Mindfulness activities for kids to reduce stress

Amy Malloy
Amy Malloy
A child and parent laying on a carpet staring at eachother and smiling

How can we help children (and ourselves) deal with turbulent situations?

As humans, we are programmed to position ourselves according to the constants around us: people, structures and boundaries. When those constants shift, it can be unsettling for adults and children.

Sometimes we find ourselves in unprecedented situations, and we each have our own approach to managing things. If you feel confused and without direction because of a turbulent situation, please know that that is okay.

We’ll look today at why that is, to help us understand ourselves a little more and why these simple mindfulness activities can help us navigate it.

What causes social stress?

There may be many reasons for feeling stressed in life, but during turbulent times in society, it is often due to not feeling safe.

Something in our environment is alerting our survival instinct. This makes our brains produce stress hormones, which get us ready to fight the threat, run from it, or freeze until it’s gone away.

The threat might be to our physical or even social survival – and the two are linked. Things can feel even scarier when we also feel isolated from our social group, which keeps us protected from that threat.

Human beings are social by nature. We live and work in communities, we connect through love and empathy and we protect each other. There’s truth to the sayingÌý“there’s safety in numbersâ€.

But it’s not just about safety. We also define ourselves by comparing ourselves to others and working out what we are not.

Research has found that we identify deeply with our role in society and the ‘pack’ to which we belong. This holds deep ties with our sense of safety, contentment and self-esteem. If the boundaries by which we define and position ourselves have shifted or continue to shift, we will feel unsafe, threatened and therefore stressed.

Are children affected by social stress in the same way?

If we then apply this to children, the constants to whom they look for security are the adults in their life. If the adults are behaving differently, the children will feel a shift and feel unsafe and stressed too. If they don’t have their friends alongside them for social positioning, this too can lead to them feeling confused and uncertain.

Here are some key ways we can help:

Communicating and listening

Children may often lack the language to express what they are feeling, or even to recognize it themselves. Therefore, we must offer ways to help them make sense of the world around them, to help them feel safe and to help express their concerns.

Communication provides the necessary social interaction and models for them on how to handle the new situation. It firms up their boundaries, and provides a safe space where they feel listened to and acknowledged and this, in turn, helps diffuse their stress.

The activity below is a lovely way to invite children to express any worry they might be feeling, mindfully and with support – and give them something to do with their feelings. It also has the benefit of helping them breathe fully and slowly, which will calm down their nervous system.

Breath activity: Worry bubbles

  1. Sit together and invite your child to put their palms together.
  2. Invite them to take a big breath in. As they breathe in, they can draw their palms further and further apart, spreading their fingers as they imagine blowing up a big bubble between their hands.
  3. Invite them to whisper a worry into the bubble.
  4. Invite them to blow the breath out nice and slowly. As they breathe out, they can imagine blowing the bubble (and the worry) away with a big sigh.
  5. Twinkle the fingers back down to the lap, and start again, either with the same worry or a new one

Helping them find a safety anchor inside themselves

By helping children focus on breathing, we can teach them that even if things feel wobbly around them, their breath is always there. The act of focusing on the breath also helps settle the fight or flight branch of their nervous system into a calmer, more balanced state.

Breath Activity: Counting breaths

  1. Invite your child to sit with you.
  2. Invite them to place their hands on their tummy and breathe in slowly so they push into their hands, counting slowly up to four.
  3. As they breathe out, invite them to count up to six, as they slowly empty the belly and their hands lower back down.
  4. Continue until they feel calmer. You can do this every morning or evening to help sustain balance. With younger children, they might like a teddy on their tummy to push up and down!

These two activities can be lovely daily practices to try and provide some safety and structure to your child or students’ mental health right now. They are also enjoyable activities to try for yourself – you may like to increase the in and out count of the breath a little bit for an adult breath.

More blogs from ÃÛÌÒapp

  • A woman and a man talking together

    4 ways to improve your students' intelligibility

    By

    Intelligibility is the art of being understood by others. Many students think they need to speak a language flawlessly and with a native-like accent to make themselves clear, but this is not quite true.

    While there is a correlation between proficiency and intelligibility, even students of lower general proficiency are capable of expressing what they mean, in a way that the listener understands, if they are using good intelligibility practices.

