Blooming Early Years

Children with anxiety often feel overwhelmed, but mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety can help them find calm and feel more in control. These simple practices teach kids how to manage worries and relax. Mindfulness also helps build resilience, which is very important for their emotional growth.

You don’t need special tools or long sessions to start. Easy activities like deep breathing and mindful coloring can work wonders. With consistent practice, kids learn to handle anxiety better.

Mindfulness Exercises for Children with Anxiety

Here are some easy mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety to help children connect with their bodies. Young children are naturally curious about their body’s flexibility and strength. This makes it the perfect time to introduce mindfulness as a tool for self-care.

1. Power Posing

A simple way to introduce mindfulness is through fun body poses. Let kids know that these poses can help them feel happy, strong, and confident.

Start by finding a quiet and familiar spot where the children feel safe. Then, guide them to try one of these poses:

• The Wonder Woman Pose: Stand tall with legs wider than hip-width apart. Place hands or fists on the hips and hold the position.
• The Superman Pose: Stand with feet slightly wider than the hips, clench your fists, and stretch your arms upward toward the sky, making the body as tall as possible.

Ask the children how they feel after practicing each pose a few times. Their answers might pleasantly surprise you!

2. Super Senses

Building on the superhero theme, this activity teaches kids to stay present and aware.

Encourage them to activate their “super senses,” much like Spiderman. Have them focus on their senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell—to observe their surroundings closely.

This practice helps children pause, pay attention to the moment, and become curious about what their senses reveal (Karen Young, 2017).

It’s one of the timeless mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety that nurtures observation and awareness—skills that benefit everyone.

3. The Mindful Jar

This activity helps children understand how intense emotions can overwhelm them and teaches strategies to regain calm.

• Start by taking a clear jar, like a Mason jar, and filling it almost completely with water. Add a generous spoonful of glitter glue or regular glue with dry glitter. Secure the lid tightly and shake the jar to make the glitter swirl around.
• Next, guide the activity with this script or adapt it as needed:

“Imagine the glitter represents your thoughts when you’re upset, angry, or stressed. Notice how it swirls wildly, making it hard to see clearly? This is why it’s difficult to make good choices when you’re overwhelmed—your thoughts are too chaotic. But don’t worry, everyone experiences this, even adults.

[Place the jar down in front of them]

Now watch the jar while staying still for a few moments. Observe how the glitter begins to settle, and the water becomes clear again. This is just like your mind. When you take time to calm down, your thoughts settle, and you can see things more clearly. Taking deep breaths during this process helps you manage those strong emotions.”

This is one of the mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety that not only helps kids understand how emotions can cloud their thinking but also introduces mindfulness. Watching the glitter settle provides a simple way to practice staying present and calm.

Encourage kids to focus on one emotion at a time, such as anger, and relate the swirling and settling glitter to how that emotion feels and changes.

4. The Safari

The Safari activity is a fun and engaging way to teach children mindfulness. It transforms an ordinary walk into an exciting exploration.

Tell the children that they’re going on a safari adventure. Their mission is to notice as many birds, insects, and animals as possible. Anything that crawls, swims, flies, or walks is worth observing. Please encourage them to use all their senses, especially to spot small details, like tiny bugs or faint sounds.

This activity mirrors a mindfulness walk for adults, creating a sense of awareness and grounding in the present moment.

5. A Practice of Gratitude for Children

By Susan Kaiser Greenland

Leading the activity:

• Ask your child, “Have you ever felt let down by something or someone?”
• Then ask, “How did that make you feel?”

Acknowledge their emotions and discuss them if needed.

• You can say something like, “Even when you’re feeling let down, there are still positive things happening in your life. Let’s think of three good things together.”

Suggestions for naming three good things:

1. Remind your child that the goal of this game isn’t to deny their feelings when they’re upset. It’s about understanding they can feel both gratitude for the good things and sadness, disappointment, or frustration over challenges at the same time.
2. If kids or teens have difficulty coming up with three good things by themselves, help them brainstorm and uncover some.
3. Once kids understand that this game isn’t about ignoring their emotions, the phrase “three good things” can become a lighthearted response to small complaints in family life.
4. Parents can also encourage their kids to remind them to share Three Good Things when they feel stuck by a minor setback or inconvenience.
5. To help build a routine of gratitude, play Three Good Things at the dinner table, before bed, and during other family moments together.

