Books about mindfulness are an important addition to your children’s bookshelf. Research says “Stress can begin to impact children at a very young age, and stressful situations affect health and well-being almost immediately” Like adults, meditation can help children cope with stresses and traumas by being mindful about present situations and thinking clearly and rationally about them.
According to research conducted at UCLA by Greg Flaxman and Lisa Flook, Ph.D., mindful meditation can strengthen parent-child relationships and have mutually-beneficial results in many types of families. Here are 8 great books to introduce these practices.
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When the world feels chaotic, find peace within through an accessible mindfulness practice from the bestselling picture-book dream team that brought us I Am Yoga. Express emotions through direct speech. Find empathy through imagination. Connect with the earth. Wonder at the beauty of the natural world. Breathe, taste, smell, touch, and be present.
This beautiful little book presents one of the best known and most innovative meditation practices developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as part of the Plum Village community’s practice with children.
Pebble meditation is a playful and fun activity that parents and educators can do with their children to introduce them to meditation. It is designed to involve children in a hands-on and creative way that touches on their interconnection with nature. Practising pebble meditation can help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude, and can help children deal with difficult emotions.
‘At school, we believe education should touch the whole child. This includes the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and cognitive aspects of the child’s life. We teach children quietness as a skill to reflect and recharge their inner lives. Lorraine Murray helped us on this journey.’ — Sheila Laing, Head Teacher Stress and behavioural disorders are common in children, who are increasingly bombarded by marketing campaigns, faced with school and peer pressure, and able to sense the stress of adults around them.
In this sequel to her best-selling book ‘Calm Kids’, author Lorraine Murray introduces a range of mindful, heart-felt activities to that will help children to teens learn to relax, de-stress and feel centered. You will discover how to develop bespoke tools that support children with special needs and those on the autistic spectrum.
Mindfulness is a big word for a simple idea – it is paying attention, with care, to one moment at a time. The perfect introduction to mindfulness, this book teaches children how to be mindful by focusing their thoughts and noticing the world around them using fun activities.
Research supports that mindful meditation calms the brain, inspires creativity and enhances cognitive and social-emotional skills. The reflections in Pants of Peace incorporate simple relaxation exercises and visualizations designed to improve childrens self-esteem and confidence and reduce stress and anxiety. Practiced regularly, these exercises can have a profound effect on childrens mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.
This boxed card deck includes 50 creative mindfulness games, visualizations and exercises divided into 5 categories to help children feel grounded, find calm, improve focus, practice loving-kindness and relax. Whimsical full-color illustrations on both sides of the cards break down each practice into easy-to-follow steps. Tips on individual cards plus an 8-page instructional booklet show modifications that make these activities inclusive for children of all abilities.
Homework horrors, chores, and not-so-friendly friends–that’s enough to make any kid’s brain hurt. The secret to staying cool is easy: it’s called mindfulness–and this book gives kids fun activities to practice it on their own.
