Try 5 Free Mindfulness Activities in Your Elementary Classroom

By Julie Yeros

Students are taught strategies for comprehending reading and solving math problems, but teaching them strategies for practicing mindfulness isn’t typical in most classrooms.

It should be.

Children are experiencing anxiety and stress like never before. Learning a variety of mindfulness strategies can help kids manage in the classroom and beyond.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means paying attention to what’s going on inside and outside of you in the present moment – on purpose and without judgment.

A goal of mindfulness practice is to calm the busy mind. Through breathing and guided imagery techniques, the focus is on experiencing and engaging with your surroundings.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Research has established that mindfulness can help people of all ages and abilities with focus, self-regulation, resilience, positive mindset, empathy, and more.

Relaxing the mind helps reduce stress and anxiety and improves learning and social interactions.

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Mindfulness Activities in the Elementary Classroom

While mindfulness can be taught and practiced at any time, starting the day with positivity can help create a classroom environment that is engaged, focused, and ready to learn.

Give it a try with 5 FREE activities from the Mindful Kids deck.

The Mindful Kids deck is a ready-to-go resource consisting of 50 beautifully illustrated instruction cards with step-by-step directions for the adult leader.

The activities are divided into five categories. Try one example from each!

1. Start Your Day: Feel strong, focused, and confident as you begin each day.

2. Find Calm: Learn to handle tricky or challenging emotions.

3. Focus: Wake up your brain, build concentration, and sharpen your sensory awareness.

4. Open Your Heart: Feel a sense of self-acceptance and connection to the world.

5. Rest and Relax: Reflect, relax, and ease your busy mind.

Download These 5 Free Mindfulness Activities

Bonus Activity!

Print these cute Mindful Kids coloring pages.

The complete Mindful Kids deck (with 50 activity cards!) is available for purchase from Barefoot Books and Amazon.

And for the littles… Try Mindful Tots!

Help children build empathy and manage everyday emotions with mindfulness! This set of four sweet board books was created to introduce basic mindfulness techniques to children as young as two years old. Each book contains super simple instructions for mindfulness exercises that help children navigate daily life: Tummy Ride helps children find calm; Loving Kindness encourages children to feel connected to others; Animal Antics is designed to help children transition from one activity to another; Rest & Relax is perfectly soothing for nap times and bedtime. -Barefoot Books