How to practise mindfulness at home with children

Mindfulness means being aware of the present moment. Some studies suggest it can help with mental health and wellbeing.

You can try some activities to help children feel calm.

This exercise is a good way to slow the breath or racing thoughts. It is sometimes called the ‘Take 5’ breathing exercise. Explain and practise these steps with your child.

1. Get your child to hold out one hand with the fingers apart, like a star.
2. Using a finger on their other hand as a pointer, they can slowly trace around the star shape.
3. They trace up each finger, then they breathe out as they trace down the other side. Your child should trace around their whole hand.
4. Repeat this as many times as you like.
5. Afterwards, ask your child how they feel.

Pick a selection of mindful activities and write each one on a piece of card or paper. Put them all in a jar or box somewhere you spend time together. Each family member can then choose one at random to do every day.

Activities could include:

Breathing exercises

You can use exercises like the ‘Take 5’ breathing (shown above) but keep it going for 60 seconds or longer. Try to focus only on the activity. Each time you notice your mind wandering, gently bring it back to the task.

Noticing nature

Look or listen for birds, animals, plants and clouds while you’re sitting in the garden, standing at the back door or in front of a window.

Noticing your senses

Notice each of your senses in turn – what can you see? What do you hear? What can you taste, touch or smell?

Making a gratitude list

Write about what makes you happy or helps you feel safe. Who or what would you like to thank for these things?

Picking a word

Pick a word for the day. Whenever you hear or read that word, take a moment to pay close attention to what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and how you feel.

Encourage your child to choose at least one activity every day that makes them feel good. For example:

• read a book, watch a movie or listen to music
• bake biscuits, or make a favourite cake
• put music on and sing or dance around the house
• make a collage out of old magazines
• call or write to a friend or family member
• do something nice for someone else

For more suggestions, see these activities for toddlers, children  and teens.

Making this part of your child’s bedtime routine is a great way to let go of worries. Ask your child:

• what was good about today?
• what didn’t go well?
• what made you smile?
• what are you looking forward to about tomorrow?

These questions help your child savour the good things and take pride in their achievements. They’re also a chance to release disappointment, and remember that tomorrow is a fresh start.

This guided activity works well for helping older children and teenagers feel calm and relaxed:

1. Suggest your child thinks about somewhere they feel relaxed – this could be a real or imagined place.
2. Encourage them to use all their senses to help them visualise how the place smells, looks and feels.
3. Get them to try to hold this place in their head for a few moments until they feel calmer.

If they’re worried about something specific, they can bring that situation to mind – ask them to imagine it going exactly as they want.

Create a calm head space ready for sleep by taking a few moments to relax the muscles. Get your child to:

1. Tense and relax each limb, one by one.
2. Focus on the weight of their arms and legs, and feel how they’re sinking a little into the mattress.
3. Tense and then relax their stomach.
4. Finally, lie still for a few minutes just breathing – be aware of the heavy and relaxed feelings in their body.

See our advice on what else you can do if your teen is struggling to sleep.

If your child is having nightmares, you can use this guided activity to help soothe them and calm them down:

1. Ask your child to imagine locking the bad dream away in a box.
2. Imagine a big truck carrying the box away. Then see the box loaded onto a big ship.
3. The ship sails far out to sea and drops the box into the water. See it sinking down, down, down to the bottom of the deep, deep ocean.

Page last reviewed: February 2026

Next review due: February 2029