61 fun and simple mindfulness activities for kids to enjoy
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Chris Mosunic, PhD, RD, MBA
Looking for some mindfulness activities for kids? Discover 61 fun ideas that help little ones (and teens) stay calm, focused, and connected to themselves every day.
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to lower anxiety and achieve a sense of inner peace, making it an ideal activity for overstimulated kids.
But how can they reap the benefits if they can’t sit still and focus?
The key is to teach them to find micro-moments of peace within the chaos of childhood.
Even when their lives are filled with snack time tantrums or negotiations over screen time, giving kids opportunities to notice what’s happening in their bodies and minds can help bring calm, clarity, and a greater sense of connection to their everyday lives.
With a little effort, you’ll be able to give your child accessible tools to help them tune into their inner world. Here’s everything you need to know about how to help the children in your life practice mindfulness — and dozens of fun, play-based ideas to help them get started.
What is mindfulness for kids?
Put simply, mindfulness is the simple act of paying attention to the present moment. For kids, that doesn’t have to mean mastering meditation or staying quiet for 10 minutes, though if they can do that, great! A more realistic approach is to simply help them notice what’s going on in their bodies and minds, while also making room for their energy, feelings, and imagination.
When introduced in the right way, mindfulness can become a way for kids to build better awareness and avoid emotional overwhelm. In time, it’ll become such a natural part of their lives that they won’t even realize they’re doing it.
How mindfulness can help children
Mindfulness gives children the tools to notice, pause, and respond rather than react. Here are some benefits of mindfulness activities for kids:
Better emotional regulation: Kids can learn to deal with big feelings in a more controlled way and ultimately build resilience.
More focus: By returning to the breath or body, children can regain focus one moment at a time.
Improved empathy: When children tune into their own emotions, they can better understand others, too.
Deeper sleep: Mindfulness supports smoother shifts between activities and helps quiet busy minds at bedtime.
Support for neurodivergence: Breath games and sensory grounding can help children with ADHD or sensory overload feel more in control.
How to introduce mindfulness to kids
The key to introducing mindfulness to kids lies in making it age-appropriate, accessible, and fun.
You’ll find tailored approaches for different age groups below.
Read more: 12 tips for self-care for kids (and why it's important)
Mindfulness for young children (ages 3–8)
This is the golden age of imagination, movement, and messy feelings. Young children are naturally present and curious, but they can also be impulsive. At this age, mindfulness should feel like play.
Here are a few criteria to keep in mind:
Short and sensory: Think 1-3 minutes at the most. Use texture, sound, visuals, or movement to keep their attention.
Games and characters: Turn mindfulness into a story. For example, “Let’s breathe like dragons” is much more effective than “Focus on your breath.”
Routine anchors: Embed mindful moments into daily rituals like bath time, bedtime, brushing their teeth, or walking to school.
Mindfulness for tweens (ages 9–12)
During their tween years, kids gain more emotional awareness, but they still love to play and experiment. At this stage, mindfulness is all about building emotional vocabulary and giving them space to notice what they feel without judgment.
Tweens can benefit from:
Practical tools: At this age, kids are dealing with common middle school issues like stress, frustration, and social drama. Focus on that.
Creative expression: Journaling, drawing, or storytelling can help mindfulness feel personal.
Naming instead of fixing: Help them label emotions (“This feels like a storm cloud”) without jumping to problem-solving.
Mindfulness for teens (ages 13–18)
Teenagers are dealing with major stress, from social anxiety to academic pressure. They might be grappling with their identity, too. Even if they might initially roll their eyes at it, mindfulness can help teens with regulation and reflection, especially if you frame the practices in a way that respects their independence.
Make sure you prioritize:
Autonomy and relevance: Let them choose when, how, and if they practice. Giving them some autonomy is important.
Low-key language: Skip words like “calm” or “zen.” Try “reset” or “grounding” instead.
Normalize struggle: Teens often feel like they’re the only ones who get overwhelmed. Mindfulness can help validate and de-stigmatize those emotions.
61 mindfulness activities for kids
Crafting mindfulness activities for kids doesn’t mean creating something you can show off online. Instead, focus on creating activities that are both flexible and adaptable for various energy levels, environments, and attention spans.
Whether you’re working with a solo kid who needs a quick regulation tool or several little ones who are bouncing off the walls, these individual and group-friendly practices offer a wide range of options.
