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School Specialty is Proud to Offer the Nationally Recognized Healthy Kids Challenge Curriculum

Healthy Kids Challenge® (HKC) is a nationally recognized program created by an exemplary team of registered, licensed dietitians with many years of school, program, and community wellness experience. HKC utilizes evidence-based content and instructional strategies that are aligned with the recommendations of CDC, NIH, American Academy of Pediatrics and USDA to provide effective nutrition education materials and services to schools and youth programs.

The curriculum:

Is designed for grades K-8, promotes health literacy at any age, and is inclusive for all, regardless of weight, fitness level, or socio-economic group

Aligns with health education standards and guidelines, including CDC Health Education Analysis Tool (HECAT), Academy of Nutrition Dietetics Guide for Effective Nutrition Intervention (GENIE), and USDA MyPlate

Is written with strategies and content that support the connection of academic performance to eating and physical activity

Is founded on effective health behavior education strategies and environmental change incorporating a "HEAR - SEE - DO" approach

HKC has received the honored:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (American Dietetic Association) Anita Owen Award for "Most Innovative Educational Program"

Advertising Council-Community Action Network (CAN) Service Award for "Outstanding Solutions to Social Problems"

Cooper Institute Silver Award

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Healthy Kids Challenge | School Specialty

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School Specialty is Proud to Offer the Nationally Recognized Healthy Kids Challenge Curriculum Healthy Kids Challenge® (HKC) is a nationally recognized program created by an exemplary team of registered, licensed dietitians with many years of school, program, and community wellness experience.

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A Pixar animated video

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Food Pyramid - Nutrition Table - Food and its groups for kids

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Mindfulness introduction

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Teaching Mindfulness To Children At Home And In Schools

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A step copetition for ISC

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Some vocabulary and ideas.

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Hobbies Vocabulary - Vocabulary Chant for Kids by ELF Learning

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A list of food that kids can cook

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If you're hungry, grab your apron and get cooking! Making food yourself - with a little help from a parent - is a great way to learn about food and meal preparation. And we have plenty of recipes for you to try - from pizza to pancakes!

Recipes for Kids

Vegetarian Recipes for Kids

Lactose-Intolerance Recipes Kids Can Make

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If you're hungry, grab your apron and get cooking! Making food yourself - with a little help from a parent - is a great way to learn about food and meal preparation. And we have plenty of recipes for you to try - from pizza to pancakes!

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Look for cosmic yoga for kids on youtube

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Betsy the Banana | A Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure!

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VIdeo to promote Mindfulness

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We have started a new series of mindfulness meditations for kids on our channel. Introducing Cosmic Kids Zen Den! Jaime has been trying out some brilliant mindfulness games in her kids yoga ...

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We have started a new series of mindfulness meditations for kids on our channel. Introducing Cosmic Kids Zen Den! Jaime has been trying out some brilliant mindfulness games in her kids yoga ...

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Take Action

Incorporate some of the ideas below to help children incorporate exercise into their daily routine and create a lifelong habit.

Create a walking club. Meet in a designated area before (i.e. Morning Mile) or after school (i.e. Active Afternoons) and set a walking goal for the week (i.e. a certain number of laps or amount of time).

Build in 10 minutes between classes or before lunch to walk around the school as a class.

Schedule a weekly walk with the entire school (Walk on Wednesdays), pairing older and younger children together.

Encourage students to "walk and talk" during recess instead of sitting. Keep your students moving!

Schedule a weekly "Walk with the Principal" or other role model (i.e. teacher, Mayor, other local leaders) where all students have the opportunity to participate.

Organize a Walk Across America or another geographic area (i.e. state, community, a location being learned about in class, etc.).

Students walk measured laps where each lap represents a unit of distance in a journey from their school to specific destinations, which are mapped on a school bulletin board.

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Walking Programs - Action for Healthy Kids

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Incorporate some of the ideas below to help children incorporate exercise into their daily routine and create a lifelong habit. Create a walking club. Meet in a designated area before (i.e. Morning Mile) or after school (i.e. Active Afternoons) and set a walking goal for the week (i.e.

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The nutrition facts label on your favorite breakfast cereal tells you it's full of vitamins and minerals. So it must be healthy, right?

Just because a food is high in vitamins doesn't mean it's healthy overall. Sure, it's great that your favorite cereal gives you a shot of vitamins and minerals. But what if it's also loaded with sugar?

