70 Mindfulness Activities for Kids to Help Stay Calm and Focused

Childhood is full of ups and downs—from fickle friendships and encounters with bullies to unforgettable milestones and graduation. Practicing mindfulness activities for kids can help them direct internal and external experiences more gracefully and easily.

Here are 70 fun and easy mindfulness activities children can try at home, in school, outdoors, and on their own.

Why is Mindfulness Important for Kids?

Mindfulness isn’t just about “being in the moment.” This practice can give children a sense of ownership over their emotions and encourage them to regulate difficult ones like anger, frustration, and hurt [*].

As the world around our children becomes increasingly distracting, mindfulness can ground them and improve their focus and attention. When children can focus on their thoughts and feelings, they become more self-aware and empathetic towards others [*].

Mindfulness Activities for Kids at Home

1. Teddy bear breathing: This activity is just like belly breathing, only you’ll ask your child to hold their favorite stuffed animal while taking deep breaths. Encourage them to notice as their belly rises and falls.
2. Body scan: Ask your child to focus their mind from the top to the bottom of their body. This will help them connect their body to the present moment.
3. Guided meditation: Use guided meditations to help your child start or end their day calmly and in a positive mood.
4. Muscle relaxation: Use progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) by asking your child to tense and release their muscles.
5. Puzzles: Puzzles like Sudoku, jigsaws, and word finds sharpen the mind and make for great mindfulness practice.
6. Dragon breathing: Ask your child to breathe in and “breathe out the fire,” like a dragon. You can incorporate a made-up story about dragons to get their imaginations going.
7. Mindful eating: Instruct your child to think about their food’s texture, smell, and taste as they eat. Tell them to savor each bite.
8. Mirror exercise: Stand your child in front of a mirror and have them speak to themselves. They can recite daily affirmations or talk to their reflection like a friend.
9. Pinwheel breathing: Teach your child to perform deep breaths using a pinwheel.
10. STOP mindfulness: Teach your child the basics of mindfulness with this acronym: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, and Proceed.
11. Sensory bin: Build a sensory bin with household and craft items like marbles, sand, uncooked pasta, rice, and fidget toys.
12. Calm-down corner: Designate a calm-down corner in your home where children can reflect on their emotions and ground themselves.
13. Heartbeat tracking: Do a few jumping jacks, then close your eyes and track how many heartbeats you can count over a minute.
14. Aromatherapy: Use essential oils or breathing sticks to calm the senses after a long day.

Mindfulness Activities for Kids at School

1. Yoga: Teachers can host a short yoga session to release stress at the beginning or end of the day.
2. Mindful quote jar: Ask students to write their favorite mindfulness quotes on a small sheet of paper. Each day, the teacher can read one quote to inspire students.
3. Mindfulness bingo: Give students bingo sheets listing mindfulness activities. At the end of the week, the teacher can host a discussion about how many of these activities their students did and how they felt about each one.
4. Wiggle and freeze: This fun game helps kids practice mindfulness and improve bodily awareness. Teachers ask students to wiggle and then freeze. When they stop moving, they pay attention to the sensations in their bodies.
5. Daily quiet time: Dedicate a few minutes each school day to quiet time so students can reflect and relax.
6. Positive affirmations: Ask students to recite positive affirmations about themselves to reflect on their strengths.
7. Feelings chart: Hang up a feelings chart in the classroom and ask each child to identify how they feel at the start and end of the day.
8. Draw your breath: Ask students to breathe in and doodle freely on a piece of paper as they breathe out.
9. Room observation: Ask each child to observe something about your classroom that they may not have noticed before. It’ll encourage them to be more in tune with their surroundings.
10. Finger painting: Pair finger painting with guided meditation. Ask each student to let their hands move freely as they breathe in and out.
11. Balancing poses: Balancing poses keep children’s focus on their bodies. Ask them to do a tree pose, dancer’s pose, or half moon.
12. Happiness collage: Ask students to use mixed media to create a collage that reflects what makes them happy.
13. Self-portraits: This excellent art project inspires kids to think about what makes them beautiful and unique.
14. Bead bracelets: Students make simple beaded bracelets together to foster a sense of community, friendship, and respect.

