Packed with creative, effective ideas for bringing mindfulness into the classroom, child therapy office, or community, this book features sample lesson plans and scripts, case studies, vignettes, and more. Leading experts describe how to harness the unique benefits of present-focused awareness for preschoolers, school-age kids, and teens, including at-risk youth and those with special needs. Strategies for overcoming common obstacles and engaging kids with different learning styles are explored. Chapters also share ways to incorporate mindfulness into a broad range of children's activities, such as movement, sports, music, games, writing, and art. Giving clinicians and educators practices they can use immediately, the book includes clear explanations of relevant research findings.

Finally -- a comprehensive, practical and user-friendly mindfulness resource written specifically for children and adolescents. Best-selling mindfulness author Debra Burdick has blended the latest research and best practices to create this straight-forward guide for improving self-awareness, self-regulation skills, mental health, and social connectedness in kids and teens. This expertly crafted resource features a collection of more than 150 proven tools and techniques, presented in a simple, step-by-step skill building format. Perfect for mental health practitioners, teachers and all in the helping professions. Tools for explaining mindfulness and neurobiology in kids’ languageActivities, games, and meditations that build basic through advanced mindfulness skillsStep-by-step instruction on teaching and practicing mindfulness, meditation and reflectionGuidance on choosing age appropriate skillsHow to apply mindfulness skills to specific childhood mental health disordersJournal prompts to help integrate learningGoal-setting charts for tracking progressDownloadable worksheets, exercises and reflections

This indispensable resource provides a flexible framework and a wealth of engaging tools for teaching mindfulness to children and adolescents with varying needs in school or clinical settings. Numerous kid-friendly mindfulness practices are presented, complete with step-by-step instructions, sample scripts, suggested variations, and discussion questions. The benefits of mindfulness for enhancing children's social–emotional competencies are clearly explained. Clinicians and teachers are guided to select and sequence activities for groups struggling with specific challenges: stress and anxiety, depression, attention problems, behavioral and emotion regulation issues, and trauma. In a convenient large-size format, the book includes 14 reproducible handouts. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

"Make any moment mindful from morning to night with 5 categories of cards, designed to fit into each part of the day. Whimsical full-color illustrations on both sides of the cards provide easy-to-follow steps for each practice. The cards and 8-page instructional booklet include tips for children of a wide range of abilities"--Publisher's website

Copublished with Mindful Schools “Effectively sharing mindfulness with teenagers depends on distinct skill sets . . . done well, it is incredibly joyous.” Matthew Brensilver, JoAnna Hardy and Oren Jay Sofer provide a powerful guide to help teachers master the essential competencies needed to successfully share mindfulness practices with teens and adolescents. Incorporating anecdotes from actual teaching, they blend the latest scientific research with innovative, original techniques for making the practices accessible and interesting to this age group. This text is an indispensable handbook for mindfulness instruction in its own right, and a robust companion volume for teachers using The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents. Also available as a two-book set.

At school, we believe education should touch the whole child. This includes the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and cognitive aspects of the child's life. We teach children quietness as a skill to reflect and recharge their inner lives. Lorraine Murray helped us on this journey.' -- Sheila Laing, Head Teacher. Stress and behavioural disorders are common in children, who are increasingly bombarded by marketing campaigns, faced with school and peer pressure, and able to sense the stress of adults around them. Mindfulness and meditation can help children recognise and cope with these pressures, releasing bad feelings gently and giving them simple tools to deal with tension and stress throughout their lives. In this practical and inspiring book, Lorraine Murray shows parents, teachers and youth workers how to lead fun and peaceful meditation sessions with children. Lorraine explains a variety of different approaches, from meditations around daily activities for busy families, to ideas for group 'quietness' sessions in schools. She provides fun, tactile rhymes for toddlers to help them calm down before bedtime, and suggests ways to help teenagers reduce anxiety. She goes on to explain how these methods can help children with ADHD and those on the autistic spectrum, giving a range of case studies. This book is suitable for complete beginners, or those with some experience of relaxation and meditation techniques. It offers all the advice needed to lead sessions with children, whilst encouraging the reader to adapt and develop their own ways of helping children to feel calmer, happier and more peaceful.