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3 Child-Friendly Meditations

Part of being mindful is relaxing and becoming more aware of yourself, thoughts, feelings, and sensations. The best way to connect and become more aware is through meditation. I know, when you hear the word mediation the thought of sitting criss-cross applesauce with your fingers in a pinched position, and eyes closed while you are reciting a mantra-like OM, pops in your head, and while that is a wonderful meditative position it isn’t necessary. Sitting or standing is fine. Meditations don’t have to be elaborate they can be simple and of course child-friendly. I am sharing 3 child-friendly meditations that will help your family disconnect with the outside world and reconnect with themselves and the world around them. Before we get started, please take a moment to pin this post to your homeschool board.

Child-Friendly Guided Meditation: The Balloon

Guided meditation is the best way to begin and will be what I am sharing today. This guided meditation will be using a visual component with a very simple deep breathing exercise. You can do this either sitting or standing.

1. Relax your body and begin to take deep inhales and slow exhales through the nose.
2. Start to take a slow, deep breath to fill your belly up with air, as if you’re trying to blow up a big balloon. Expand your belly as much as you can.
3. Slowly let the air out of the balloon (through the nose) as you release the breath from the belly.
4. Encourage your kids to feel their entire body relax each time they exhale, each time air is slowly being released from the balloon. You can even make a “hissing” noise to encourage them to slow down the exhale even more, “Like letting air out of the balloon.”
5. Continue for several minutes.

Child- Friendly Guided Meditation:  The Balloon for Younger Children

If the child you’re teaching is younger, you can add a little more detail and fun to the exercise to keep them engaged. Young kids, especially under the age of 6, love the extra movement when they’re learning to bring awareness to their breath. Encourage them to stand up in a relaxed way and follow these steps:

1. Ask them to think of their favorite color and picture a giant balloon of that color in their mind.
2. Then have them take a slow, deep inhale through the nose, filling up their tummies with air as if trying to blow up a giant [their favorite color] balloon. As an option, you can also have them stretch their arms open and overhead to represent the expansion and the big balloon.
3. When their balloon is totally full, have them hold their breath at the top, and then you can “pop the balloon” for them (gesture finger to belly) and they can fall down as they exhale.

This one will likely elicit giggles and awareness of their breath.

Child-Friendly Guided Meditation: Follow the Leader

This meditation works best for kids who are at least 5 years old. Ask your child to picture their best friend or a sibling—someone they do everything with or someone they look up to. Then ask them which one (your child or their best friend) usually leads. Usually, one friend is the one who decides things—the one who is more of the leader; the other one is the friend who usually follows the leader. Ask them which they are.

If they are the leader, you can tell them to picture themselves as the breath. If they are the follower, you can ask them to picture themselves as the mind. For this example, I’ll pretend that they’ve chosen their big sister as their best friend, and the big sister is the leader.

Say something like, “So you and your big sister do everything together. Let’s pretend that your breath and your mind are best friends, too. And that you are just like the mind—the follower and your big brother is just like the breath—the leader.” Then follow the steps below to guide them through the meditation.

1. Sit down comfortably and close your eyes.
2. Bring all of your attention to your breath and slow it down, taking deep inhales and slow exhales.
3. Let’s have the mind follow the breath—no matter what. Picture yourself as your mind, the one that’s following your big sister, your breath. Try to focus your mind on the breath and follow as the breath inhales and exhales.
4. Count your breaths at the end of every exhale. Don’t let your mind count before the end of the exhale. The mind always wants to jump ahead, but don’t let it. Allow it to remain focused on being the follower.
5. Count to 10 slowly, always at the end of each exhale, continuing to let the mind follow the breath.

Child-Friendly Guided Relaxation Practice

This practice is great for kids (and adults) of all ages, whether they’re having trouble sleeping, stressed out, sick and in bed, or acting out.  It’s used to help alleviate tension when people are in a situation that makes it difficult for them to relax. Guide your kids through these steps:

1. Sit down or lie down comfortably and close your eyes. You can use pillows or blankets to make yourself as comfortable as you can be.
2. Take a few deep, cleansing breaths as you begin to relax.
3. Bring all of your attention to your right foot, noticing how it feels. Squeeze the right foot, making a fist with your entire right foot and all five toes; tense and squeeze it tightly. Hold this tension for two deep breaths.
4. Then release all tension on the right foot suddenly. Relax it completely and notice the tension release. You may feel a tingling sensation in the foot.
5. Take a deep breath, and then move on…
6. Move your attention to your left foot. Same instructions as for the right foot.
7. Move slowly up and around the body, squeezing one body part at a time to create tension, immediately followed by the contrasting sensation of release and ease. Follow each part with a deep, cleansing breath.

Here’s a simple progression you can follow:

• Right foot, left foot
• Right ankle and calf, left ankle and calf
• Right knee, left knee
• Right thigh, left thigh
• All feet and legs
• Hips
• Butt
• Belly
• Entire lower body, from tummy down
• Chest and heart
• Right arm, left arm
• Right hand, left hand
• Shoulders
• Neck
• Face
• Whole body at once (do this one twice)

When you’re finished guiding your child through the relaxation technique, make sure they spend at least a few minutes in quiet, encouraging them to keep their breathing slow and steady.

Why you should add these child-friendly meditations to your routine

Meditation is a great way to calm down, stop racing thoughts, calm down the body, de-stress, and become more mindful overall. Adding meditation and other mindful techniques to your and your child’s daily life will have great benefits not only now but as your children grow. Try one or all of these meditations to encourage more awareness, mindfulness, and overall balance for your kids and the whole family.

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