Individual mindfulness activities for kids
These practices are designed for one-on-one moments with a child who needs to settle, self-regulate, or simply connect with themselves. They’re also simple, sensory, and low-pressure, so you can use them anytime, anywhere.
1. Breathe with a buddy
Have your child lie down with a stuffy on their belly, and then watch their belly rise and fall with each breath. This practice is soothing and visual, bringing focus back to the body.
2. Name the breaths as colors
Ask your kids to inhale a calming color (like blue) and then exhale a stressful one (like red). Let them choose the colors to match their mood.
3. Go on a gratitude scavenger hunt
Have them find and name one thing that feels cozy, one thing they love looking at, and one thing that makes them smile. This allows them to focus on gratitude in simple ways.
💙 Understand the importance of gratitude during the Adventures in Perfect Harmony story with Anna Kendrick as Poppy.
4. Focus on bubbles
Ask them to blow bubbles slowly and watch how speed affects the size. Use this as a metaphor for breathing.
5. Color mindfully
Let them use crayons, pencils, or markers, and focus on certain aspects like how the colors feel, how the paper sounds, and how their hand moves.
6. Tune into their feet
Let them spend some time focusing on their feet, whether that’s wiggling their toes, pressing their whole foot onto the ground, or rolling their ankle around. As they do this, ask them to notice sensations such as texture or temperature.
7. Check their emotional climate
Ask them, “What’s your weather right now?” Let them know there are no right answers, just honest ones.
8. Trace their hands while breathing
Ask them to spread one hand wide and then trace it with the other, breathing in on the way up each finger, and breathing out on the way down.
9. Focus on animal breaths
You can ask them to invent their own, but some examples include breathing out like a lion (roar exhale), snake (hiss it out), or bee (buzz breath).
10. Focus with a glitter jar
Shake a glitter jar and watch it settle. Then, ask them what happens in their own body when they get still.
11. Make faces in the mirror
Look in a mirror and try different facial expressions, such as curious, calm, surprised, or sleepy. Ask them to do it too, with a focus on noticing how each one feels.
12. Create a slow-motion challenge
Pick an everyday task like walking, brushing teeth, or putting on socks, and ask them to do it in slow motion. This will help them regulate any hyper energy they may be carrying.
13. Snack mindfully
Choose a snack (like an orange) and ask them to eat it as slowly as possible. Make sure they smell it, feel it, and taste it with their full attention.
14. Visualize their favorite place
Ask them to close their eyes and imagine a favorite place (whether real or invented). Ask them what they can see, hear, smell, or feel.
15. Play “I spy” with emotions
Play a solo round of “I spy,” but use feelings instead of colors. An example? “I spy something that makes me feel calm.”
16. Breathe shapes
Ask them to trace shapes in the air with their finger or toe while breathing in and out, and ask them to assign a feeling to each shape. For instance, circles could be calming, while zig-zags could be energizing.
17. Notice music
Play one calming song and ask them to notice every instrument or shift in the sound.
💙 Turn on the Disney Peaceful Piano playlist for some calming covers of Disney classic songs.
18. Thank their body parts
Ask them to give thanks to each part of the body, starting from the toes. An example could be, “Thank you feet for walking me around today.”
19. Doodle emotions
Let them draw their mood as a shape, color, or creature, and tell them there are no rules.
20. Journal mindfully
Simple prompts like “What color is your mood today?” or “What would calm feel like right now?” offer a soft entry into introspection.
21. Breathe with nature
Step outside and ask them to match their breathing to something in nature, like the sway of trees or the rhythm of birds.
22. Ground with an object
Hold a rock, toy, or small object, and ask your kids to focus on what it looks like, feels like, and smells like. Let them tell you what they noticed.
23. Reset with scent
Use essential oils or something fragrant like an orange peel, and have them breathe in with curiosity.
24. Have a mindful movement break
Ask them to move their body in whatever way makes them feel good. Then, ask them to freeze and notice how their body feels right after.
25. Count your breaths
Have them count breaths up to 10. If they lose track, they simply start again. This helps them gently build focus.
💙 Teach them how to be one with their breath with the Breathe Like the Ocean with Moana session.
26. Draw their moods
Ask them to draw a face that matches how they feel, whether that’s happy, sad, frustrated, bored, or curious. They can even add thought bubbles or colors for more flair.
