Supporting Children with Friendship Issues
Included with parent membership
From £4 a month
Swap sitting still for games like dragon breath and texture hunts, and children can pick up mindfulness without noticing they're learning it.
Free for 14 days, then £4 a month or £40 a year. Cancel before day 14 and you won't pay anything.
Asking a lively child to sit still and focus on their breathing usually goes about as well as you'd expect. Luckily they don't need to. Mindfulness is about noticing what's happening right now, and children can learn that through play.
The games need next to nothing. Send children on a hunt for something bumpy, something smooth and something spiky, or close your eyes in the park and count the sounds you hear. Brush teeth at snail's pace, then at speedy-train pace, and talk about what felt different. Let a Malteser melt on the tongue before anyone bites. When tempers rise, try dragon breath, or blow a feather and watch how far a long out-breath sends it.
You don't even have to call it mindfulness. To the children it's just a game, and the ones they enjoy are the ones they'll ask to play again.
Included with parent membership
From £4 a month
Included with parent membership
From £4 a month
Included with parent membership
From £4 a month
Included with parent membership
From £4 a month
Try it free for 14 days. The trial opens every course for parents and carers, including this one.