Eating healthy means choosing lots of different types of food throughout the day to get all the nutrients you need, such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber, and - yes - even fat.

So how do you figure all this out? Thank goodness for food labels!

Your Cheat Sheet to Good Eats

Labels give you information that can help you decide what to choose as part of an overall healthy eating plan. For example, it may be OK to eat a sugary cereal if you make up for it by not eating much sugary stuff for the rest of the day. Checking the labels on foods can alert you when a food is high in something like sugar so you can be prepared to make tradeoffs.

Food labels provide more than just nutrition facts, though. They also tell you what's in a packaged food (i.e., the ingredients). Some food labels also state which country the food came from, whether the food is organic, and certain health claims.

So who decides what information goes on a food label? In the United States, it's the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). These agencies require that all food labels show the same nutrition and health information. This allows consumers to compare different foods and make the choices that are right for them.

The FDA and USDA regulate any health claims that companies make on their food labels. When a food says "light" ("lite") or "low fat" on the label, it must meet strict government definitions in order to make that claim. Foods that are labeled "USDA organic" are required to have at least 95% organic ingredients.

Making Food Labels Work for You

The first step in making food labels work for you is to look at the entire label. If you focus on only one part - like calories or vitamins - you may not be getting the full story, like how much sugar or fat is in the product. (Check out our mac and cheese example below to see why the full story is important.)

Serving Size

Always start with the serving size amount. That's because all the information on the rest of the label - from calories to vitamins - is based on that amount.

Take note of how much a serving is (e.g., 1 cup, 8 oz). Sometimes a serving size will be way less than you're used to eating - like only half a cup of cereal. So make sure you check what it is!

The label will also list how many servings are in the package. Even things that seem like they'd be a single serving, such as a bottle of juice or packet of chips, may contain more than one serving. If you eat or drink the whole thing, you're getting more vitamins and minerals but you're also getting way more calories, sugar, fat, and other stuff that you might not want.

Calories

A calorie is a way to measure how much energy a food provides to your body. The number on the food label shows how many calories are in one serving of that food. To get a rough idea of how many calories you need to eat each day, check out the personalized plan calculator on the U.S. government's ChooseMyPlate website.

The calories from fat number tells you how many calories in that serving come from fat. For most people, about 30% of all the calories they eat in a day should come from fat. So if you eat 2,000 calories a day, about 600 of these calories should come from fat.

More Stats to Know

Percent Daily Value

These percentages show the amounts of nutrients an average person will get from eating one serving of that food. For the purposes of food labels, the government chose an "average" person as someone who needs 2,000 calories a day. So if the label on a particular food shows it provides 25% of vitamin D, that 25% is for a person who eats 2,000 calories a day.

The percent daily value information can be complicated. But one thing it makes easy is showing at a glance if a food is high or low in a particular nutrient. Here's how:

If a food has a daily value of 5% or less of a nutrient, it is considered to be low in that nutrient.

A food is a good source of a nutrient if the percent daily value is between 10% and 19%.

If the food has 20% or more of the daily value, it is considered an excellent source of that nutrient.

Fat

Total fat shows how much fat is in a single serving of food. Although eating too much fat can lead to obesity and health problems, our bodies do need some fat every day. Fats are an important source of energy and provide insulation and cushioning for the skin, bones, and internal organs. Fat also distributes and helps the body store certain vitamins.

Fat is usually measured in grams. A good rule of thumb for keeping to the 30% calories from fat rule is to check the label and choose foods that have less than 3 grams of fat or less for every 100 calories in a serving.

Some fats are better than others. Unsaturated fats, which are found in vegetable oils, nuts, and fish, are often called "good fats." That's because they don't raise cholesterol levels like saturated fats and trans fats do. Both saturated and trans fats are considered "bad" because they can increase a person's risk for developing heart disease. These types of fat are solid at room temperature (picture them clogging your arteries).

Saturated fats usually come from animal products like cheese, meats, and ice cream. Trans fats are naturally found in these foods too, but they are also in vegetable oils that have been specially treated (hydrogenated) so they are solid at room temperature - like shortening. The amount of saturated and trans fats that are in a food are shown below total fat on the nutrition facts label. Less than 10% of calories should come from saturated fats and try to keep trans fats as low as possible.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol isn't entirely bad for you - it's important to production of vitamin D and some hormones, and to building many other substances in the body. The liver manufactures most of the cholesterol a person needs, but cholesterol is also found in the foods we eat.

