One of my staff has a young daughter who is learning about meditation and breathing awareness. Four-year old Nadia will lie on her back, put a Snoopy stuffed animal on her chest, and try to rock Snoopy to sleep with her deep breathing. 
Does Snoopy fall asleep? Well, that’s another story.
Like most things, meditation practices have to be tailored to the audience. Children in particular need creative methods of practice and up to a few years ago, there weren’t too many resources available for both practitioners and parents to utilize.
I took an informal survey from my staff to see what resources they recommend using with children and I wanted to share some of them with you.
Some of my staff’s favorite books are by meditator Kerry Lee McLean, who wrote such kid-friendly mindfulness books as Peaceful Piggy Meditation and Moody Cow Meditates.
Her books look at the benefits of meditation from a child’s perspective, as well as provide some basic information on family meditation.
And which child wouldn’t be intrigued by a mindfulness exercise called “A Mind in a Jar Experiment,” which is included in her Peaceful Piggy Meditation book.
The Mindful Child by Susan Kaiser Greenland was another recommendation from a staff member who is also a parent.
Susan provides good exercises for use with school age children, though the exercises can be tailored for many ages. In addition to her book, her website has lots of resources available to help parents, educators, and the practitioner community integrate mindfulness into their interaction with children.
With a few exceptions, mindfulness meditation is something that can be used by people in all walks of life.
Are you interested in furthering your knowledge of the effects of mindfulness on the brain?
Do you want more ideas about how to integrate mindfulness into your practice?
We have created a new Mindfulness Webinar Series. We hope this expands the use of mindfulness meditation in health and mental health treatments.
What other child-centered mindfulness resources would you recommend? Please leave a comment below.
New apps such as petit bouddha as also fantastic for children!
Your article was exlleecnt and erudite.
always a big enthusiast of linking to blog writers that i adore however don’t get a lot of hyperlink really like through.
Just viewed the Mindfulschools.org Linda Sheehan mentions above. Dont know if we have anything like that here in schools in Australia? Heart warming to see so many confident children articulate the benefits they have experienced using Mindfulness, Absolutely wonderful!
Also liked that some of the Mindfulness exercises could be downloaded to an ipod – handy option for many kids to have at hand. Ros
These books are a great help. I supervise therapists and consult with schools in my area and mindfulness has been a great success. One of the main responses I received is that when a stressed child comes into school in the morning a few minutes of mindful meditation and breathing can set him/her up for a much better day. It transitions them from chaos at home to the structure and safety of school. Thanks for the continued guidance in these areas. Mary
Mindfulschools.org is in the SF Bay Area. They work in local schools and are building a nation-wide outreach with their on-line training programs. They also have had regional conferences on Mindfulness in education. Nothing yet in the Chicago-area.
Judy, I’d be very interested in how your workshop is received. I work in a school near Il/Wisc. border.
Thank You, Linda
Hello,
I am so thrilled to read this email this morning. I have been asked to do a workshop with children from the ages of 10-13 on Mindfulness.
I have been working with adults in Mindfulness for awhile, but have no experience with children and the topic. But I did not want to say “no” as in Wisconsin interest in Mindfulness is just starting.
So what great resources you provided me this morning.
Thank you,
Judy
The QuietMind Series by Loretta Oleck (psychotherapist) uses photographs as visual cues linked to visualizations, meditations and affirmations for any age. There are five different books to choose from, each specific to a different theme- anxiety, ADD/ADHD, self-esteem, grief, addiction.There is also a cd included with color reproductions of the photographs as well as the activities.
Have you seen Dr. Dan Siegel’s new book: The Whole Brain Child? It is very good and gives some very good ideas about how to teach mindfulness to children and explains why!