Teaching Children Deep Breathing and Mindfulness

Below are 3 great videos to help your kids learn the art of deep breathing and mindfulness.

This 2-minute video explains the 3 steps to meditation, including sitting posture, feeling your breath, and dealing with distractions.  Great video for students or staff!




The video below (a little over 1 minute) explains the brain regions impacted by mindfulness/deep breathing. It introduces three words - prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Great for elementary school-aged students!




The 3.5 minute video below helps students better understand the mind-body connection. It uses relatable students to teach the concept of deep breathing.

 

Feeling Balloon Balls - A Must Have

If you do not have these in your office, I highly, highly recommend making some!  I use these ALL of the time! 

They are great conversation starters with kids on how they feel that day.  Without me asking, sometimes they pull out a feeling balloon ball and say, "This is how I feel." 

They are also great assessment tools.  I may pull out the angry balloon ball and say, "Tell me about a time when you feel angry" or "What do you do when you feel this way?"

If a child feels shameful about feeling angry, sad, or scared, they are more willing to point to the balloon face than say that they feel angry, sad, or scared.

The kids (and adults) love these!  Apart from their counseling purpose, they are great fidget objects to use while talking to a counselor. 

 

Here is how to make them:

 

1. Get a pack of balloons.  I got a $1 pack from Wal-Mart.

2. Stretch the balloons.

3. Use a small funnel to transfer rice into the balloon.  (I use white, long-grained rice, but you could use other things in your balloons, such as flour or sprinkles.  Be careful what you use - if the balloon breaks, it could end up on your floor.)

4. Tie the balloon after it is round and full.

5. Use a permanent marker to draw the feeling faces on each balloon.