Mindfulness Games for Children  

I often use these mindfulness games in my work with children, they’re accessible guided activities to help children engage in mindfulness practice. If you want to listen to Annaka’s guided meditations, she has free samples here and there are more on the Waking Up App. 

Mira’s Game - Mindful Sensing

1. Sit with your back straight, muscles relaxed, and hand resting gently on your knees.
2. I’m going to place a stone in front of you.
3. Look at the stone and when I ring the bell, pick it up, close your eyes, and feel the stone in your hands for a moment.

1. Good. When I ring the bell again, open your eyes and look at the stone in your hands for a moment.

1. When I ring the bell a third time, place the stone back on the floor and look at it again.

1. Great! Let’s try the whole series again, but this time we’ll do it without talking. I’ll just ring the bell for each step.

1. Play Mira’s Game in a circle if playing with more than one child.
2. When playing with young children, talk them through the steps two or three times before trying it without talking.
3. Ask the children if they noticed different things when they were seeing the stone on the floor versus when they were feeling it with their hands. 

Fading Tone

1. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands gently on your knees. If you like, you can close your eyes.
2. When I ring the bell, listen to the sound of the tone as it fades away and raise your hand when you can’t hear the tone anymore - when the sound stops.

1. I’ll ring the bell a few more times. Sometimes the tone will be short, and sometimes it will be long. Pay close attention, so you can raise your hand as soon as the sound stops each time.
2. Talking points: What was it like to listen to the tone? How do you feel now? Does your body feel relaxed? Is your mind busy or quiet?

Slow and Silent Walking

1. We’re going to begin at one line and walk very slowly to the other line, feeling our feet touching the floor as we step. Let’s get ready by standing on one line with our backs straight, knees, soft, and muscles relaxed. When I ring the bell, we’ll start walking very slowly, keeping our gaze downward to make it easier to concentrate.

1. Notice the feeling in each foot as you step. Do you feel the heel of your foot, the ball of your foot, and your toes?
2. When we get to the other line, we’ll turn around and wait for the bell. That’s the signal to start walking again. We’ll focus on our breathing while we wait.

1. After some practice, have the children pay attention to two parts of walking: putting the foot down and lifting the foot up.
2. Later, have the children pay attention to three parts of walking: putting the foot down, lifting the foot up, and moving the leg forward.
3. Once they understand the game, the children won’t need the lines on the floor, and they’ll be ready to walk longer distances - in the hallway, across the room, or outside in nature.

1. Walk to the beat - Have the children walk to the beat of a drum or clapping.
2. I’m an airplane! - Have the children walk with their arms out to their sides and pretend to be an airplane while they pay attention to the sensations in their arms.

Mindful Waiting

1. Sit or stand comfortably, relax, and feel your breathing.
2. Choose something nearby that is pleasant to look at and rest your gaze on it. Keep your eyes soft and lightly focused on the object.
3. Notice any changes in your surroundings (colors, sounds, changes in light).
4. Sometimes you’ll have thoughts and sometimes you won’t. When thoughts come, let them be. If you don’t focus on them too much, they’ll stay a while and leave on their own.
5. If you notice that you’re distracted, that means you know where your mind is. Congratulations, that’s mindful awareness! Just return to gazing softly at the object.
6. Talking points: What did you see? Were you surprised by what you saw? Did your surroundings stay the same? Did they change? How did you feel at first? How did you feel later? Did the time pass slowly or quickly?

1. When leading this exercise with young children, ask them to tell you what object they chose before moving to the next step.
2. Mindful Waiting is one way for children (and adults) to take care of themselves in everyday life, when they feel overly excited or stressed.

Mindful Listening

1. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands gently on your knees, and close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so. Notice what it feels like to breathe in and out right now.
2. Let’s listen to the sounds in the room. You don’t have to make any extra effort to hear them. Relax and listen - they’ll come to you. What do you hear?

1. I’ll stop talking for a minute. Let’s listen together. There’s nothing you need to do at all. Sounds will come up all on their own, like little surprises.
2. Talking points: What did you hear? Did anything surprise you? Did the sounds stay the same or did they change? Did you feel more relaxed after hearing some of the sounds? Did you feel less relaxed when you heard other sounds?

1. Remind the children that it’s natural for minds to wander, and it happens to everyone.
2. After the activity, you can ask the children to draw a picture of all the sounds they heard.
3. Because listening to sounds can be soothing, it’s a great strategy for self-care.

Mindful Breathing

1. Lie on your back with your legs flat on the floor and your arms by your sides. If you like, you can close your eyes. Feel the back of your head touching the floor. Now feel your shoulders, your upper back, your arms, your hands, your lower back, your legs, and your feet touching the floor.
2. Notice what it feels like to breathe in and out. There’s no right or wrong way to breathe. It doesn’t matter if your breathing is fast or slow, deep or shallow.
3. Pay close attention to your in-breath. Can you notice when you first start to breathe in and then follow the feeling of your in-breath all the way to the very first moment of your out-breath? If it’s hard to keep your mind on your in-breath, silently say the word ‘in’ every time you breathe in.

1. Can you notice when you first begin to breathe out and then follow the feeling of your out-breath all the way to the very first moment of your in-breath all the way to the first moment of your in-breath? If it’s hard to keep your mind on your out-breath, silently say the word ‘out’ every time you breathe out.