    Being understandable in a second language is often extremely important in work environments, especially as the world becomes more connected and job markets more competitive.Ìý

    Intelligibility is a vital aspect of communication but it is not exactly a skill in itself. Instead, it is a combination of fluency, pronunciation, and managing your speed of speech. To reflect how important this is for language learners when studying, traveling or at work, we use an Intelligibility Index as part of our Versant English Test scoring.

    This index is based on factors affecting how understandable speech is to fluent English speakers. These include things like speed, clarity, pronunciation and fluency. Ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (high), the Intelligibility Index shows how intelligible someone’s speech in English is likely to be in a real-world situation.

    Let’s go into some activities and exercises you can try in class to help your students improve their intelligibility with their English and speaking skills.

  • Children singing in a line holding song sheets, with a teacher singing facing them

    How to incorporate music into the classroom

    By ÃÛÌÒapp Languages

    Learning English with music can enhance learning and create a more engaging and dynamic classroom environment. In a previous post, we discussed if music can help you learn a language; this post looks at how music can be incorporated into the classroom.

    Using music in your classroom can help improve student motivation, focus, and retention of information. Here are some ways you can use music to enhance your classroom teaching:

    Ìý

  • A person smiling outdoors with headphones in their ears

    Can music help you learn languages?

    By

    Learning a new language can be daunting, requiring time, effort, and consistent practice to master. One learning tool that’s been researched and examined over the years for its effectiveness, is music and sound.
    Music is sometimes overlooked or forgotten about, but it can be a beneficial tool when learning a new language. Today we will explore how music can aid language learning and what benefits it can provide. Here’s how:

    Recollection and memory

    Song is a powerful tool that can help us memorize new words and phrases. When listening to a song, recollecting the lyrics and melody long after it's finished can often happen. This is because our brains retain information better when associated with a melody/rhythm.

    Research has found that exposure to a language's rhythm leaves a lasting impact on a person's ability to segment speech patterns[1]. Listening to songs in a foreign language can help learners memorize new words, patterns and phrases more easily.

    Pronunciation and tone

    Music can improve our pronunciation and tone. When singing along to music, listeners may mimic the singer's pronunciation and cadence when listening to a song. This can help us develop a more natural and authentic accent when speaking the language.

    Additionally, it can broaden our knowledge and comprehension of diverse dialects and accents. Exposure to different accents and pronunciations can make real-world interactions with a foreign language less daunting or confusing.

    Two people may speak the same language but pronounce words very differently due to accents, a great example of this is in the UK and how the English language varies throughout areas.

    In the UK, someone from the north may sound completely different to someone from the south, despite speaking the same language. So if you were trying to learn English with music and listened to English songs from different parts of the country, you'd be exposing yourself to different accents. Making yourself more familiar with the varied pronunciation.

    Cultural understanding

    It can expose us to the culture of the language we are learning. Music can be a deep-rooted part of a culture, and hearing music in a different language can provide insight into that culture's beliefs, practices, and heritage. This can give us a deeper understanding of the language and help us communicate more effectively with fluent speakers.

    Often, songs use informal language and slang words we may not otherwise know or make us aware of a culture's situation or troubles. Academics Mark Gant & Dr. Carmen Fonseca-Mora discuss how although no one type of music works the best, foreign protest songs are a good example.

    They're typically motivational, clear, and repetitive and give an insight into a country's culture without causing problems for the learners. Listeners may even feel inclined to discuss or research that situation – which could be a good learning opportunity.

    Listening skills

    In addition, music can improve our listening skills. When we listen to a song in a foreign language, we’re often compelled to pay close attention to the lyrics, melody, and rhythm. This can help us develop our listening skills and train our ears to distinguish different sounds and accents in the language.

    Being exposed to foreign languages in any output can be beneficial; having the added layers of music adds that little extra challenge for your ears and brain. It’s almost like immersing yourself in the language without the need for traveling.

    An enjoyable way to learn

    Finally, music can make language learning more enjoyable. Learning a new language can be challenging and sometimes even frustrating. However, listening to music in a foreign language can make learning more enjoyable and engaging.

    Singing along with the lyrics can be a fun way to practice the language and boost motivation and confidence. Pairing those with interesting and engaging music videos can also make it more enjoyable. Check out some examples in our postÌý11 great English language song lyrics.Ìý

    So when you find yourself taking on a new linguistic challenge, give music some 'airtime' – and watch how it helps you expand your vocabulary and improve your language skills.