If you want more ways to promote mindfulness in kids and teens, explore additional mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety from this resource. Or, move on to the next section for essential tips on teaching mindfulness concepts.

Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids and Teenagers

When introducing mindfulness to kids or teens, it’s important to follow a few key steps to ensure success:

• Begin when they’re calm and ready to try mindfulness. If they’re bursting with energy or eager to play, wait for a better time.
• Clearly explain what mindfulness is and isn’t. Provide examples to distinguish mindfulness from introspection or chasing thoughts.
• Use simple, age-appropriate language that they can easily understand.
• Practice mindfulness alongside them. Modeling the behavior often makes a big difference.
• Reassure them that it’s okay to lose focus. Teach them how to gently redirect their attention back to mindfulness.
• End the session with an enjoyable activity to leave them with a positive experience.

Megan Cowan, co-founder and co-director of the Mindful Schools program in Oakland, shares additional advice (2010):

• Keep mindfulness purposeful. Introduce it during positive moments, never as a form of discipline.
• Regularly practice mindfulness yourself to set an example.
• Establish a daily mindfulness routine to help children incorporate it seamlessly.
• Adjust the environment for mindfulness, such as rearranging furniture or switching seating positions.
• Involve kids in the process. For example, let a child announce the start of mindfulness or prepare the tools.
• Share your personal mindfulness experiences to help them see its practical application. Discuss how you refocus when distracted.
• Encourage kids to share their experiences too—both successes and moments of distraction. Consider ending sessions with reflections.
• Practice daily to embed mindfulness into their routine, making it easier and more natural.

Cowan also provides a mini-lesson script you can use:

1. Ask kids to sit still and quietly in their “mindful bodies,” upright with eyes closed.
2. Instruct them to focus on the sound they’re about to hear.
3. Ring a mindfulness bell or use a rain stick, encouraging them to listen until the sound fades completely.
4. When the sound is gone, ask them to raise their hands.
5. Guide them to place a hand on their stomach or chest to feel their breath. Offer gentle prompts like “breathing in … breathing out.”
6. End the session by ringing the bell again.

For more insights, explore Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community. Annaka Harris’s website also offers creative mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety for kids.

Mindfulness Apps, Videos, and Games to Enhance Your Teaching

Technology can be a powerful tool for teaching mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety. To make the most of these resources, explore the following options to support your efforts:

1. Smiling Mind App

The Smiling Mind app is a popular choice for children as young as seven. It’s free to download from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

This app offers features like a body scan activity, similar to the Mindfulness for Children app. It includes numerous modules with hundreds of sessions tailored for wellbeing, education, and even workplace use for adults.

To learn more or read user reviews, visit their official website.

2. Still Quiet Place Video

If you prefer videos, the “Mindfulness Exercises for Kids: Still Quiet Place Video” is an excellent option. This animated video teaches children how to find their “still quiet place.”

You can watch the video here. For additional activities, scroll below the video to explore more ideas from GoZen.com.

Mindfulness Games for Kids

Interactive games can make mindfulness fun and engaging for children. The Kids Activities Blog suggests these creative ideas:

• Blowing bubbles: Guide children to take deep, slow breaths and exhale steadily to form bubbles. Encourage them to observe each bubble’s formation, detachment, and movement.
• Pinwheels: Use similar breathing techniques to focus their attention on the spinning pinwheel.
• Balloon play: Challenge children to keep a balloon off the ground by moving slowly and gently. Pretend the balloon is fragile to encourage careful movements.
• Texture bag: Fill a bag with various small, textured objects. Let each child feel an object without looking and describe it using only their sense of touch.
• Blindfolded taste tests: Blindfold each child and have them mindfully taste a small food item, like a raisin or cranberry, as if it’s their first time eating it.

For more mindfulness games, check out the book Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families by Susan Kaiser Greenland.

With these tools, you can make mindfulness an enjoyable and enriching experience for children!

Mindfulness Training Classes for Kids with Anxiety

Mindfulness can play a key role in the lives of children dealing with anxiety. By learning mindfulness techniques, children can understand that worrying is a normal part of life and discover effective ways to manage excessive worry.

In addition to the Mindful Schools program mentioned earlier, several classes and programs are specifically designed for children, including those tailored for kids with anxiety.