1. Let’s put it together and pay attention to an entire breath, carefully following every moment. If it’s hard to keep your mind on your breathing, silently say the word in every time you breathe in and the word out every time you breathe out.

1. When you’re ready, open your eyes and sit up slowly. Take a breath and notice how you feel.

Choose your breathing anchor

1. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands gently on your knees, and close your eyes if you’re comfortable doing so. Notice what it feels like to breathe in and out right now.
2. Now put one finger under your nose and feel your breath going in and out. Can you feel it?
3. Next, place your hand on your chest, over your heart. Can you feel your hand move when you breathe in?
4. Now place your hand on your belly and feel the movement of your breathing there.
5. Put your hands back on your knees and breathe naturally. Notice where you feel the movement of your breath most easily. Is it just beneath your nose, at your chest, or at your belly?

1. Now lightly rest your attention on your anchor and see if you can keep your body relaxed at the same time. This is how we rest in the feeling of the movement of our breath.
2. Great! Let’s try this for a few more breaths together.

Special Star

1. Sit or lie down comfortably with your eyes closed. Breathe naturally, noticing how it feels to breathe in and out.
2. Guided visualization

1. When you’re ready, sit up slowly and reach your hands to the sky. Take a deep breath in and lower your arms as your breathe out.
2. Talking points: What was it like to imagine your special star shining light on you?

Resting and Noticing

1. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands gently on your knees, and close your eyes if you’re comfortable doing so.
2. Let’s find our breathing anchor again, just like we did in mindful breathing. Take a moment to notice where you feel your breathing the most-near your nose, your chest, or your belly. Let’s rest in the feeling of breathing together, paying attention to our anchor.
3. When you breathe out, see if you can lightly rest your attention on your out-breath and stay with it all the way to the end. Let’s do this for a few breaths.
4. Now, don’t pay any special attention to your out-breath; simply rest in the natural rhythm of your breathing.
5. Thoughts and emotions bubble up naturally, but we try not to think about them too much. The next time you notice a thought or emotion, just say the word thinking silently to yourself and then rest and feel the natural rhythm of your breathing again.
6. The next time you say the word thinking silently to yourself, notice your tone of voice.

Pink Bubble

1. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands gently on your knees. Close your eyes if you’re comfortable doing so, and let’s take a few breaths together.
2. Think of a disappointment or a feeling that’s bothering you and put it inside an imaginary pink bubble.
3. In your mind, watch the light, airy, pink bubble float away and imagine that whatever is bothering you is floating away with it.
4. Wave goodbye and wish it well.
5. Talking points: What types of things bother you? How did it feel to let go of something that was bothering you? How did it feel to wish it well? Is there anything else you’d like to let go of and wish well?

1. By acknowledging hurt feelings and letting them go, children learn one way to take care of themselves
2. When children wave goodbye to hurt feelings and wish them well, they practice kindness toward other people and toward themselves.

Friendly Wishes (Loving Kindness meditation adapted for children)

1. Lie on your back with your legs flat on the floor and your arms by your sides. If you like, you can close your eyes.
2. Feel the back of your head touching the floor (or pillow) and feel your arms and hands relaxing into the ground. Feel your back, your legs, and your feet relaxing too.
3. Now we’re going to send some friendly wishes together.

1. When you’re ready, open your eyes and feel your body against the floor again. Sit up slowly. Reach your hands high up to the sky as you take a big breath in, and as you breathe out lower your hands to your knees.
2. What was it like to send friendly wishes? How do you feel now?

Wishes for the world

1. Talking points: What does it mean to visualize or imagine something? What are friendly wishes?
2. We’re going to imagine that we’re sending our friendly wishes to the world in a big, floating ball.
3. Let’s start by pretending to hold the ball together. Put your hands out and help me hold the ball, like this.
4. What does the ball look like? What colour is it? Is it sparkly? Does it have polka dots or stripes? Close your eyes and see if you can picture it.
5. Now we’ll take turns putting our friendly wishes into the ball. Who has a friendly wish for the world?

1. Let’s count to three and throw the ball up into the sky together: one, two, three! Wave goodbye and imagine that the ball is bringing our wishes to everyone, everywhere.

1. After the game, talk about how it can feel good to send friendly wishes.
2. You can also talk about the difference between liking someone and wishing them well.

Mind, Body, Go!

1. We’re going to roll this ball to each other, and when it’s your turn, quickly name one thing that you’re feeling in your mind and one thing that you’re feeling in your body. Here’s an example: My mind feels happy, and my body feels relaxed.
2. I’ll start. My mind feels a little nervous, and my body feels stiff.

1. Now you name something and roll the ball back. (I feel silly, and my foot itches.)

Tick Tock

1. Talking points: What sound does a clock make? Does anyone know what a grandfather clock is? Does anyone know what a pendulum is?
2. Now we’re going to practice swaying side to side like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your hands on the floor by your sides.
3. Let’s all raise our right hands together. Put your right hand back down on the floor, and lean your body to the right. Now push your body to the left and catch your weight with your left hand on the floor. Now rock back to the right hand again Can you feel your body moving  to the right, to the center, and to the left.
4. Now let’s say tick tock as we rock from side to side: tick … tock … tick … tock …
5. We’re going to stop swaying soon, so let’s all say this rhyme together: tick … tock … like a …. Clock … until … I find … my center … stop!
6. Let’s end just like we started, with backs straight and bodies relaxed. Rest your hands on your knees and take a few breaths.