We know how important it is to get kids moving and playing mindful movement games is a great way to do so.
The key is to make movement and mindfulness exercises enjoyable and age appropriate. You really don’t have to sit still like a pretzel to practice mindfulness with children.
Mindful movement teaches children how to manage their emotions, bodies, and minds. Mindful movement also allows children to process stress before it accumulates.
These quick games are appropriate for children aged 3 and up, and all you need is your body!
With this mindfulness activity, children and adults can…
develop body-mind coordination,
practice mindfulness,
and develop focusing skills.
Mindfulness Games For Kids—Mindful Flamingos
Purpose: Body awareness, Focus, Calm, Relaxation
Best for ages: 3+, groups or one-on-one
What you need: Nothing!
Game 1: Be A Flamingo
This is a simple game that will help your children improve their focus and body awareness while also providing an opportunity for mindfulness practice.
Here’s what to do:
Step 1: Tell your children to fix their gaze on something in front of them that is slightly below eye level.
Step 2: Have them stand on one leg with their gaze fixed on the focal point.
Test their endurance by standing on one leg for as long as possible.
Step 3: Instruct the kids to try the other leg.
Yes, it’s that easy!
When finished, inquire how it felt to focus on their bodies like that. Was it calming? Was it fun?
Game 2: Mindful Flamingo Friends
Step1: Begin by dividing the children into pairs and instructing each pair to stand close together with their arms around each other, as shown in the picture below.
Step 2: Then have them slowly lift one leg and try to balance together. Giggles are almost guaranteed! The pair with the longest balance wins.
You can make it more difficult by instructing them to hold hands or only touch the tips of the other flamingo’s fingers—or feathers :-)
It’s a lot of fun!
Game 3: Listening Flamingos
Here’s another variation to make it even more challenging.
In this activity the children will keep their bodies balanced while answering your questions.
This is a challenging activity because the children will have to balance and listen to you without losing concentration.
Here’s what to do:
Step 1: Tell your children to fix their gaze on something in front of them that is slightly below eye level.
Step 2: Have them stand on one leg with their gaze fixed on the focal point.
Step 3: Pose questions to the children and allow them to respond.
You could select one child to respond to each question. The questions can be simple; the goal is to demonstrate what happens when they focus on multiple tasks at once. You can also ask them yes/no questions and have them raise their left arm if they say no and their right arm if they say yes.
You can even challenge the children further by asking them to sing a song (singing flamingos), or tell them to close their eyes (sleeping flamingos).
I promise it will be fun :-)
I hope you and your family or class enjoy this activity.
PS
Sign up for my upcoming NEW mindfulness GAMES book, which includes tens of mindful games. It’s going to be a fun book and it will empower you to teach mindfulness and executive function skills through movement, art, dance, music, nature, food, crafts and all of your amazing senses.
Click here to sign up for a chance to be part of the launch team, review the book and get it for free.
Wishing you many mindful moments
With gratitude,
Chris Bergstrom
Chief Mindfulness Ninja @ Blissful Kids
Chris Bergstrom is a bestselling mindfulness author, a leader in the field of mindfulness, and the founder of BlissfulKids.com, a community of parents, educators, and therapists dedicated to children’s mindfulness and psychology, with over 15 years of experience facilitating meditation and psychological interventions to people of all ages.
Chris is a certified mindfulness facilitator, trained to teach mindfulness to students in K-12, and has received psychology and mindfulness training from UPenn, UCLA, UNC, Mindful Schools, and Mindfulness Without Borders.
