For preschoolers and their parents

Kids are wonderful and challenging at the same time.

From my personal experience, sometimes it tends more of the first, sometimes more to the latter.

Meditation can help parents as well as their beloved mini-version(s) with their balance. On this page you can find some meditational assistence for both.

For the parents

To all my collegue-parents out there, I created a sanity-and-recharge moment for when it is needed. In this quick tool for mommy or daddy (or both), I will guide you in ten minutes from overactivity and maybe overwhelm, to more peace of mind and mental space, so you can experience an at least temporary relieve of the experienced challenges for a bit.

Enjoy:

Please feel free to use this boost as often as you like of course and also to spread it! If you are looking for more structural mental fitness, take a look at the offer section in the menu.

For the kids

Young kids are unfortunatelly not up for meditation yet.

On the picture here you can see how it developed with my three year old.

You can calm them down with games or exercises though. I don’t claim te be an expert on this area for kids, but like to share with you the ones that I found to be effective.

That you can of course also use before their bedtime or after intensive physical activity to prevent the kid losing itself in overactivity.

From frog to koala

My daughter loves animals and she probably isn’t the only one. She knows their sounds and movements and this is a great way to calm them down.

We start with imitating a frog, monkey or kangaroo. Anything that jumps will do. Then we go to a roaring bear and lion, which show their teeth and claws.

After that we continue slowly to dog and cat and then to horse and cow and the to elephant. As you notice, we move towards animals that have less natural physical activity.

From there we proceed to the stork or flamingo, that stands still on one leg. Then it becomes time for the turtle or snail, finally ending with the sleeping cat or dog, the koala or the sloth. Whatever animal your kiddo(s) like you can use of course, you get the drill.

‘Meditation breathing’

My daughter knows the ‘meditation breath’. We sit and we inhale deep through the nose, and exhale fully through the mouth.

By emphasising the exhale, the body moves more to relaxation. So we continue with to breath in a bit, and breath out a whole lot. And we can of course practice that best lying down on our back.

The stuffed animal on the belly

My daugther is not there yet, but I know it is very effective with older kids. Take their favorite stuffed animal and let it rest on their belly when they are lying on there back.

Now let them notice how the animal moves up and down with their breathing. Contrary to most adults, every kid has belly breathing. If you want to re-learn it yourself in an incredibily easy way, click here and scroll down until you see ‘Relax Yourself’.

But back to your child. Let them move the animal up and down for a bit and tell them how their beloved animal likes it so much, that it fell asleep. And maybe that can convince them to take a small rest right there with the sleeping stuffed animal on their belly as well, because we don’t want to wake it up of course.

The body scan for kids

Most of you probably know the body scan. It is also very useful for kids. And we use a sun, moon or their special star for that. So let them imagine the sun or their special star in the sky. Ask them to feel how bright and special it is. And that it shines down on them now, first on their head. Ask them if they can feel the warmth and if the beautiful light has a color for them.

Then the light of the star goes down to their face with their closed eyes. Then to the shoulders. Their chest. Their arms. And their hands. The speed on which you do this is determined by your kid, keep them engaged so they don’t get bored, but let them experience the ‘light’ as long and intens as they want for a maximum effect.

After that move to the belly ask them if they can feel how it warms their belly. How the light gives them a nice and warm feeling inside in their belly. This spot is especially important because it is where we can find our calm and peace and our safety and grounding. And let them feel how that warmth spreads to their heart and chest and it completely fills that up.

End with the legs and the feet. And feel how they are now fully charged by the warm and calming light of their sun or favorite star. Ask them to feel that they are a little sun and star themselves now, that smiles and shines a calming light to all the kids, mommies and daddies and animals in the world. That they all relax from it and they sit down smiling, just like them. Let them name all the kids, animals or people that they see this happening to. And then use your own creativity to elongate this as long al possible 🙂

The Tibetan singing bowl or bell test

In Nepal I once bought a Tibetans singing bowl and my daugther loves it. It makes a beautiful sound if you ring it, but you can also use it to calm down. If you don’t have a singing bowl, you can also use a bell or someting that make a bit of a prolonged sound like a string instrument.

Ring the bowl or bell and let the tone be there. Ask your kid to pay close attention for how long she is able to hear the sound. I put my index finger in the air for as long as I can hear it and listen closely, and my daugther automatically copies me doing that. And when the sound is completely gone and she doesn’t hear it anymore, she smiles and says ‘yes’.

When the kid is young, it sometimes takes a few minutes before they understand the exercise well (to continue hitting the bowl is much more fun), but afterwards they get to know the game and it is a great concentration exercise and one that brings peace of mind for your child.

All the best!

I hope this was useful to you and if you have any comments, questions or feedback, please share it with me at roel@meditatie.amsterdam.