Blood cholesterol comes in two major types: HDL (the "good" kind) and LDL (the "bad" kind). Too much LDL cholesterol in a person's blood increases the risk of heart disease. So it's a good idea for even teens to watch how much cholesterol they eat, along with saturated and trans fats, which tend to raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood.

More Stats to Know (continued)

Sodium

Sodium is a component of salt. Almost all foods contain sodium because it adds flavor and helps preserve food. Processed, packaged, and canned foods usually have more sodium than freshly made foods.

Small amounts of sodium keep proper body fluid balance. Sodium also helps the body transmit electrical signals through nerves. But too much sodium can increase water retention and blood pressure in people who are sensitive to it.

Total Carbohydrate

This amount covers all carbohydrates, including fiber and sugar. The best sources of carbohydrates are fruits and vegetables, along with whole-grain foods like cereals, breads, pasta, and brown rice. Most of your daily calorie intake should come from carbohydrates.

Sugars are found in most foods. When a food contains lots of sugar, the calories can add up quickly. Soda, snack foods and other foods that are high in added sugar are considered "empty calories" because they usually don't offer a lot of other nutrients.

Sugars are listed separately under Total Carbohydrates. Checking sugar quantities on labels can be really eye opening. Often there's way more than you'd expect. For example, sometimes manufacturers cut back on fat but add sugar to keep a food tasting good. With a little label study, you may notice that some low-fat foods have nearly as many calories as their regular versions.

Fiber

Fiber is not digested and helps keep your digestive system healthy. Fiber can also help reduce cholesterol levels. Best of all, fiber has no calories and it can help you feel full. So check the label and pick foods that have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.

Protein

Most of the body - including muscles, skin, and the immune system - is made up of protein. If the body doesn't get enough fat and carbohydrates, it can use protein for energy. So be sure the foods you eat give you some protein.

Vitamins and Minerals

It goes without saying that you want to choose foods that are high in a variety of vitamins and minerals. The FDA requires food manufacturers to include information about vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. Sometimes you'll see other important vitamins and minerals listed on the label, especially if the product contains significant amounts. Some vitamins - like vitamin C - are water soluble, which means that the body can't store them so they need to be consumed daily.

Food labels can't tell you what foods to eat - that's your decision! But they can help you find foods that taste good and treat your body right.

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The nutrition facts label on your favorite breakfast cereal tells you it's full of vitamins and minerals. So it must be healthy, right? Just because a food is high in vitamins doesn't mean it's healthy overall. Sure, it's great that your favorite cereal gives you a shot of vitamins and minerals.

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Friendship Stories For Children | Moral Stories For Kids | English Story Collection

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Why are they good for you

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Benefits of eating fruits and vegetables - For kids (children)

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An Article

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You've probably seen ads for low-carb foods and diets, but kids and adults need carbohydrates (say: kar-bo-HI-draytz). Most foods contain carbohydrates, which the body breaks down into simple sugars - the major source of energy for the body.

What Are Carbohydrates?

There are two major types of carbohydrates (or carbs) in foods: simple and complex.

Simple carbohydrates: These are also called simple sugars. They're found in refined sugars, like the white sugar you see in a sugar bowl. If you have a lollipop, you're eating simple carbs. But you'll also find simple sugars in more nutritious foods, such as fruit and milk. It's healthier to get your simple sugars from foods like these. Why? Because sugar isn't added to them and they also contain vitamins, fiber, and important nutrients like calcium. A lollipop has lots of added sugar and doesn't contain important nutrients.

Complex carbohydrates: These are also called starches. Starches include grain products, such as bread, crackers, pasta, and rice. As with simple sugars, some complex carbohydrate foods are better choices than others. Refined (say: ree-FIND) grains, such as white flour and white rice, have been processed, which removes nutrients and fiber. But unrefined grains still contain these vitamins and minerals. They're also rich in fiber, which helps your digestive system work well. Fiber helps you feel full, so you're less likely to overeat. A bowl of oatmeal fills you up better than sugary candy with the same amount of caloriesl.

So which type of carbs should you eat? Both can be part of a healthy diet.

How Does the Body Use Carbs?

When you eat carbs, your body breaks them down into simple sugars, which are absorbed into the bloodstream. As the sugar level rises in your body, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is needed to move sugar from the blood into the cells, where the sugar can be used as an energy source.

