Mindfulness Exercise – Initial Tensions & Thoughts
Activity Summary
This is a short activity to spark initial curiosity, sense of wellbeing and calm before jumping into teaching a new topic. Through a guided mini-mindful exercise, the students will reflect upon their initial relation to the topic they are going to learn about.
Activity Plan
1
2 mins
Set the room – let the students get comfortable in a position in their chair/on the floor that is beneficial. Get them to close their eyes. Put on some meditation-music to guide the students into the mindful state.
2
10 mins
Guide the students through a short meditation. Invite them to close their eyes, and focus them on their breathing. (If you need further guidance on this, see additional resources).
Once the students have settled a bit, guide them through the following questions/reflections:
- What do you already know about this topic?
- What are you curious about?
- Are there certain things within this topic that makes you feel tense or anxious?
- How might you ease your own learning while we work with this topic?
- What might be fun and exciting about learning this topic?
Feel free to make up other/new/more questions and reflection prompts that fit the context. Finally, round off the meditation in a relaxing manner. Give the students some moments to return to the classroom in a calm way.
3
5 mins
After the reflection-meditation, ask the students to pair up and share what they reflected upon for a few minutes.
Tips & Tricks
- You might benefit from using meditation music during this activity. If you do this, keep the volume low so it does not become a disturbance.
Additional Resources
For more inspiration on how to guide the students into the mindful state through their breathing, see following ressource: https://www.classcraft.com/blog/bring-meditation-classroom/
Further example of mindfulness activities in classrooms: https://www.waterford.org/resources/mindfulnes-activities-for-kids/