Mindfulness for babies, toddlers and children

When you think of mindfulness, what do you imagine? For lots of people it brings up images of meditation, sitting calmly and quietly or listening to a very soothing voice talking about waves.

All of these are ways to practice mindfulness – but in reality, being mindful can also be learnt through play, which is a brilliant way to help your child understand how to be mindful.  

You might have spotted our article earlier this week which talked about how to support self-regulation from birth to five. If you missed it on your Today screen, you can read it now by clicking here.  

One way to help your child (and yourself) build self-regulation skills is to be mindful.  

Research shows that mindfulness practices can have positive impacts on young children’s ability to self-regulate^[1] and mindfulness also appears to support other important cognitive skills known as executive functions.^[2] 

So, to give you some ideas we have gathered ways to be mindful through play with your child – no matter their age.  

In its simplest form, mindfulness means being focused on the moment you’re in, experiencing it fully and allowing yourself to be present to process any feelings, sensations or outcomes.  

This is something you can show your child from when they’re very young by taking time to be in the moment with them and making sure you help them understand your thinking process.  

Be mindful out loud 

Try to make a habit out of occasionally stopping to talk about what you can see, hear or taste – and when it feels appropriate you can also talk through how you feel about something.  

If you feel anxious or dysregulated, you can explain what you feel and how you are going to calm your body down to your toddler or child – this way they will see examples of things to do when they feel that way.  

This could be as easy as pausing and saying something like, “I’m going to take a deep breath to help my body feel calm,” or “I'm going to walk round the garden, then I’ll be ready to think.”

Babies

Be mind-minded when you talk

For young babies, simply acknowledging their emotions and respecting the fact they have their own thought and feelings, will set strong foundations for the future. This approach of thinking of how your baby might feel can be known as mind-mindedness.  

• Make mind-minded comments as you and your baby go about your daily routine by noticing and commenting on how they’re feeling.   
• For example, if they cry when a visitor leaves you could say, “Oh, you’re feeling sad because Grandma had to go. Let’s wave to Grandma then go and have a cuddle and a story.”  

Your baby might not understand all the words you say but naming their feelings in this way will help them to begin to recognise how they feel, and means these words will be familiar as they get older and begin to understand.   

In the future, this recognition of their feelings will support them to regulate their emotions and also to understand and empathise with other people.

Toddlers 

Big breaths to blow bubbles

Make time when your toddler is calm and happy to practice taking deep breaths – and make it fun!  

• Use bubbles to practice blowing using long deep breaths, then short quick breaths. Show your toddler how to do this, then let them have a go.  
• If you don’t want to use bubbles, light items such as tissue paper or large craft feathers can work too – see how far you and your toddler can blow them in one breath! 
• Talk about how the different breaths made you feel and give your toddler time to comment too, if they want to.

Using an item your toddler can see, like bubbles, which reacts to their breath helps your toddler to really focus on the way their breathing affects them and things around them.  

This awareness of the way taking a breath can change how you feel, or how something else reacts, can set a foundation for your toddler to use when they are feeling big emotions in the future.  

At this stage, your toddler will struggle to remember these techniques when they’re upset or angry, but they might copy you if you use them during these times.  

Spending time practising when everyone is calm will give them a variety of ideas they can use as they grow, and over time they will be able to rely on mindful actions to help when they are feeling emotional.

Preschoolers 

Stretch it out - connecting body and mind

Wake up your body with some simple yoga stretches. Encourage your child to join in, showing them what to do as you move into each pose.    

Remember to only do what feels comfortable for your body, and your child. We recommend finding a calm space with plenty of room to move. You can do these simple yoga stretches on a yoga mat, or use a rug, playmat or towel to soften the ground beneath your feet. If the weather works out, you could head outside and do some gentle yoga in the garden, or even in the park.   

• Sitting comfortably, breathe deeply in and out. It can help to put a hand on your tummy and feel it moving in and out as you breathe to centre yourself.   
• Start as a caterpillar. Lying on your tummy, stretch out with your arms by your sides and legs straight. Breathe in and out, then gently lift your head off the ground and wiggle side to side to move like a caterpillar.   
• Curl into a cocoon. Move into child’s pose by bringing your legs up so you are kneeling with your feet under your bottom. Gently curl your body over your knees. You can rest your arms by your sides, or stretch them out past your head. Breathe in deeply and feel your body relax as you breathe out.   
• Transform into a butterfly. Bring yourself up to a sitting position, get comfortable with your knees up in front of you and your feet on the floor. Gently allow your legs to fall open so that the soles of your feet are touching and your knees are pointing out like butterfly wings. Breathe in and out, stretching your spine. Gently flap your ‘wings’ up and down like a butterfly.   

If your child is feeling calm and relaxed, take a moment to both lie on your back. Get comfy and close your eyes. It is okay if your little one is most comfortable wriggling around a little.  

Listen to the sounds around you and take turns to name what you hear, or talk about how your body feels after the stretches. 

If you find the idea of doing yoga without some guidance a bit unrealistic, we love the book I Am Yoga by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds to guide us through some poses. You can read our full review of it here.  

There are more mindful activities connected to skills throughout your child's first five years of development. Keep and eye on your activity tab to find perfect activities for the skills they're working on now - all written by child development experts.

References: 

[1] Bockmann, J.O., Yu, S.Y. (2023) ‘Using Mindfulness-Based Interventions to Support Self-regulation in Young Children: A Review of the Literature’. Early Childhood Educ J 51, 693–703 

[2] Zelazo PD, Forston JL, Masten AS and Carlson SM (2018) ‘Mindfulness Plus Reflection Training: Effects on Executive Function in Early Childhood’. Front. Psychol. 9:208. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00208