When this process goes fast - as with simple sugars - you're more likely to feel hungry again soon. When it goes more slowly, as with a whole-grain food, you'll be satisfied longer. These types of complex carbs give you energy over a longer period of time.

The carbs in some foods (mostly those with a lot of simple sugars) make the blood sugar level rise more quickly than others. Scientists have been studying whether eating foods that cause big jumps in blood sugar may be related to health problems like diabetes and heart disease.

You're probably already on the right track if you're limiting simple sugars (such as candy) and eating more complex carbs (like vegetables, oatmeal, and whole-grain wheat bread).

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You've probably seen ads for low-carb foods and diets, but kids and adults need carbohydrates (say: kar-bo-HI-draytz). Most foods contain carbohydrates, which the body breaks down into simple sugars - the major source of energy for the body. There are two major types of carbohydrates (or carbs) in foods: simple and complex.

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Mindfulness: article on how to structure a lesson

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Mindfulness: article on how to structure a lesson

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Mindfulness can boost the quality of our lives in numerous ways.

In today's rush, we all think too much-seek too much-want too much-and forget about the joy of just being.

- Eckhart Tolle

What does mindfulness do to spark "the joy of just being" that Tolle references? And, how can we teach kids to start benefiting from its practice?

This article delves into both of these questions and includes plenty of activities for you to start using today.

Research confirms that for children, mindfulness can:

Mitigate the effects of bullying (Zhou, Liu, Niu, Sun, & Fan, 2016);

Enhance focus in children with ADHD (Zhang et al., 2016);

Reduce attention problems (Crescentini, Capurso, Furlan, & Fabbro, 2016);

Improve mental health and wellbeing;

Improve social skills when well taught and practiced with children and adolescents.

It's also important for caregivers and educators to provide age-appropriate mindfulness practices to children.

For example, fostering mindfulness in preschoolers with tools like pictures, objects, food, simple movements, and music, can help them develop an ability to better focus their attention and stay present.

In a study by Flook et al., (2015), kids were asked to engage in an activity called "Belly Buddies", in which they listened to music while also noticing the sensation of a small tone on their stomachs rising and falling with each breath.

The kids became more attune to their bodies, breath and to the music.

Ultimately, simple activities like these can have long-lasting developmental benefits when practiced regularly.

Want more? We have 25 mindfulness activities designed specifically for children. Plus, they are fun to do.

But, before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Mindfulness Exercises for free. These science-based, comprehensive exercises will not only help you cultivate a sense of inner peace throughout your daily life but will also give you the tools to enhance the mindfulness of your children, students or young clients.

4 Fun Mindfulness Activities and Exercises for Children

Let's start with these simple ways to attune children with their bodies. At a young age, humans naturally curious about the strength and flexibility of their bodies. It's a great age to introduce body-mind awareness as a valuable way to take care of themselves.

Mindful Posing

One easy way for children to dip their toes into mindfulness is through body poses. To get your kids excited, tell them that doing fun poses can help them feel strong, brave, and happy.

Have the kids go somewhere quiet and familiar, a place they feel safe. Next, tell them to try one of the following poses:

1. The Superman: this pose is practiced by standing with the feet just wider than the hips, fists clenched, and arms reached out to the sky, stretching the body as tall as possible.

2. The Wonder Woman: this pose is struck by standing tall with legs wider than hip-width apart and hands or fists placed on the hips (Karen Young, 2017).

Ask the kids how they feel after a few rounds of trying either of these poses. You may be surprised.

Spidey-Senses

While on the subject of superheroes, this can be a related "next step" to teach kids how to stay present.

Instruct your kids to turn-on their "Spidey senses," or the super-focused senses of smell, sight, hearing, taste, and touch that Spiderman uses to keep tabs on the world around him. This will encourage them to pause and focus their attention on the present, opening their awareness to the information their senses bring in (Karen Young, 2017).

This is a classic mindfulness exercise and encourages observation and curiosity-great skills for any human to practice.

The Mindful Jar

This activity can teach children how strong emotions can take hold, and how to find peace when these strong emotions feel overwhelming.

First, get a clear jar (like a Mason jar) and fill it almost all the way with water. Next, add a big spoonful of glitter glue or glue and dry glitter to the jar. Put the lid back on the jar and shake it to make the glitter swirl.

Finally, use the following script or take inspiration from it to form your own mini-lesson:

"Imagine that the glitter is like your thoughts when you're stressed, mad or upset. See how they whirl around and make it really hard to see clearly? That's why it's so easy to make silly decisions when you're upset - because you're not thinking clearly. Don't worry this is normal and it happens in all of us (yep, grownups too).

