play:
Looking for a simple way to teach children mindfulness? Get yourselves comfortable and gaze up to the skies, the clouds will provide you and your little ones with hours of mindfulness practice. A fun activity to do with children of all ages that will help them to relax and be present in the moment.
How to do it:
Yoga is an excellent way to explore mindfulness with children. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert to join in, you can start off with some really simple yoga exercises and breathing techniques. Here’s a few to get you started:
There’s so many fantastic resources available to you online, one of our favourites for mindfulness for children is Cosmic Kids Yoga. Visit their YouTube channel and you’ll find a series of fun and interactive videos set to some of your children's favourite stories and nursery rhymes. These videos are aimed at children aged 3 and over.
Teach mindfulness to your kids with this fun tasting game. Kids will love being blindfolded whilst trying to guess the different foods that you're feeding them. The purpose of this game is to encourage mindful eating and to get your children to explore their senses. Children of all ages will enjoy playing this game.
How it works:
Can you keep the balloon up? A fun mindfulness game suitable for children of all ages. All you need to do is to stop the balloon from touching the floor. This game is great for helping children to focus their minds and bodies.
How to play:
Looking for a mindfulness exercise to help your child to relax? Try a body scan meditation to help them wind down after a hectic day. This is a great mindfulness activity to do as part of your child's bedtime routine but can be practised at any time.
How to do it:
This is a great YouTube tutorial which will guide you through a Body Scan mediation exercise.
Going for a mindful walk is a great way to help your children practice mindfulness. Get your children to pay special attention to using their senses- sight, hearing, smell and touch.
How to do it:
Can you make it to the end without falling off? This balancing game will help to teach your kids about body awareness, paying attention and keeping calm. They will need to concentrate and stay focused to make it to the end without falling off. A fun mindfulness game for the whole family.
How to play:
Whilst learning at home and at school, it's important to check in with your kids and allow for some breathing space too. Download your Children's Mindfulness Kit below and keep it somewhere handy to remind the whole family to look after their mental health.
Main image credit: Pautova Iuliia / Shutterstock.com
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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