The Child Mind Institute emphasizes education, care, and research, offering a variety of customizable programs. You can visit their website to schedule a workshop that fits your child’s needs.

Another well-known program is “MonkeyMind and Me: A Mindfulness Course for Children.” This eight-week course includes one-hour weekly sessions where children are taught how to meditate and engage in mindfulness practices.

Lessons are creatively delivered through the story of MonkeyMind, a friendly puppet struggling with self-regulation (“MonkeyMind and Me,” 2017). The course includes engaging lessons, hands-on practice, a DIY project, and a special graduation ceremony.

The thoughtful structure of these activities makes learning mindfulness both enjoyable e and beneficial for everyone involved.

The Basics: Introducing Fundamental Mindfulness Skills

Before stepping into a classroom, it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with foundational mindfulness practices. Mastering these basics can improve success when teaching students or clients mindfulness techniques.

1. Mindful Breathing as One of the Mindfulness Exercises for Children with Anxiety

Mindful breathing is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice and serves as the basis for many other mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety. To introduce this concept to kids, you can use engaging tools like videos (like the one below:

One such video guides children through a breathing meditation by having them visualize a sailboat gently rising and falling with each inhale and exhale. It encourages them to imagine their breath with color and focus on how it moves through their nostrils.

The session concludes by asking children to imagine they were once a fish, paying attention to how it would feel to breathe with lungs for the very first time.

2. Heartbeat Exercise as One of the Mindfulness Exercises for Children with Anxiety

Noticing one’s heartbeat is integral to many mindfulness activities. Begin by asking children to jump in place or perform jumping jacks for a minute.

Once they finish, have them sit down, place a hand on their heart, close their eyes, and focus on their heartbeat. They can also tune into their breath as they do this.

These are one of mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety that help them develop awareness of their heartbeat, providing a simple yet effective way to enhance their focus. These foundational skills prepare children for more advanced mindfulness practices.

Need more on this, watch the video below:

3. Body Scan as One of the Mindfulness Exercises for Children with Anxiety

The body scan is another vital mindfulness technique and is simple to teach kids. Follow these steps:

• Have the children lie on their backs on a comfortable surface and close their eyes.
• Instruct them to tighten all their muscles, squeezing their toes, making fists, and stiffening their arms and legs.
• After holding the tension for a few seconds, have them release and relax all their muscles for a few moments.
• Encourage them to reflect on how their bodies feel throughout the activity.

This practice helps children develop body awareness and encourages them to stay present in the moment. By introducing these mindfulness exercises for children with anxiety, children gain valuable tools to manage stress, focus, and cultivate awareness in their daily lives.

Need more on this, watch the video below:

Mindfulness Meditation for Young Children

You might assume mindfulness exercises are better suited for elementary or middle school students and less practical for younger children. However, this section highlights strategies specifically designed for toddlers through kindergarten graduates.

One mother shared her five key strategies for introducing mindfulness to young children, starting with her three-year-old:

1. Help children identify and recognize emotions. Teach them to connect words describing emotions with how those emotions feel physically. For example, does anger feel like steam rising? Does love feel like their heart might burst?
2. Validate their emotions. Avoid dismissing their feelings, even if they seem minor. When teaching mindfulness, focus on helping them understand and listen to their emotions without judgment.
3. Introduce mindful breathing techniques. Mindful breathing serves as the foundation of all mindfulness practices. Teach children to use breathing as a tool for managing overwhelming emotions.

The blog author also shared three specific breathing techniques she uses with her children:

1. Counting breaths: Children pause to count each breath, with one inhale as “1” and the next exhale as “2.” Start with 10 breaths for younger kids or adjust based on their age.
2. Noticing the breath: Guide them to focus on the sensations of breathing and how it feels in their bodies.
3. Five-finger starfish meditation: Have them spread one hand like a starfish and trace each finger with the opposite hand while focusing on their breathing.

• Lead guided meditations. Use apps, scripts, or simple exercises to help children relax and focus.
• Model mindfulness yourself. Children naturally mimic adults, so practicing mindfulness alongside them sets an example and strengthens the experience for everyone.

The Benefits of Mindfulness in Schools

Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for building the foundation of mental health. Research shows that mindfulness programs in schools offer cognitive, social, and emotional advantages for students in elementary and middle school.