[Now put the jar down in front of them.]

Now watch what happens when you're still for a couple of moments. Keep watching. See how the glitter starts to settle and the water clears? Your mind works the same way. When you're calm for a little while, your thoughts start to settle and you start to see things much clearer. Deep breaths during this calming process can help us settle when we feel a lot of emotions" (Karen Young, 2017).

This exercise not only helps children learn about how their emotions can cloud their thoughts, but it also facilitates the practice of mindfulness while focusing on the swirling glitter in the jar.

Try having the kids focus on one emotion at a time, such as anger, and discuss how the shaken verse settling glitter is like that emotion.

Safari

The Safari exercise is a great way to help kids learn mindfulness. This activity turns an average, everyday walk into an exciting new adventure.

Tell your kids that you will be going on a safari: their goal is to notice as many birds, bugs, creepy-crawlies, and any other animals as they can. Anything that walks, crawls, swims, or flies is of interest, and they'll need to focus all of their senses to find them, especially the little ones (Karen Young, 2017).

A similar exercise for adults is the mindfulness walk. This exercise provokes the same response in children that a mindful walk elicits in adults: a state of awareness and grounding in the present.

If you're interested in more information on how to encourage the practice of mindfulness in children and teens, you can check out the other exercises from this website. Otherwise, head on to the next section where we lay out key tips for teaching these concepts.

15 Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids and Teenagers

When you are trying to teach your kids or young clients about mindfulness and its benefit, we recommend you begin with a few guidelines:

1. Make sure they are ready to give mindfulness a try; if they are full of energy and itching to run and play, it may not be the best time for practicing mindfulness for the first time.

2. Explain what mindfulness is and what it is not; give examples of what seems similar to mindfulness but is not (i.e., introspection or chasing thoughts down the "rabbit hole" versus listening to our bodies).

3. Say it in an age-appropriate way, with words they will understand.

4. Offer to practice mindfulness with them; sometimes having a model makes all the difference.

5. Assure them that it's okay to get off track, and how to gently guide themselves back to mindfulness when they realize they lost focus.

6. Finish the practice by doing something they enjoy with them to ensure they have a positive experience.

Megan Cowan, co-founder, and co-director at the Mindful Schools program in Oakland, also has some tips on how to teach mindfulness to kids (2010):

1. Keep the purpose of mindfulness practice in mind. Be sure to engage in mindful practice with children in positive situations, and never use it as a disciplinary tool.

2. Make sure you practice mindfulness yourself!

3. Set a daily routine for practicing mindfulness to make sure you incorporate it.

4. Prepare the environment for successful practice; move the furniture around or have everyone switch positions.

5. Involve students in the process; perhaps designate a different child each day to alert the class when it's time to practice mindfulness or help set up any tools or props.

6. Share your own experiences with the kids; this will help them understand how mindfulness is applied and practiced in everyday life. Feel free to share how you redirect yourself when you feel distracted during a mindfulness session.

7. Encourage the children to share their experiences as well, whether they were good experiences with mindfulness or experiences in which they got distracted. Maybe each session can end with a few students sharing how it went for them.

8. Practice every day. The more you embed mindfulness into the daily routine, the easier it is to engage.

Cowan (2010) also includes a short script if you'd like to use her mini-lesson.

Relay the following instructions to your kids:

"Please get into your mindful bodies-still and quiet, sitting upright, eyes closed."

"Now place all your attention on the sound you are about to hear. Listen until the sound is completely gone."

Ring a "mindfulness bell," or have a student ring the bell. Use a bell with a sustained sound or a rain stick to encourage mindful listening.

"Please raise your hand when you can no longer hear the sound."

When most or all have raised their hands, you can say, "Now slowly, mindfully, move your hand to your stomach or chest, and just feel your breathing."

You can help students stay focused during the breathing with reminders like, "Just breathing in ... just breathing out ..."

Ring the bell to end.

For more in-depth tips and ideas on teaching mindfulness to children, check out the book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community.

The website from editor and children's book author Annaka Harris also provides some great ideas for exercises that teach mindfulness to children.

8 Mindfulness Games, YouTube Videos, and Apps to Support Your Teachings

Technology offers learning and development for these practices. To ensure that you are using technology to your advantage when it comes to teaching children mindfulness, give some of these resources a try.

