Through meditation there is access to a wellspring of energetic goodness. In stillness, we can realize peace.
Children are naturally open minded making them receptive to the qualities of meditation. Incorporating meditation into daily routines can serve children throughout their lives. It’s important to cultivate and encourage a daily meditation practice.
Meditation brings awareness to emotions, strengthens sensory development, and improves cognitive development, in addition to many other benefits. To learn more, I recommend reading The Benefits of Meditation for Kids by Amba Brown at Thrive Global.
Below are some ideas to engage children in meditative activities that include art and play.
Meditation practices:
- When soothing a child, embrace them while practicing mindfulness. Hold the child gently with intention and steady your in and out breath. Imagine the child feeling the rhythm of your breath and notice, in gratitude, the rhythm of their in and out breath.
- Light a candle for the child to observe the flame from a safe distance. If age appropriate, ask the child to count the flickers.
- During nap time, ask the child to place a stuffed animal on their belly and to watch their belly rise and fall with each in and out breath.
- Listen to a guided meditation for children. This is a great way to leverage technology. Personally, I love Insight Timer meditations, the website and app have a variety of high quality meditations for children and adults.
Meditation through play and art:
- When in nature, ask the child if they can hear the birds, let there be silence to listen for a few moments. Ask the child what the grass feels like? What does it smell like? Touch a tree and share how the tree is rooted in the earth, and this allows it to grow upwards. Feel the tree and notice all the life that it sustains.
- Throughout the day, and especially before bed and upon rising, incorporate simple songs or mantras that are joyful. For example, sing a blessing during meal time. The Magic Onion has some Waldorf based examples here.
- Support the child to create a harmonious environment. Incorporate natural fiber fabrics such as, silk, wool, cotton, felt. Include elements, such as wooden play objects, living plants (tip: water the plants together regularly observing their growth), large sea shells, sand, clay, water. Artwork displayed should be chosen wisely to inspire love and acceptance within the child.
- Ensure there is plenty of time and spaciousness in the day to create spontaneous and planned art. Activities to encourage include: story time theater, dancing to joyful music, painting with water colors, preparing meals with care, tending to the garden, singing, drawing (note: scribbles are a part of the child’s imagination, this is a great form of drawing and relates to the child’s thought process manifesting, I love how it’s described in this post through the Art.Play.Learning.Children blog by Louisa Penfold), imaginative play time, for example: pretend that you’re in a jungle, name all the animals and plants that you see, or swim in the ocean and describe the sea life, or float above the clouds observing all the hills, lakes, mountains, rivers, and oceans below, what does this feel like?
As a care taker, be curious and allow the child space to express themselves freely. Provide an encouraging and positive environment that feels safe to expand their imagination and immerse themselves in play and art.
Communication should be open and inviting for the child to share their perspective and how they feel.
Be mindful to refrain from interpreting what the child is sharing, instead simply acknowledge, be engaged and interested, ask questions that are open ended.
Be a gentle and loving presence so that children may feel affirmed and loved while sharing their unique reflection of their inner world and perspective of the outer world.
Learning to Create. 