27. Play word association
Say a random word and let their mind wander. Ask them what popped up.
28. Breathe letters
Pick a letter (like B) and come up with one breath-related word for each inhale and exhale. (Think, “Breathe in… Brave. Breathe out… Bold.”)
29. Measure emotions
Have them imagine their current feelings on a scale from 1–10. Then ask them what would help reduce or increase its intensity. (This could also be a great bedtime activity, as it helps them reflect on their day.)
30. Go on a quiet walk
Ask them to take a silent walk (even if it’s just around the living room), and notice five new things they’ve never paid attention to before.
Read more: Walking meditation: what it is, how to do it, and why
Group mindfulness activities for kids
Group mindfulness involves creating opportunities for kids to connect with each other while also connecting with themselves. These group activities encourage shared presence, co-regulation, and just enough structure to keep things from spiraling into chaos.
1. Breathe together
Have kids pair up and take turns being the leader and the mirror, where the mirror matches the breath patterns of the leader. This exercise helps build focus, empathy, and regulation.
2. Go on a sensory safari
As a group, let them explore their surroundings using all five senses. Each kid names something they can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. There’s a caveat, though: You can’t repeat the same thing twice.
3. Wish with compassion
Each child thinks of someone in the room and silently sends them a kind wish. They pass on the feeling by making eye contact or gently pressing their hands together.
4. Create a gratitude chain
Have the kids go around and share something they’re grateful for. It’ll help connect them to one another and encourage them to open up.
5. Form a sound circle
Sit in a circle, and then ask one child to make a sound, like a snap, a clap, or a hum. The second child then mimics the sound and adds their own. This keeps going, creating a layered soundscape in the process. Another option? A DIY sound bath.
6. Freeze and breathe
Play music and let the kids dance freely. Once the music stops, everyone freezes and takes one slow, deep breath. Keep this going for several rounds.
7. Play emotion charades
Have kids act out their emotions using only facial expressions or body language — no words allowed. Others guess what the emotion is and then share how it feels in their body.
8. Build a mindful story
Let kids go around adding one sentence at a time to build a story. The twist is that each person must take a deep breath before speaking.
9. Pass the pulse
Let kids hold hands in a circle. Then, one person starts a pulse by squeezing the next person’s hand. The pulse goes around the circle and stops when it reaches the original person.
10. Guess objects in silence
Put a mystery object in a bag, and let the kids close their eyes, pass it around, and feel it silently. Then, they have to guess what it is by describing only how it felt… not what they think it was.
11. Play ball with breath
Toss a soft ball around, and ask whoever catches it to share one thing they can see, hear, or feel. They also have to take a mindful breath before passing it on.
12. Perform a group body scan
Guide the whole group through a short body awareness journey, and aim to make it fun and story-like.
💙 Let them reconnect with their body during this Flashlight Body Scan meditation with Tamara Levitt.
13. Create anchor words
Choose a word for the day that encapsulates a feeling, such as calm or strong. Then, go around the group and have each child share what that word means to them and when they felt that emotion last.
14. Perform a mindful animal parade
Each child chooses an animal and demonstrates its walk and breath (for instance, an elephant’s breath and walk would be heavy and slow). Try creating a full parade, having each child exhibit their animal consistently.
💙 Let your child explore mindfully moving like animals during the Mindful Movement with Sienna and Friends session.
15. Toss with gratitude
Toss a beach ball, and when a child catches it, they say one thing they’re thankful for. It can be silly, serious, or seasonal — doesn’t matter.
16. Match moods
Call out a feeling and have the group respond with a physical pose or face that matches that mood.
17. Play “I spy” with feelings
Instead of colors or objects, play “I spy” with emotional associations, like, “I spy something that feels cozy.”
18. Go on a sound safari
Ask kids to sit quietly and listen for one full minute. Then, they have to go around naming every sound they heard. You can do this inside or outdoors.
19. Form a weather circle
Each child shares their internal weather of the day (sunny, cloudy, rainy, thunderstorm, rainbow, and the like). Don’t necessarily ask them to explain it, but listen carefully if they do.
20. Go on a walking meditation
Take a walk around the room or yard, and ask them to move slowly and notice each footstep, sound, and breath.
