Helping Children Find Calm and Focus

In today’s fast-paced world, even our youngest children can feel the impact of busy routines, transitions, and constant stimulation. Mindfulness is the practice of being present and paying attention to the here and now and this can make a real difference in our early years settings. It doesn’t require fancy, expensive resources or long sessions. With a few simple strategies, mindfulness can help children build the foundations for lifelong wellbeing.

Why Mindfulness Matters in the Early Years

• Emotional regulation
  Young children experience big feelings, often without the tools to manage them. Mindfulness helps them pause, notice their emotions, and can support them to calm themselves whether that’s through breathing, movement, or sensory play.

• Focus and attention
  Listening carefully to a sound, watching bubbles float until they pop, or noticing small details in nature all help children develop their concentration.

• Self-awareness and language of feelings
  Mindfulness supports children to notice what’s happening inside their bodies and minds. This builds emotional literacy by giving them the words to share how they feel.

• Positive relationships
  Mindful practices, such as waiting, listening, and responding with kindness, can support empathy, turn-taking, and social skills.

• Stress reduction
  Transitions, noisy environments, and changes in routine can lead to dysregulation (a child’s way of showing they are under stress). Mindfulness offers grounding strategies that help them return to a place of calm.

Simple, Low-Cost Mindfulness Ideas

Here are a few activities you can try in your setting — no expensive resources required.

• Smell the flower, blow the candle
  A simple breathing exercise. Children pretend to smell a flower (inhale) and blow out a candle (exhale).

• Mindful listening
  Ring a bell or chime. Ask children to listen carefully until the sound fades, raising their hand when they can’t hear it anymore.

• Bubble focus
  Blow bubbles and watch them float and pop. Talk about breathing gently to make the bubbles last longer.

• Five senses walk
  Take children outside and notice what they can see, hear, feel, smell, and (if safe) taste. This grounds them in the present moment.

• Calm jars
  Fill a jar with water, glitter, and a little glue. Shake it and watch the sparkles settle. This visual will help with calming down.

• Yoga-inspired stretches
  Poses like ‘star’, ‘tree’, or ‘cat stretch’ help children notice how their bodies feel while building balance and coordination.

It’s important to note, children shouldn’t be expected to sit in complete stillness for mindfulness to be meaningful. The most effective approaches are flexible, playful, and sensory — offering tools rather than enforcing silence and stillness.

Final Thought

Think of mindfulness as sprinkling tiny pauses throughout the day. This could be as simple as a deep breath, a quiet listen, a stretch. Each pause gives children (and you) a chance to reset, reconnect, and return to their play with fresh energy.

Will you give mindfulness a try? Maybe you already do? I’d love to hear your thoughts.