5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness During Remote Learning

As remote instruction continues, we hope to bring more family fun activities and peace of mind through fitness. These activities are intended to help you and your family to bond and maintain healthy lifestyles during quarantine. We hope to continue our ongoing mission to make fitness fun!
  1. Self-expression stretches - Sitting in front of a computer for hours is not easy, especially for children. It is easy for them to feel isolated and exhausted however, Mindful Littles, a blog for parents, emphasizes that there are ways to help children express these feelings through a 'rolling' exercise to allow children to release stress through physical movement. Not only does this validate children's feelings and help them overcome remote learning exhaustion, but it also encourages them to engage in exercise to release negative emotions. For more information on the article, click here. A great way to engage children in fitness and mindfulness is to implement quick stretch sessions during the day. A great way to do this is through our Stretch Station Cards, by placing them throughout corners or different rooms of the house and having children travel the room and attempt each stretch in between classes. 
  2.  Connecting with nature - Another activity promoted by Mindful Littles is to take walks with children and play a game of I Spy in order to help ground children in nature in a fun way! Through this activity parents can help encourage children to go outside after attending remote instruction and engage in low intensity exercise. It also engages children’s senses allowing them to clear their heads as well as allowing parents time to relax! 
  3. Homemade obstacle course - Fitness plays a significant role in our physical health especially mental health! Ace Fitness explains that exercise helps lower anxiety as well as improving sleep. One of the best ways to engage the whole family in fitness is to create indoor and outdoor obstacle courses using objects that can be found in homes like chairs, pillows, Tupperware, etc. Obstacle courses can also be made by marking off paths and areas with tape. A great way to make these obstacle courses more fun for children is to create friendly competition and give small prizes for winning. 
  4. Explaining Mindfulness to kids - Mindful provides a creative and interactive activity to explain to kids what it means to be mindful. They suggest using a clear mason jar or water bottle to fill with different color glitters or beads that are assigned meanings. This demonstrates our minds and the tendency to become overwhelmed with thoughts. From this activity parents can teach children to learn the importance of mindfulness and to gain a better understanding of why they might feel negative emotions. For more information about this activity and detailed instructions click here. 
  5. Positive messages - Valley Childrens encourages a simple activity where kids take chalk and write a positive thought or message on the sidewalk or on a piece of paper to hang around the house. This encourages children to embrace a positive attitude.