Week 1 - Lesson Plan (Chill Out Session)
Overview
- What to expect in the weekly sessions.
- Guidelines for the group (Peaceful Kids Rules Poster).
- Reward system explanation (Reward Chart).
- To identify how they are feeling, learn names for feelings and gain more insight into their own feelings through "Feeling Cards" sharing time.
- Activity: craft (making pinwheel), mindful game (memory/concentration game "What feeling is missing"), storytelling ("My Magic Breath")
- An introduction into Mindfulness meditation through the Breath Meditation (Breath Meditation for ages 8-12, or Breath Meditation "Whimsical Pinwheel" for ages 6-8). Children will learn how to calm themselves down when they are feeling anxious/stressed through breath meditation.
1. Opening (5 min)
- Greeting the children, introducing yourself. Fill up a list of children present in the class and count the children.
- Quick opening with 3 mindful belly breaths, children "light up" the candles using 3 mindful belly breaths (battery-operated candles with a pilot).
- Go through Peaceful Kids Rules and Reward System (guidelines for group – confidentiality, respecting each other, listening, sharing feelings, reward system - children collect stickers for good listening and mindful participation, if they collect 10 stickers total they can choose a surprise/present at the last session). How do they collect stickers?
- After each session, they receive a sticker for good listening and mindful participation in a class (1 sticker).
- If someone misses a class because of sickness/absence, he's getting automatically 1 sticker as there are no class replacements available.
2. Sharing Time (8 min)
How are you feeling today? Use the "Monkey Feeling" cards (happy, calm, peaceful, excited, sad, scared, angry, worried), children choose (point) a card or two of how they are feeling right now or how have been feeling today. They may share as well why they feel that way, let the conversation just flow without asking any direct questions. Just show them you are listening and care and encourage others to listen as well, by using the reflective listening technique.
Introduction to Feelings:
We want the children to be able to at least identify the feelings of happy, sad, calm, peaceful, angry, scared, worried, and nervous to help during the program. This will also help them to identify their own feelings in the future and see how this relates to their times of worrying so they develop insight and self-awareness.
We want the children to be able to at least identify the feelings of happy, sad, calm, peaceful, angry, scared, worried, and nervous to help during the program. This will also help them to identify their own feelings in the future and see how this relates to their times of worrying so they develop insight and self-awareness.
- Spread out the Monkey Feeling cards (happy, calm, peaceful, joyful, excited, sad, scared, angry, worried, nervous)
- Why is it important to know how we are feeling? Children can share: Feelings can tell us …. Feelings help us because…
- Explain: It can be helpful to share your feelings with other people so they can help you.
- Do you always know how you are feeling? A way to help us to work out how we are feeling is to spend some time stopping and noticing our feelings. One way to do this is to do a meditation exercise. When we meditate it helps us to connect to how we are feeling and you will be learning more about this during the program as we go along. During this program you will learn to manage your worries and stress and learn how to relax so you feel better. We all get stressed and need to find ways to calm ourselves down and stay calm and mindfulness can help us to do this.
3. Activity (8 min)
Craft (making whimsical pinwheels).
The pinwheel will be used later for the meditation. Some children might need more of your help in making the craft. Before the session make sure you are familiar with the instructions on how to make it and practice doing it yourself. Children take crafts home.
4. Meditation Practice (8 min)
- Introduce the Breath Meditation and how we focus our attention just on what our breath is doing – we don’t need to change the breath at all – just notice it. Explain we are just noticing our breath mindfully which means to use all of our mind to notice our breath rather than thinking about other things.
- Explain that our minds will wander and think about lots of things which is completely normal. When you notice that your mind has wandered just simply and gently bring your focus back to your breath. This may need to be done many times during a meditation exercise.
- Children sit or lie down and hold their whimsical pinwheel to practice breathing during meditation.
- Guide children through ‘The Breath’ Meditation being guided by the script.
5. Closure (5 min)
- Storytelling "My Magic Breath" book (*if there's time) While reading the book for the children make the experience as interactive as possible.
- Mindful Game (*if there is time) - memory/concentration game "What feeling is missing?". Spread 6 Feeling Cards, instruct children to close their eyes, remove one card, ask children to guess what card/what feeling is missing, let the children guess, and keep repeating the activity until all the cards are gone.
- Encourage children to listen to the meditation daily. Explain that their parents will receive the link to the meditations they can listen to.
- Stick first stickers on Reward Chart.
- Closing ritual - Use battery operated candles as a closing ritual when children blow down the candles using 3 mindful belly breaths. The session is finished.
- Count the children and send them back to the teacher/their class.
LIST OF MATERIALS (provided)
Lesson 1 :
- Battery operated candles x3 (use them as an opening and closing ritual when children light up and blow down the candles using 3 mindful belly breaths).
- Speaker for relaxing music in the background
- Pillows for children to sit on.
- Monkey Feeling Cards (sharing time, concentration game).
- Star projector (turn on during meditation).
- Peaceful Kids Rules Poster.
- Reward Chart & stickers.
- "My Magic Breath" book.
- Materials for making pinwheels.
- Scripts for Breath Meditation ("Colorful Pinwheel", "Whimsical Pinwheel").
BREATH MEDITATION | "Colorful Pinwheel" | ages 3-5 | 5 min
This enchanting pinwheel meditation is specially crafted for little children aged 3-5, providing a whimsical journey to help them connect with their breath. Through the vibrant imagery of a colorful pinwheel, little ones are invited to visualize their worries gently fading away with every magical breath. As the breath, a constant companion, guides them, this meditation becomes a delightful and age-appropriate tool to nurture mindfulness and focus on the joyous present moment.
Script: Breath Meditation "Colorful Pinwheel" (ages 3-5)
Download
BREATH MEDITATION |"Whimsical Pinwheel" | ages 6-10 | 8 min
This delightful pinwheel meditation is tailored for children aged 6-10, offering a playful and engaging way to connect with their breath. Through the vivid imagery of a vibrant pinwheel, kids are encouraged to visualize their worries magically dissipating with each rhythmic breath. By anchoring their attention to the present moment through the breath, this meditation becomes a charming and effective tool for fostering mindfulness in a manner that resonates with the imaginative spirit of older children.
Script: Breath Meditation "Whimsical Pinwheel" (ages 6-10)
Download
BREATH MEDITATION | ages 8-12 | 8 min
This meditation helps older children (ages 8 and up) and adults connect with their breath and begin to notice their breath. As the breath is always with us, connection with the breath becomes a powerful way to focus on the present moment.
