10 Mindful Activities for the Entire Family during the School Holidays
We have put together 10 mindful activities that are great to bring mindfulness to your family life.
There’s one week of holidays to go! If they are becoming overwhelming or you’d just like to improve the connection between your family members, get the entire family together to practise these activities to enable you to be in the present moment and enjoy family time.
Try one activity a day or many, it’s up to you! As you are working your way through our list, notice which activities your family likes and you can start making them a part of your daily routine now and to help you bring greater calm and happiness into the school term.
# 1 – Mindful Breathing
What: Mindful breathing is an easy and effective technique to help you focus on what is happening right now.
When: Practise anytime time of day when you feel overwhelmed or stressed. You can do mindful breathing anywhere and at any time – standing, sitting or lying down.
Why: Mindful breathing has the added bonus of getting oxygen to your brain which in turn can provide a calming effect and allow you to concentrate more easily.
How: Focus on deep belly breathing and the rise and fall of your abdomen, OR the cool air entering your nose and warm air exiting your nose, OR you could do movements with your breath like raising your arms above your head and then down.
# 2 – Mindful Listening
What: When you are mindful listening you are applying your sense of hearing and concentrating on the sounds that are around you in that moment.
When: Mindful listening can be done anywhere at any time. Practise this with your family when you need to create a calm environment.
Why: When you are listening mindfully you are in the moment, not thinking about the past or the future.
How: Listen to the sounds in your body, listen to the sounds that are in the room, listen to the sounds that are far away and outside. How many sounds can you identify?
# 3 – Mindful Communication
What: When we communicate mindfully, we are concentrating on what is being said and what we will say in our conversations. We are also paying attention to our emotional reactions during our interactions with others.
When: Mindful communication can be done throughout your entire day, OR whenever you remember.
Why: By practising how to communicate mindfully we in turn are showing our undivided attention, have a better understanding of what is being said and can reply thoughtfully after thinking about the effect our response will have on the other person and ourselves.
How: A good formula to help you with your mindful communication is to:
listen to understand > feel your reaction > think about your response > respond thoughtfully.
# 4 – Heartfulness
What: Heartfulness includes kindness, gratitude, generosity, compassion and other similar qualities of the heart.
When: Heartfulness can be practised at any time of the day. A great time is at the end of the of the day around the dinner table.
Why: When practising heartfulness we feel a sense of empathy to whatever is happening in the moment.
How: Encourage heartfulness amongst your family by planning and being kind and generous. You can also share examples of these acts that occurred throughout your day and they can be of your own experience or those that you have observed.
# 5 – Gratitude Journaling
What: Gratitude journaling involves writing down the things that you are grateful for.
When: Gratitude Journaling can be completed at the beginning or end of the day or any time you need a pick me up.
Why: By focusing on the good in your life regularly, you are training your brain to notice the good and express more gratitude.
How: You could start a family gratitude journal and all write something that you are grateful for each day or you could have a gratitude notice board and display what you are all grateful for.
# 6 – Mindful Eating
What: When we are eating mindfully, we are paying attention to the physical sensations and emotional reactions and thoughts around the food that we are eating.
When: Practise mindful eating at every meal.
Why: Many people notice their judgements towards themselves and food whilst they are practising mindful eating. The feeling of fullness is greater when you are eating mindfully. Plus it helps you really enjoy your food more!
How: When eating notice the taste, texture and physical reactions such as chewing.
# 7 – Mindfulness Walks
What: Mindfulness walks allow you to use a lot your senses to help you stay in the moment.
When: Mindfulness walks are a great afternoon or weekend activity for the family.
Why: Mindfulness walks in the outdoors are one of the most exciting ways to practise mindfulness with children and to uplift the spirits of adults.
How: When you are walking, notice what you can see, what you can smell, what you can feel and what you can hear.
# 8 – Mindfulness Art and Craft
What: Mindful colouring has become a popular pastime as people enjoy expressing their creativity whilst practising the principles of mindfulness. Choose any creative past-time or new activity and get lost in your creativity.
When: Practise mindfulness art and craft when you are feel disconnected and overwhelmed. This is another great way of getting the whole family involved in mindfulness, no matter what your age, and nurturing your inner child.
Why: Mindful art and craft is another way of expressing our creativity whilst being mindful.
How: Consider your painting set or your craft box and how you could practise mindfulness with the items in it e.g. paint brushes, feathers, pipe cleaners, glitter, felt shapes, glue etc.
# 9 – Guided Visualisation
What: Guided visualisation is a fantastic meditation tool to focus and direct your imagination in positive ways.
When: Guided Visualisation is a brilliant daily activity for the whole family to settle before bedtime.
Why: During guided meditation you are often asked to imagine that you are going on a journey in which you will release your negative feelings and celebrate and nurture the positives.
How: Doing a minute of mindful listening and mindful breathing is a great way to get your body and mind ready for your guided visualisation. There are many apps, CDs, audio files and books that are aimed at children and therefore appropriate for the whole family – adults can benefit from the children’s guided visualisations too.
# 10 – Positive Affirmations
What: Affirmations are fantastic for children as they are learning their place in the world and it gives them a tool to control their thoughts. Affirmations are a great way of changing negative thinking around to positive thinking.
When: Be sure to say your affirmations regularly throughout the day.
Why: When you are concentrating on your affirmations you are being mindful and present. You are not thinking of the past, the future or any anxieties and worries. Instead you are in the present moment.
How: Focussing on the positives, affirmations can help to enhance your social-emotional skills, in particular your confidence. Even if you don’t believe what you are saying to start with, your brain starts to actually believe it and you are training your brain to be positive so that it becomes a habit.