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Practicing Mindfulness with Your Students
The art of mindfulness can be tricky for everyone - students and adults alike! It can be so easy for us all to get caught up in the business of everyday tasks and the big emotions of conflicts and overwhelm. Teaching and practicing mindfulness with our students is a great way to ensure a calm and mindful classroom setting.
Here are a few strategies to help your students stay mindful throughout the day:
Mindful Senses
Our Wheel of Awareness Anchor Chart
Using visuals helps our students learn self-awareness and how mindfulness can affect all parts of the body. Our Wheel of Awareness brings students to connect with their bodies and stay calm and aware throughout their mindfulness practices.
Mindfulness 5 Anchor Chart
Count back from 5. Have students practice mindfulness by naming 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste. Model and practice with your kiddos in your morning meetings or mindful moments throughout the day!
Sensing Out Way to a State of Calm In Our Classroom Anchor Chart
This visual is a great expansion of the Mindfulness 5 Anchor Chart. When practicing mindfulness with students, write down some of the things they are sensing to give students ideas of how to stay calm and mindful throughout the day by practicing mindfulness.
Mindful Breaths
Anyone who has ever tried it can tell you there’s a lot of power in a deep cleansing breath. For kids, deep breathing is a great way to get them to focus on something else in the moment rather than “the thing” (or things) that are making them sad, mad, or frustrated. Breathing calms children by physically slowing them down. To practice deep breathing, they must stop whatever they are doing to complete the exercise.
Some of the documented benefits of deep breathing include:
Reduced feelings of anxiety and overwhelm
Lowered stress levels
Relaxed muscles
Increased energy levels
What Types of Breaths Should I Take? Anchor Chart
When you introduce these mindful breathing exercises to your students, be sure to do so outside of an emotionally charged situation.
Instead, introduce these breathing exercises during calm moments when your students will be receptive to the information and are willing to practice them along with you. Preparing them ahead of time will leave them better equipped to handle situations when they arise — even when you’re not around.
Mindfulness Tools
Give your students effective and practical examples and non-examples of what mindfulness looks like throughout the day.
Mind FULL or Mindful Anchor Chart
Is your mind full or are you practicing being present and mindful? Ask your students about the thoughts that circle their brains while they're in the classroom, at home, or after school. Describe what it means to be mindful and present and give your students an opportunity to describe their own mindful moments!
These visuals are a great way to introduce, teach, and continue practicing mindfulness throughout the school year. Try it out with your students and let us know how it goes!
You can get access to more anchor charts and ideas through my FREE Anchor Chart Bundle!
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Disclaimer: The resources and ideas found on this website are all research-based and vetted with a parent and educator lens. The tools listed have worked for students and children that I work with; however, each child is different. This list is not exhaustive and is a compilation of ideas and strategies to try in schools or at home. No information on this website should be used as medical advice. I am not a clinical psychologist, but I do work alongside them as thought partners in this journey.
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