💙 Encourage your child to go on A Mindful Walk with the help of this meditation with Malika Chopra.
21. Challenge each other to eye contact
Get kids to pair up and make eye contact silently for 15-30 seconds. Check in and ask them how the activity felt to them afterward.
22. Play “What’s your superpower?”
Everyone shares one thing they’re good at or a quality they’re proud of. Encourage applause after each response.
23. Have a relay with their breath
Ask kids to draw or trace shapes in the air with their breath. After one child does it, the rest follow. Then, switch leaders.
24. Create a group mantra
As a group, ask them to create a shared mantra or affirmation. Repeat it again and again, together as a whisper or chant.
25. Play breath bingo
Create a board with simple mindful tasks involving the breath, such as taking three deep breaths, noticing something green, or naming a feeling. As they finish each task, let the kids mark off the boxes.
26. Form a feelings circle
Sit in a circle and toss a stuffy. Whenever a child catches it, they have to say how they’re feeling in one word only. These simple activities are often the ones that involve the most thought.
27. Snack mindfully in a group
Have kids share a snack and eat it slowly, all while smelling, tasting, and noticing textures. Grapes, raisins, and popcorn all work well.
28. Practice stillness with a twist
Set a timer for 60 seconds, and then ask everyone to stay as still and quiet as possible. Reset if someone moves or laughs, and try for a group record.
29. Practice with music
Play short snippets of different music, such as classical, ambient, or acoustic. After each, ask the group to describe how it made them feel.
Read more: 15 ways music can make you feel better in mind & body
30. Pay compliments
Each person gives a compliment or kind word to the person on their right. Repeat around the circle.
31. Pause while telling a story
Read a short story or picture book aloud. At various points, pause to ask kids what they notice in their body as the story progresses or how they think the characters are feeling.
Mindfulness activities for kids FAQs
What are some mindful activities children can do at home?
Mindfulness at home can be as simple as taking three deep breaths together before dinner or noticing how warm the sunlight feels coming through the window. Some other easy go-tos include breathing with a stuffed animal, listening to a favorite song with full attention, or playing a five-senses game during a walk around the block.
Bedtime can also be a natural opportunity for mindfulness. Consider creating a gratitude practice as part of the nightly wind-down, or use imagination-based breathing stories to help little bodies settle. Here are 10 more tips for a better bedtime routine for your kid.
How can mindfulness help kids focus and manage their feelings?
Mindfulness helps kids learn how to notice what’s going on inside them before they explode, shut down, or spiral. By paying attention to the sensations in their body, their breathing patterns, or simply how they’re feeling emotionally, children can begin to build internal awareness that supports their emotional regulation.
Over time, that pause between feeling and reaction can help them make choices that aren’t driven by panic, frustration, or overwhelm. As another bonus, when their brains are less flooded, their ability to focus naturally improves.
What’s a good mindfulness activity for a group of kids?
For groups, it’s generally best to keep mindfulness practices interactive, playful, and movement-friendly. Pretending to go on a safari while using their senses, for instance, is a fantastic option because it engages curiosity, doesn’t require any materials, and works for almost any age.
Another strong choice is having kids mirror one another. They face a partner and try to match the other’s inhales and exhales, building both co-regulation and focus. Gratitude circles or sound scavenger hunts also work beautifully, since they give kids a chance to share their experiences without pressure.
How do I introduce mindfulness to my tween or teen without it feeling cheesy?
Instead of using the term mindfulness, try framing it in their language: Offer it as a reset, brain hack, or even just something that helps them feel less stressed. Then, let them explore it without an agenda. You might play a mindfulness podcast in the car, leave out a journal prompt, or casually mention a breathing technique that helped you through a tough moment.
Another option is to let them lead: Ask what helps them calm down or focus, and build from there. It’s also important to note that if they don’t want to keep trying, that’s fine, too. Teens tend to come back to these tools even more so when they know they’re optional.
Are there mindfulness activities that help kids with ADHD?
Mindfulness can be especially beneficial for kids with ADHD, but it needs to be adapted to meet their sensory and attention needs. Movement-based grounding is often more effective than seated breathwork, for instance.
Try things like letting them stomp their feet into the floor, pressing their palms together with awareness, or using objects to fidget with during mindful listening. Short, repeatable activities with sensory input can offer a strong sense of control and calm.
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