NEW Print-and-Go Resources!
These Mindfulness Resources are great for kids and parents alike. We need all the tools for managing stress we can get.
Breathe
Next Step’s resources to move past fight, flight, freeze, or freak out. When you need just a five-minute pause, our Mindfulness & Movement Activity Cards provide a guide to find Calm, Focus, Breath, and Movement.
Forest Bathing
No matter where you are today, walk outside. Breathe the fresh air. Touch the earth. Pick up a handful of soil. See how you feel.
Resources for a Mindful Classroom
Research is showing that even a few brief mindful moments a day can help relieve some of the pressure that kids AND ADULTS are feeling. Moving our bodies is also key to sharpening our minds.
Brain Breaks
Not only is movement good for physical health, but it’s good for mental health–focus and executive function. We’ve enjoyed working with the Iowa Department of Public Health as they rolled out Brain Breaks.
Chalk Art
Watch your kids’ faces light up as they reveal their first horizon line–priceless! Chalk Mountains is a unique way to create a design and experiment with color. It helps with focus and flow. #aSTEaMactivity
Bright Spots
What requires no preparation, gets kids moving and giggling, and inspires a discussion of the power of listening and focus? Why, STOP WALK WIGGLE SIT of course!
Teacher Perspectives|Settle Down
“Breathing exercises get them back on track,” she says. She decided to try teaching her students controlled breathing techniques and now uses a breathing exercise for a few minutes after recess each day.
Teacher Perspectives|Take a Break
“I have 25 kiddos. I just feel like, as a teacher, I have to help all of them – including that one child whose struggles with focus or emotional regulation result in classroom behaviors. When they are stressed, their behaviors can escalate quickly.”
Glitter Jar
Glitter is not my favorite. I try to keep it out of our home, but it’s getting more difficult. Not only do my kids bring it home on art projects, but I didn’t realize how glittery it would be to have a daughter! Glitter on shoes, shirts, pants, backpacks, notebooks, and toys. Glitter that finds its way into every corner of every room of our house. I can count on glitter in the dustpan when I sweep the floors.
As much as I complain about glitter, I do appreciate Glitter Jars. They are simple to make – add water and food coloring to an upcycled water bottle. Add glitter and shake. Glitter swirls around in every direction, like a sparkly, colorful snow globe, it’s mesmerizing.
Sometimes my mind feels like that snow globe–thoughts dart in every direction. To-do lists, work requests, full mail boxes, and I do mean plural with voicemails, emails and paper mail. Family commitments on top of it all make me forget why I walked into a room, and wonder what I meant with a calendar entry.
From well-intentioned extra-curricular activities to technology distractions, I know kids feel it too. When I’m teaching, I wonder why I need to repeat directions times or explain concepts yet again. But then I remember that their young minds are distracted just like mine. And they’ve learned fewer tools to cope.
Life doesn’t have to be so jumbled up. Though swirling glitter is fun to watch, it eventually settles. Just so, as I sit mesmerized by the Glitter Jar, my mind focuses and my thoughts slow.
The education team at Next Step is developing a variety of Mindfulness & Movement resources for educators. In the next month we’ll roll out–
- A collection of cards outlining 5-minute activities to help kids in classrooms and at home focus their thoughts and balance their emotions.
- We’ll offer workshops and coaching to help you integrate these and other strategies into your classroom or family life.
- And we have a trained team that’s ready to bring Mindfulness and Movement to the kids you work with, in or out of school. Urbandale’s Adventuretime program is the first to schedule this program.
Like the Glitter Jar that settles with just a few minutes of stillness, some mindful moments can turn an overwhelming classroom or household into a refuge of calm. Sometimes a small change is all we need to make for a big impact.