Smiling Minds App

Another application that is popular for children as young as seven is the Smiling Mind app. This app is available through the Apple app store as well as the Google Play store. It is free to download and use.

This app offers similar features to the Mindfulness for Children app, including a body scan activity. There are dozens of modules with hundreds of sessions available, each customized for wellbeing, education, and the workplace (for adults).

If you'd like to check out the reviews for this app or learn more about it, visit the website.

Still Quiet Place

If you'd like to use a video to help your kids learn how to practice mindfulness, the "Mindfulness Exercises for Kids: Still Quiet Place Video" is a great resource. This animated video can help students learn how to go to a "still quiet place."

Check out the video here, and scroll down to the link below the video to see more activities from GoZen.com.

Mindfulness Games for Kids

Several interactive games are available on the Kids Activities Blog. Here are just a few:

1. Blowing bubbles. Have your kids focus on taking in a deep, slow breath, and exhaling steadily to fill the bubble. Encourage them to pay close attention to the bubbles as they form, detach, and pop or float away.

2. Pinwheels. Use the same tactics from blowing bubbles to encourage mindful attention on the pinwheels.

3. Playing with balloons. Tell your kids that the aim of this game is to keep the balloon off the ground, but have them move slowly and gently. You can tell them to pretend the balloon is very fragile if that helps.

4. Texture bag. Place several small, interestingly shaped or textured objects in a bag. Have each child reach in and touch an object, one at a time, and describe what they are touching. Make sure they don't take the object out of the bag, forcing them to use only their sense of touch to explore the object.

5. Blindfolded taste tests. Use a blindfold for each child and have them experience eating a small food, like a raisin or a cranberry, as if it was their first time eating it.

If you want to know about more games you can play with children to teach them about mindfulness, check out the book Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families by Susan Kaiser Greenland.

2 Mindfulness Training Classes For Children with Anxiety

Mindfulness practice can be an especially important component of a child's life if they suffer from anxiety. Learning about mindfulness and how to engage in mindfulness can help a child realize that worrying is normal, and there are useful coping methods when we are worrying too much.

Aside from the Mindful Schools program mentioned earlier, there are classes and programs designed especially for children, and even a few that are structured for children with anxiety.

Child Mind Institute focus on education, care and science, and offers various programs. Programs are customised to your needs, so contact them via their website to book for a workshop.

There is also a popular course called "MonkeyMind and Me: A Mindfulness Course for Children." Children learn how to meditate and practice mindfulness over eight one hour sessions held over eight weeks.

The lessons are delivered through stories about MonkeyMind, a friendly puppet who has trouble with self-regulation ("MonkeyMind and Me", 2017). The course includes lessons, opportunities to practice, design of a homemade project, and a graduation ceremony.

The structure of these lessons and exercises transforms teaching mindfulness into an experience everyone might enjoy-and benefit from.

The Basics: Teaching Essential Mindfulness Practices and Skills

Before you delve into the classroom, review these basic skills and you may have better success with students and clients learning mindfulness.

Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing is a staple of practicing mindfulness. It is the foundation of many other exercises. To help kids learn how to engage in mindful breathing, you can use a video like the one below:

This video guides children through a breathing meditation by instructing them to imagine a sailboat that rises and falls as they breathe; with each inhale and exhale, the boat moves gently on top of the water.

They also get an opportunity to visualize their breath with a color and focus on the experience of their breath moving through their nostrils. Lastly, the video ends with the exercise of the children imagining (with their eyes closed) that they used to be a fish and paying attention to how it would feel to breathe through their lungs for the first time.

Body Scan

The body scan is a key practice in mindfulness, and an easy one to teach to children.

Have your kids lie down on their back on a comfortable surface and close their eyes;

Then tell them to squeeze every muscle in their body as tight as they can.

Tell them to squish their toes and feet, squeeze their hands into fists, and make their legs and arms as hard as stone;

After a few seconds, have them release all their muscles and relax for a few minutes;

Encourage them to think about how their body is feeling throughout the activity (Roman, 2015).

This simple exercise gets kids to be more aware of their bodies and helps them find a way to be present in the moment.

Heartbeat Exercise

Paying attention to one's heartbeat has a role in many mindfulness exercises and activities. To begin, tell your kids to jump up and down in place or do jumping jacks for one minute.

When they have finished, have them sit down and put a hand over their heart. Instruct them to close their eyes and pay attention only to their heartbeat and, perhaps, their breath as well (Roman, 2015).

