Background information

Content information for educators (also suitable for parents): These activities encourage children to tune into their inner thoughts and feelings and how these can affect their body. It also provides an opportunity to develop social and emotional skills particularly with regards to emotional intelligence and emotional and body regulation.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a way of life which involves paying attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally. It is a state of awareness that provides an opportunity to tune into your thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, the environment and other people. Research has shown mindfulness can help develop resilience, kindness, empathy and compassion.

VIDEO: Traci Childress, co-founder of the Children's Community School in Philadelphia, talks about the mindfulness practices at their centre. (https://youtu.be/RYWUtNiIV-U)

Want to learn more?

Cool Australia - The Benefits of Mindfulness
Cool Australia - The Importance of Mindfulness for Young Children

Have a go at these practices and feel the benefits for yourself.

Try these activities outside where all the senses are ‘awake’.

Practice. You can do anything mindfully: eating, showering or walking. You don’t have to do more, just do what you do mindfully!

Don’t give up. Mindfulness is a life skill that can be difficult to master, but will allow you and your family to be more resilient, kind, content and empowered. Important attributes for happy and healthy people of all ages.

Mindfulness Activity: Mindful Explorers

This activity allows children to tune into their senses and the world around them. It also provides an opportunity to develop focus and attention. This activity can be done at any time, but would be a great start to the day, or provide a great way to transition from active time outside to coming inside. It is also a great way for children to explore a new or unfamiliar environment. You might want to try the Super Senses Activity first to familiarise the children with activating their Super Senses.

Equipment needed: You don’t really need anything for this activity, just somewhere to go for a wander. It could be inside, in your outside play space or in a nearby natural environment. You may, however, wish to use a gentle-sounding bell or triangle as a way of gathering the children's attention.

Instructions: Ask the children to stop in the space you have chosen to undertake this activity, and find a comfortable spot to stand, where they are not touching anyone else. This is home base. Ask them to take a few deep breaths until they feel calm and relaxed.

Now ask them to activate their super senses so they can all explore the space (let them know if there are any geographical boundaries). They are going to explore the space with one sense at a time, so they will need to tune in and use their super senses. When ready, read the following scripts (guided mindfulness exercises) one at a time.

Script to activate super hearing:

“First turn on your super hearing. Explore with your ears. Listen for close sounds, far away sounds, man-made sounds and sounds from nature. What can you hear? Can you hear the birds, traffic, the wind in the trees, bees buzzing, children playing, balls bouncing, lawnmowers, your heart or breathing ….. Now close your eyes. What is your favourite sound?”

Reflection Questions:

Could you hear more sounds when you closed your eyes?
Were there more man-made or nature sounds?
Was it easier to hear man-made or natural sounds?
How did different sounds make you feel?
Did you hear anything you hadn’t noticed before?

Script to activate super vision:

“Now let’s turn on our super vision. Explore with your super sight, looking closely, then even closer. What can you see? Look up high, down low, under and over. What can you see? You might see things, but you might also see colours, patterns, shapes, textures (rough, smooth, furry, lumpy, or slimy)."

Children may leave their home base and explore using their super vision sense. After a few minutes, gather the children back at home base.

Reflection Questions:

What is the tiniest thing you saw?
What was the most interesting thing you saw using your super vision?
Did you see something that you hadn’t noticed before?

Script to activate super smelling:

“Now we are going to explore with our super smelling nose. What can you smell? Natural smells or man-made smells? You might smell flowers, cut grass, dog poo, soil, leaves, mulch, traffic, lawn mower fuel, someone cooking nearby …..”

Children may leave home base and explore using their super smelling sense. After a few minutes, gather the children back at home base.

Reflection Questions:

Were there smells that were stronger than others?
Were they nice smells or bad smells?
Do any of the smells remind you of something, someone or somewhere else?

Script to activate super touch:

There are three alternative options for the sense of touch. Choose whichever option best suits the children and your environment.

OPTION 1: “Now we are going to activate our super touch sense. Explore with your feet/hands/body. Feel with your whole body, notice the warmth of the sunshine on your skin, the breeze on your face and in your hair, the grass/sand/mud/ground under your feet. Is it warm or cold? Windy or still? Hard or squishy under your feet? Can you feel more if you stand still and close your eyes?”

OPTION 2: “Now we are going to activate our super touch sense. Find something you would like to explore with your super touch sense. You could find a rock, stick, leaf, seed pod, flower, grass, some sand or soil. Sit down in a quiet place and explore it carefully with your hands. Is it rough, smooth, slippery, wet, gritty, furry, lumpy, sharp, curved, hard or soft? Close your eyes and touch it again, can you notice anything different??"

OPTION 3: “Now we are going to activate our super touch sense. Lie down on the ground or find a comfortable spot to sit quietly. Notice how the ground feels beneath your body. Is it soft, hard, squishy, wet, dry, itchy, or spiky? Are there certain spots that feel different to others? Does it feel comfortable or uncomfortable? Can you feel the sun on your skin? Can you feel the breeze in your hair? Close your eyes and notice if you can feel anything different …”

Children may leave their home base and explore using their super touch sense. You might consider letting the children explore the area with bare feet or encourage them to lie down in a nice grassy spot. After a few minutes, gather the children back at home base.

Reflection Questions:

What did you feel?
What was your favourite “feeling”?
Did you notice certain parts of your body felt different to others?

Script to conclude the super senses activity:

“Take three deep breaths and relax. You have now activated your Super Senses! Remember you need to practice to keep them sharp and activated. You have the power to activate your super senses whenever you want to calm down and focus for a moment …”

You can modify this activity to suit the children and the local environment.

You can scaffold this activity by first doing it inside, then in the outside play space or backyard, and then in a more natural environment. Ask children to notice the different sights, sounds, smells and feelings that occur in the different environments.

Activating senses may see some children experience strong feelings, emotions or memories. Some children may experience strong reactions to particular senses, particularly if they have sensory processing issues. Try to tune into their responses and don't be afraid to seek further professional assistance if required.

Provocations:

I wonder which sense I enjoyed using the most? Why?
I wonder which sense I think I am best at using? Why?
I wonder if other people have the same favourite sense? Or a different favourite sense?
I wonder why there were some things I experienced (saw, heard, felt, tasted or smelled) that I had never noticed before?
I wonder what happens to my body, to my mind and to my feelings when I switch on my super senses?

Possible Lines of Development:

Barefoot Walk - explore the local environment in bare feet. This develops all the little muscles in young feet that are critical for balance.
Blindfolded Walk - explore with a partner with your eyes shut or using a blindfold. Notice how you feel without use of your eyes. Do you feel more, hear more, feel scared or anxious?

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning, listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenges and persisting when difficulties arise
Well being	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Everyday activities can be enhanced by encouraging children to engage more mindfully in what they are seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. Regular practice will help children develop a heightened awareness of their sensory perceptions and make them more engaged and tuned in to their own emotions, as well as the feelings of others.

The sense of smell can be nurtured during meal times and can help children develop a greater sense of appreciation for the taste, quality and texture of the foods they are eating.

The sense of hearing and touch can be nurtured whenever children are in the outdoors - for example, by asking children to carefully listen for the sounds of birds, rustling leaves and whistling winds and to feel the texture of sand, mud or leaves when they are exploring the outdoor environment.

The sense of sight can be nurtured by asking children to focus on the changing shapes of clouds, the patterns they see recurring in nature, or by shadows created on the ground.

The Nature of Mindfulness - Mindful Explorers

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