Mindfulness worksheets for kids

This guide to mindfulness worksheets for kids provides therapists with an overview of mindfulness for children, its benefits, examples of mindfulness activities for kids and youth, and more.

We’ve also included printable mindfulness worksheets for youth (PDF) to save to your electronic health record (EHR) and use in your private practice. 

What is mindfulness for children?

Mindfulness is a meditation practice that helps individuals pay attention to the present moment, their internal state, and their environment, without worrying about the past or the future or trying to change what is happening. 

Mindfulness for children is an easy practice that can incorporate several simple activities, like mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and is applicable to children, youth, and adults. 

The goal of mindfulness for children is to foster acceptance and non-judgment, increase awareness, and decrease overwhelm.

Studies show that mindfulness is beneficial for children to regulate their emotions, manage anger, and deal with everyday challenges. 

Mindfulness is also a helpful intervention for kids with a range of mental health conditions, including ADHD, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, and depression. 

Therapists may use mindfulness therapeutically in several ways:

1. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): An 8-week program of weekly mindfulness activities that can be practiced at home and in a group setting.

2. Mindfulness-based cognitive behavior therapy: This type of CBT is used to treat depression that combines cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and MBSR.

3. Mindfulness meditation: This guided or self-led meditation can be practiced individually, in a session, or in a community or group setting. 

4. Spiritually led mindfulness: For example, Buddhist practices can cultivate clear awareness (of the mind, feelings, body, and mental objects), reduce attachment, and help one understand suffering using non-judgment, compassion, and wisdom.

Researchers also found that mindfulness-based interventions in schools led to improvements in executive functioning and behavioral regulation beyond the classroom. 

The benefits of mindfulness worksheets for kids include:

• Improved focus

• Reduced reactivity, noticing rather than responding to feelings

• Increased distress tolerance skills

• Enhanced self-compassion, empathy, and kindness toward others

• Increased awareness of sensations, thoughts, and feelings

• Decreased cognitive rigidity and increased mental and emotional awareness

• Improved sleep

• Reduced stress

• Prevents impulsive behavior

• Interrupts periods of dysregulation

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Examples of mindfulness activities

Mindfulness-based activities suit all ages, including students, children, adolescents, youth, and adults. 

Mindfulness activities for students, youth, and adults

• “Leaves on a stream” meditation: This mindfulness worksheet for kids is an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) exercise to help mindfully move through difficult emotions and accept the present moment. Access our “leaves on a stream” worksheet for more details. 

• Body scans: A body scan meditation involves mindfully checking in with your body by paying focused attention to scanning different body parts, starting with the toes and moving towards your head. You may notice feelings, sensations, points of contact, tension, or discomfort. 

• Yoga Nidra: Similar to a body scan, this type of meditation involves lying down and observing the body using a guided meditation. 

• Mindful breathing: This involves paying attention to the breath as it moves in and out of your body, related sensations, the movement of air, and the rise and fall of your chest.

• Increased awareness of sensations: For example, this includes the 5-4-3-2-1 activity, in which you name:

  • Five things you can see

  • Four things you can feel

  • Three things you can hear

  • Two things you can smell

  • One thing you can taste

• Mindful walking or movement: This mindfulness for children exercise focuses on the sensations of walking or moving, such as how your feet feel when making contact with the ground, changing pace, and noticing the rhythm of walking.  

• Gratitude journaling: This mindfulness worksheet for kids involves listing three things you are grateful for to focus on the present moment, shift your attention away from challenging emotions, and gain perspective. 

• Nature-focused meditation: This mindfulness for children exercise involves sitting quietly in an outdoor area where you can observe nature, naming what you see, or using your senses to experience the natural beauty. 

Mindfulness activities for children and younger kids

• Mindful snuggle or breathing buddy: Ask the child to lie down with a stuffed animal on their belly, and watch it rise and fall as they breathe in and out.

• Finding a still, quiet place: This can be a den, hammock, corner of a room, or anywhere else free from distractions that provides a sense of calm and ease. 

• Paying attention to the breath: Invite kids to acknowledge the feeling of expansion and stillness between breaths.

• Observing thoughts and feelings: These mindfulness worksheets for kids can include using a feelings wheel, identifying where they feel the emotion in their body, or identifying the emotion using different facial expressions.

• Mindful coloring: This involves using coloring pages (mandalas, animals, nature scenes, etc.) and encouraging slow, focused coloring.

• Listening walk: Take a walk outdoors and encourage kids to name sounds they hear, things they can smell, and things they see. 

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How to use the mindfulness worksheets for kids

You can download and use the mindfulness for children worksheets in several ways.

For example, therapists can print or screen share the worksheet and use it as a session psychoeducational prompt.

Or, you can use the mindfulness worksheets for kids in a family session to demonstrate a mindfulness technique. 

Give the worksheet to the client or their family to remind them of what you discussed during therapy. 

Ask the client or family to reflect on the mindfulness worksheets for kids between sessions, practice a mindfulness activity, and report the impact at their next therapy appointment. 

Sources

• Amundsen, R., Riby, L.M., Hamilton, C. et al. (2020). Mindfulness in primary school children as a route to enhanced life satisfaction, positive outlook and effective emotion regulation. BMC Psychol, 

• Digitale, E. (2021). Mindfulness training helps kids sleep better, Stanford Medicine study finds. Stanford Medicine. 

• Flook, L., Smalley, S. L., Kitil, M. J., Galla, B. M., Kaiser-Greenland, S., Locke, J., … Kasari, C. (2010). Effects of Mindful Awareness Practices on Executive Functions in Elementary School Children. Journal of Applied School Psychology. 

• Garey, J. The Power of Mindfulness. Child Mind Institute. 

• Weare, J. (2012). Evidence for the Impact of Mindfulness on Children and Young People. The Mindfulness in Schools Project, in Association with the University of Exeter.

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