Mindfulness Activities for Kids Outdoors

1. Nature walk: Take a stroll in the park or spend a few minutes outdoors. Ask your child to reflect on what engages their senses.
2. Senses scavenger hunt: Provide a safe space in your backyard or local park for your child to name something they can hear, see, smell, and touch.
3. Bubble blowing: Sit outdoors with your kids, and give them bubbles. Ask them to reflect on their feelings and figuratively “blow” them into the bubbles.
4. Mindful gardening: If you have a garden, set aside space for a herb or flower patch. When planting seeds with your child, encourage them to notice how the soil feels in their hands.
5. Cloud watching: Observe clouds from a backyard, park, or rooftop. Enjoy the shapes and patterns together.
6. Mindful listening: Pay attention to the sounds you hear in nature, whether a bird chirping, the wind blowing, or the trees swaying.
7. Outdoor I Spy: Find a target item, such as something green or feathery, and take turns finding it in nature.
8. Rock stacking: Stack rocks to create a tall tower. As you go, talk about what balance means in your life.
9. Rock painting: Gather smooth rocks and paint them with positive messages or inspiring colors. Lay them out in your garden.
10. Build with sand: Playing with sand makes for an excellent sensory experience if you live near a beach. If not, you can purchase kinetic sand to play with in the garden.
11. Smell flowers: Enjoy the scents of flowering plants and engage your child’s senses. Notice the different notes in each flower type.
12. Make nature art: Use fallen leaves, stones, bark, and fallen fruit to create inspired pieces of art.
13. Water play is an excellent sensory activity for kids to connect with nature. Incorporate other elements like flowers, scented herbs, and other natural materials.
14. Nature photography: Provide your child with a camera or phone to take photos of things in nature that make them feel calm, grateful, and relaxed.

Solo Mindfulness Activities for Kids

1. Mindful journaling: Journaling is an excellent way for your child to express their feelings in a particular moment. They can use a journal to reflect on their experiences later.
2. Books about mindfulness: Provide your child with age-appropriate books highlighting mindfulness.
3. Music appreciation: The next time your child listens to their favorite music, ask them to reflect on how their bodies feel as they listen, what different sounds they hear that they may not have noticed before, and how their breath changes with the rhythm of the music.
4. Mindful coloring: Provide your child with a coloring book and materials. Ask them to pay close attention to their chosen colors and why they chose them.
5. Crafting: Crafting allows children to work with their hands and engage with different shapes, colors, and mediums.
6. Gratitude listing: Gratitude lists can promote positivity and encourage children to focus on what they’re grateful for. Encourage them to introduce gratitude lists into their daily routine.
7. Letter writing: Writing letters to others or oneself allows children to reflect on how they feel about their identity and how they relate to others.
8. Mindful stretching: As children start their days, encourage them to stretch their bodies. Give each limb consideration and notice where they may feel tense or stiff.
9. Mindfulness apps: For older kids with access to smartphones, there are various mindfulness apps, such as Calm, that provide tools like guided meditations.
10. Look out the window: Each morning, encourage your child to look out their bedroom window and observe what is happening outside.
11. Finger tapping: Start or end the day with the emotional freedom technique (EFT) or finger tapping. Tap against the temples, chin, and cheekbones to calm the nervous system.
12. Setting intentions: To begin their day, kids can set simple goals and intentions. Ask them to write their intentions in a planner or put a sticky note on their mirror.
13. Kind wishes: Making kind, loving wishes about other people can make children more empathetic. They might wish for kindness, love, and courage for family members and friends.
14. Positive self-talk: Sometimes, kids don’t feel comfortable expressing themselves to others. Motivate them to speak kindly to themselves when they’re alone.

Group Mindfulness Activities for Kids

1. Monkey See, Monkey Do: If you have multiple children, you can play Monkey See, Monkey Do to increase their body awareness.
2. Blindfolded movement: Children can heighten their senses and engage in free-form movement without judgment.
3. Partner breathing: Kids sit back to back with their spines lined up. They’ll attempt to sync their breathing with their partner’s.
4. Eye gazing: Children sit in front of each other and make eye contact for a few minutes without talking. Ask them to tune into their emotions and feel them freely.
5. Guided imagery: Find photos of relaxing places in books or online. Visualize being in that space and describe the sights and sounds you experience.
6. Positive memories: Take turns sharing positive memories that make each child feel motivated, loved, and understood.
7. Word association: Start with one word, then take turns mentioning a related word. Reflect on your child’s stream of consciousness as they participate.
8. Shared mural: Spend an afternoon creating collaborative art. Use mixed media to engage all the senses.
9. Draw patterns: Drawing repetitive patterns together can help the brain slow down. Play calming music as you enjoy this activity.
10. Gratitude catch: Sit in a circle and ask each child to name one thing they are grateful for. When they’re done, they’ll roll the ball to the next person.
11. Dance party: Dance and move to different kinds of music. Pay attention to how each child’s movements change with the genre.
12. Cooking: Engaging kids in a new hobby like cooking taps into their ability to focus and immerse themselves in the present moment.
13. Slow motion movements: Have each child move around the room in slow motion. They’ll pay extra attention to how their bodies flow.
14. Emotion charades: Each person will act out an emotion while others guess what they’re portraying.

The Bottom Line

When children are mindful, they are more compassionate toward themselves and patient with their progress. They can be calm and focused—ready to conquer the day!

Check out our other coping skills worksheets to incorporate into your child’s mindfulness journey.

Sources:

1. Semple R & Willard C. “The Mindfulness Matters Program for Children and Adolescents.” Google Books, 2019.
2. McNaughton S. “Developing pre-requisites for empathy: increasing awareness of self, the body and the perspectives of others.” Teaching in Higher Education, 2016.