Lesson
Help kids use their senses to be mindful of the present moment.
The lessons in this unit help kids understand and practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is to purposefully pay attention to your breathing, feelings, senses, or actions in the present moment. When a child is mindful, they increase their ability to regulate emotions, manage stress, and self-motivate. You can vary the ways your students practice being mindful each day. Some of the many fit resources available for daily mindfulness practice include:
Describe an item in your classroom using your five senses. Can the students guess what you are talking about?
Share the video 5 Senses in 5 Minutes A Grounding Exercise for Kids to get kids thinking about how they can uses their five senses to be mindful.
To use this with your students click here.
Five Senses and Feelings
Present the slideshow to guide students through a mindful activity using their senses. Allow ample time between slides to encourage mindful thoughts.
Identify Mindful Actions
Tell students that whenever they pause and pay attention to something on purpose, they are being mindful. When they looked carefully at the picture, they were being mindful. Discuss how they used their senses to be mindful when they observed the forest picture.
Check for Understanding: How can you use your senses to be mindful? (Pause and think about how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels.)
Use Your Senses
Imagine you are in the forest pictured on the coloring page. Think about what you would see, smell, taste, touch, and hear as you color the picture. How do you feel?
Today we took a moment to be mindful and looked carefully at a picture. When can you pause to be mindful and use your senses later today?
Grade: K-2
Time: 20 Minutes
We make choices all day long. Let’s help kids identify times during the day when they make choices and practice giving reasons why they made certain choices.
Start LessonTeach kids that resting, having a positive mindset, eating healthy foods, and engaging in physical activity will help them make better choices.
Start LessonShow kids how making healthy choices can cause a chain reaction of feeling good and making more healthy choices.
Start LessonHelp kids learn how to practice mindfulness at school.
Start LessonHelp kids identify feelings and emotions and how they determine someone's mood.
Start LessonHave kids reflect on their moods and the choices that follow.
Start Lesson