![\"Tips](\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Tips-For-Teaching-Mindfulness-In-School.png\"\/)
![\"Tips](\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Tips-For-Teaching-Mindfulness-In-School.png\")
<\/figure>\nby TeachThought Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n While the scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the Waisman Center aren\u2019t yet ready to issue evidence-based mindfulness curriculum practices, Flook and CIHM outreach specialists Lisa Thomas Prince and Lori Gustafson offer the following tips for families wishing to engage in mindfulness practices for a more positive classroom atmosphere<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n See also What Are The Grade Levels By Age?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Find a time and\/or place\u00a0where you and your students can pause for a few moments and develop a sense of comfort with the quiet. Notice how we may become aware of things around us and in us in a new and different way.<\/p>\n This can work for you as a teacher as you design instruction or respond to student work, or the spaces students work themselves. If you\u2019re unable to create such a space for students, the use of white noise (simplynoise.com, for example) can help mask background noise or still \u2018overactive\u2019 minds. We even made our own blend of background noise for reading and writing<\/a><\/strong>, too.<\/p>\n Have students\u00a0try to notice sounds, textures, colors, shapes, and other characteristics of their environments. (These can be excellent writing prompts, too.)<\/p>\n As a teacher, if you\u2019re able, try a mindful eating exercise and slowly, with quiet attention, explore a food item with all of the senses before eating it \u2014 noticing the smells, colors, textures and any sensations of pleasure or displeasure.<\/p>\n Being in the moment is both a cause and an effect of mindfulness. Mindfulness is rooted in the present. Thoughts about yesterday, tomorrow, or even your \u2018self\u2019 in the context of an afternoon or school year or activity is the opposite of presence in the present.<\/p>\n With students, explore the breath by having them\u00a0close their eyes\u00a0and explore a guided meditation each day before class. Sam Harris\u2019 \u2018Waking Up<\/a>\u2018 app could be useful here for older students while Moshi<\/a> is useful for younger students.<\/p>\n Practice caring and compassion for ourselves and others by offering wishes such as, \u201cMay we be happy, may we be safe, may we be filled with love.\u201d They might giggle in August, but by May? They may just wish you affection right back.<\/p>\n Caring wishes can be used when we experience discomfort before taking a test, when reading out loud, or simply to send kindness to another person, knowing that we all wish to be happy.<\/p>\n We can cultivate gratitude in simple ways; for example, we can take a few minutes to reflect on the good things that happened during the day, keep a list of people and things for which we are grateful and\/or create a gratitude journal using words and pictures. Write about it, talk about it, reflect upon it.<\/p>\n While advance mindfulness can be incredibly powerful, for the classroom, keep it playful, simple, and \u2018child-centered\u2019 (rather than \u2018the practice of mindfulness-centered\u2019).<\/p>\n These ideas\u00a0will take patience to develop as a capacity in students. Start small\u2013quick activities. Accept challenges as they arise. Help students contextualize what they\u2019re doing and why they\u2019re doing it. There\u2019s no reason mindfulness can\u2019t be successful in any K-12 classroom.<\/p>\n Watch others \u2018being mindful\u2019 so that they can see what it looks like in different shapes, contexts, and applications. This can be done live, or through YouTube, or even videos the students make themselves.<\/p>\n Many people misunderstand mindfulness, Zen, meditation, and other \u2018mystic\u2019 practices which all often simply boil down to quieting the mind by losing the \u2018self.\u2019<\/p>\n Help them carry it beyond the classroom by offering tips, resources, ideas, and more to be mindful in their daily lives. (After all, isn\u2019t that the point?)<\/p>\n What it is, what it\u2019s not, when it \u2018worked,\u2019 when it didn\u2019t, what the benefits have been, what other aspects of growth daily mindfulness practice could lead to, etc.<\/p>\n 11. You don\u2019t have to make it \u2018fun\u2019 but you can\u2019t make it dry. Make it \u2018alive\u2019 and vibrant because each moment is alive and vibrant.<\/p>\n 12. Use a variety of \u2018places\u2019 and \u2018opportunities\u2019 for mindfulness: in the classroom, outside, standing in line, with eyes open and closed, before a test and after, with the lights on and off, etc.<\/p>\n Here are improved replacements for tips 13 and 14 that maintain the spirit of your original list but offer more practical, age-appropriate, and classroom-relevant strategies:<\/p>\n 13. Normalize mindfulness by connecting it to students\u2019 daily lives.<\/strong> 14. Teach the brain\u2013body connection in simple, visual terms.<\/strong> teaching mindfulness any grade<\/span><\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n10 Tips For Getting Started With Mindfulness In School at Any Grade Level<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Create a quiet space in your classroom<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Pay attention with purpose and curiosity<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3.\u00a0Use guided meditation daily<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Offer caring wishes <\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Practice gratitude<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Keep it simple<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Be patient<\/strong><\/h3>\n
8. Model it\u2013or let others do so<\/strong><\/h3>\n
9. Transfer it<\/strong><\/h3>\n
10. Journal about it<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Other Tips For Teaching Mindfulness To Children at any Grade Level<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Rather than relying on celebrity endorsements, show students how mindfulness can help them with real, relatable challenges\u2014like staying calm before a test, falling asleep more easily, or managing conflict with a classmate. Framing it as a practical life skill increases buy-in and makes it feel less like a \u201cschool thing\u201d and more like a \u201clife thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Use an analogy students can grasp\u2014like comparing the brain to a smartphone that needs charging and clearing memory. Explain how mindfulness is like a \u201creset\u201d button for their minds, improving focus, emotional balance, and even memory. Add a visual anchor, like a quick sketch of a \u201cbattery meter\u201d showing how stress drains energy and mindfulness restores it.<\/p>\n