������̳

Home > Tips and advice > Emotional Development > Play

We've been chatting to life coach Amanda Trainer about how mindfulness activities can play an important role in your child's development.

“Not only does practising mindfulness with our kids lay the foundation for better mental health and wellbeing later in life, but it also helps children build positive social, emotional, thinking and communication skills”, says Amanda.

Here Amanda shares eight of her favourite activities to help you and your child let go of your worries and boost your mood:

1) Repeat positive affirmations together

“Reciting positive affirmations with your child is a simple yet effective way of instilling confidence and self-belief into them from a young age”, says Amanda.

Try starting with a simple sentence like ‘I am brave’ or ‘I am kind’.

To keep your child interested in what you are saying, you could sing each affirmation and add actions to make it more fun.

They will love watching and copying your actions when you sing a positive mantra. It will also help them connect different words with actions, boosting their self-esteem and language learning!

2) Wiggle your worries out

“Start by setting a one-minute timer and asking your child to jump up and down and wiggle their body. At the end of the minute, ask them to place a hand on their heart and listen to their heartbeat. As they listen, ask them how their body feels”, Amanda explains.

Your child will love jumping around and getting silly with you.

This activity also acts as an outlet for them to release any built-up emotion or tension from their body.

An alternative option for this activity is cranking up your favourite song and having a dance party together! Dancing has endless benefits for your child, including giving them a confidence boost and an outlet to express themselves.

3) Fly on your magic feelings carpet

“Sit on the floor on a rug or blanket with your child, fasten your imaginary seatbelts and get ready to go on a magical ride!” says Amanda.

Build up the excitement by asking them if they want to get on their magic carpet and go on a big adventure. To spark their imagination, you can ask them to close their eyes and choose what colour their carpet is, who they want to come along on the journey and where they want to go.

As you go on your imaginary journey, you can pretend to fly over a sea of water. Ask whether anything is bothering them. Then you can suggest they imagine themselves throwing their worries off their magic carpet and into the water, making the problem smaller…and smaller…and smaller…until it disappears.

“Follow their lead in this activity as every child will want to do it differently. The key is to let go and encourage them to use their imagination,” says Amanda.

4) Try teddy bear breathing

“Children live in their imagination, and we can use this to our advantage by making breathing exercises a little bit more fun,” says Amanda.

Ask your child to lie down flat with their favourite teddy placed on their tummy. Together, try breathing in for a few seconds, then out for a few seconds. Encourage them to watch their ‘breathing buddy’ go up and down with every breath they take.

Why not celebrate your moment of mindfulness afterwards with a teddy bear picnic? This is a fantastic way to practise role-play and develop your toddler’s communication whilst hopefully giving you the chance to sneakily enjoy a hot cup of tea!

5) Clear your space

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, a tidy space equals a tidy mind,” says Amanda.

“Although, with young children running around, this is easier said than done!”

Why not try turning tidying up into a fun game for your child by chatting whilst you build a den? You could also encourage them to help you with the laundry or the washing up.

Getting them involved in these fun activities will help clear their mind and boost their mood when they feel a sense of accomplishment.

6) Go on a listening walk to find a gratitude rock

“There’s no fresher way to boost your mood than putting on your shoes and getting outside with your child,” says Amanda.

Getting out and about is great for stimulating your child’s senses and opening up a whole new world of words. Describing everything you see and do can help you both stay present and focus on what is going on in the world around you.

“When you’re out on your listening walk, why not let them choose a small, smooth rock that they can take home, wash and colour in?” suggests Amanda.

“Every evening before bed, you can then ask your little one to hold their gratitude rock and say one thing that made them happy that day.”

7) Take time to appreciate your loved ones

“Spend a few minutes every day looking at a photo of someone your child loves. This could be mummy, daddy, grandma or a friend's doggy. Chat to them about that person, making sure to show how much you appreciate them,” says Amanda.

Digging out old photo books and looking at them with your child is a great way to remind them of familiar faces and memories. It also gives you a great opportunity for conversation.

8) Have an at-home spa day

“For older children, why not try having a spa day from home? We can’t guarantee that it will go as smoothly as a hotel spa day, but it is a fun, new way to bond with your child and model activities that will boost their wellbeing,” suggests Amanda.

To get excited for your at-home spa day, you could spend time with your child drawing out invitations and spa signs to be posted around your home. Drawing together is a great activity to get them talking.

You could start your spa day off with some bath time bubbles, followed by a relaxing massage. Then recharge your batteries over a teddy bear afternoon tea and end the day watching your favourite CBeebies show in a homemade den.

Not only will these activities boost your toddler’s mental health, but they will make you feel good about yourself too!

If you and your child love doing any wellbeing related activities that we haven’t mentioned above, we would love for you to share them via our

In case you missed it