Breathe and Be

What you need:

• Counting Breaths Meditation by Stop, Breathe & Think and Mind Body Awareness Project (YouTube)
• A Reading of Breathe and Be: A Book of Mindfulness Poems by Kate Coombs and Anna Emilia Laitinen (YouTube)
• Quiet Place Poem worksheet

What you do:

1. Bring your child outside (if possible).
2. Ask your child, "What is happening right now in this moment? Do you hear birds? Do you notice the feeling of your clothing on your skin? The smoothness of your breath?"
3. Explain that when we bring our attention to the present moment with a kind curiosity, we are practicing mindfulness.
4. Explain that today they will practice mindfulness of breath.
5. Play the video "Counting Breaths Meditation."
6. Practice mindful breathing with your child during the video.
7. After the video, ask, "How do you feel? What do you notice?"
8. Play the video "A Reading of Breathe and Be: A Book of Mindfulness Poems."
9. Ask, "What stood out for you in the video and poem?"
10. Ask, "When can you practice mindful breathing?"
11. Review the Quiet Place Poem worksheet with your child.
12. Together with your child, sit outside or in a quiet place for 5–10 minutes and just observe. Then complete the worksheet together and share what you noticed in terms of sounds, colors, thoughts, and feelings on your skin and body.
13. Have your child complete their poem using sentence stems and then share their poem with you.
14. For more of a challenge, have them write a poem about their quiet place without sentence stems.
15. Share the poems and what you learned together with your family!