Cognitive Benefits

Executive function, which includes skills like attention, planning, and organization, can improve with mindfulness. Studies show:

• Third graders who completed an 8-week mindfulness program had better behavioral regulation and focus compared to peers without the program (Flook et al., 2010).
• Elementary students with 24 weeks of mindfulness training scored higher on attentional measures (Napoli et al., 2004).
• Preschoolers who participated in a 12-week mindfulness curriculum performed better academically and developed skills linked to long-term success (Flook et al., 2015).

Social Benefits

Social skills are crucial for communication and classroom dynamics. Mindfulness programs help:

• Lower-income elementary students develop respect and care in class, leading to better participation (Black et al., 2013).
• High school classrooms build a culture of mutual respect and collaboration.

Emotional Benefits

Mindfulness supports emotional health by helping students manage stress and boost overall well-being. For example:

• Mindfulness led to higher optimism and positive emotions in elementary students (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2010).
• Preteens reported feeling calmer, sleeping better, and experiencing improved well-being after a 5-week stress reduction program (Wall, 2005).

Mindfulness Videos for Schools

These four videos introduce students to mindfulness and its benefits. After watching, facilitate a discussion with questions like:

• “What was your experience with mindfulness?”
• “Why do you think mindfulness isn’t more common, and how can we encourage it?”

Pairing videos with discussions helps students reflect and connect mindfulness to their own lives.

Mindful Parenting Insights

By Elisha Goldstein

Following the oxygen mask rule is essential: take care of yourself first before helping your child. The more we learn how to be mindful, the better equipped we are to use mindful parenting techniques and truly appreciate our children’s ability to stay present in each moment.

Parenting requires an internal set of skills—being aware of the present, recognizing changes, and understanding what’s important moving forward. In everyday life, make it a point to acknowledge your emotions, pause before reacting, and practice active listening.

7 Habits of Mindful Families

1. Accept Imperfection

Mistakes are inevitable. You’ll hurt your children’s feelings at times and won’t always meet their or your own expectations, but that doesn’t make you a bad parent—it makes you human. Embracing this helps you find more peace and grace within yourself.

2. Listen with Open Curiosity

Taking time to listen more attentively allows family members to approach challenges with a growth mindset. View struggles and achievements as learning opportunities. Rather than judging, focus on understanding by asking questions like, “Tell me more,” or consider their point of view by asking, “Why might they act like this?”

3. Communicate with Honesty and Courage

Being open and truthful about your needs and emotions fosters trust and connection. It’s an act of kindness that strengthens relationships. This approach builds on listening with curiosity and helps everyone feel safe to share their feelings and needs.

4. Express Appreciation and Gratitude

Regardless of whether words of affirmation are your main love language, everyone wants to feel acknowledged. A simple yet powerful way to do this is by practicing gratitude.

Acknowledge your partner or children for small acts like completing chores or being punctual. This shift can create a more positive and cooperative atmosphere in the home.

5. Forgive Yourself and Others

Mindfulness helps us realize that mistakes aren’t signs of failure, but chances to learn. They teach us about life’s challenges, what gets in our way, and how to regain balance. Using the phrase “forgive, investigate, and invite” can be incredibly helpful.

If you make a mistake, forgive yourself, understand that you can’t change the past, and remember that errors often come from confusion or negative emotions.

6. Support and Show Generosity

Children observe and imitate our actions. It’s crucial to model generosity and kindness by involving them in these activities. Consider participating in community service projects or encouraging your kids to create cards or drawings for those in need. These acts, big or small, contribute to healing and strengthen family connections.

7. Remember to Have Fun

It may sound silly, but it’s easy to forget to have fun amidst the busyness of raising children. The pressure of parenting can sometimes make us overly focused on tasks, like chores and homework, leaving little room for enjoying each other’s company. Taking time to play and have fun together helps maintain the joy of being a family.

A Final Thought

Studies show that mindfulness has a positive impact on mental health by enhancing wellbeing, focus, self-control, and social skills. However, it must be consistently practiced and encouraged to be effective.

Introducing mindfulness-based programs in schools can profoundly influence the emotional, social, and cognitive development of children and teenagers. Whether at home or in professional settings, how can you incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine or lessons?

Do you have children or interact with them regularly? Explore these strategies and activities, and share your experiences in the comments section below.

Best wishes, and remember this timeless saying:

“Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.”

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