This exercise teaches children to notice their heartbeat, and use it as a tool to help their focus. These skills will come in handy as they start engaging in more advanced mindfulness activities.

Mindfulness Meditation for Very Young Children

You might be thinking that these tips and exercises are great for elementary or middle school students, but less realistic for young children. This section focuses on children who are toddlers through kindergarten graduates.

One mother explained laid out her five strategies for teaching young children mindfulness-starting with her three-year-old child learning mindfulness.

Her strategies are:

Teach kids to recognize and identify their own emotions. Children need to associate the word or term for an emotion with the actual experience of feeling that emotion. Encourage them to think about how each emotion feels in their body. Does anger feel like they've got steam coming out of their ears? Does love make them feel like their heart is going to burst open?

Validate their emotions. Children often respond with frustration or sadness when told that their pain, however trivial it seems to us, is "not a big deal." When teaching mindfulness, let kids feel their feelings without fear of judgment. Focus instead on teaching them tools to listen to their emotions.

Teach kids mindful breathing strategies. As we noted above, mindful breathing is a building block in all mindfulness practices. Children benefit from focusing on their breathing when confronted with emotions that are hard to manage.

The author of the blog laid out three techniques she has put to use with her children:

1. Noticing the breath: this involves simply paying attention to what breathing actually feels like.
2. Five-finger starfish meditation: this breathing technique has kids holding up one hand in a starfish position (fingers spread wide) while they gently trace up and down each finger with the other hand, focusing on regular breathing at the same time.
3. Counting the breath: this technique is what it sounds like: have your children pause and count their breaths. One breath in is "1", the next breath out is "2," etc. You can have them count to 10 if they're very young, or slightly higher depending on their abilities.

Lead them in a guided meditation. Use a script or an exercise or app like the ones described above for this meditation.

Practice what you preach. As we mentioned earlier, it is so important to actually "do as you say." Kids are intuitive and human nature encourages mimicry, two advantages we can harness when trying to teach (Beach, "Baby Buddhas.")

Guide your kids every step of the way, but make sure you are taking those steps yourself as well. It will make everyone's practice richer.

The Benefits Of Mindfulness In Schools (K12) + Videos

Childhood and adolescence are important developmental stages that will construct the groundwork for mental health in the adult developmental stage.

In recent literature, mindfulness-based school programs have demonstrated a range of social, cognitive, and emotional benefits for elementary and middle-school students.

Cognitive Benefits

Executive function is a set of mental skills that constitutes attention, switching focus, planning, organizing, and remembering details.

Research in education suggests that mindfulness practice can lead to improvements in executive function in children.

For instance, in the study of Flook et al., (2010) conducted on 3 rd graders, students who went through an 8-week mindfulness program showed improvements in behavioral regulation, metacognition, and focus compared to the control group who did not have the mindfulness program.

In another study, students who had a 24-week mindfulness training scored higher in attentional measures in their elementary school (Napoli et al., 2004). Additionally, a study on preschoolers emphasized that children who went through a mindfulness curriculum for 12 weeks earned higher marks on academic performance measures. They also showed greater improvements in areas that predict future success (Flook et al., 2015).

Social Benefits

A social skill is any skill that we use to interact and communicate with others.

Deficits and excesses in social behavior can affect learning, understanding, and classroom climate. Recent research on lower-income and ethnic minority elementary school children highlighted how a 5-week mindfulness curriculum can lead to better participation in activities, as well as nurture a classroom culture of mutual respect and care in 9th-grade students (Black et al., 2013).

Emotional Benefits

Emotional health, which is a positive sense of wellbeing, is an important component of child and adolescent development. Emotional problems such as anxiety, stress, and depression can affect self-esteem, performance, and social interactions.

Mindfulness practice may facilitate the ability to manage stress, and also lead to deeper wellbeing in students.

According to one study by Schonert-Reichl and his colleagues (2010), mindfulness practice leads to higher scores on self-report measures of optimism and positive emotions in elementary school students.

Moreover, in a study conducted by Wall (2005), self-reported findings showed preteens feeling calmer, with an enhanced experience of well-being-and improved sleep-after a 5-week modified mindfulness-based stress reduction program.

Videos on Mindfulness in Schools

These four videos can help students open their minds to the benefits of mindfulness. We recommend pairing any of these segments with a discussion.

Questions for after the selected clip can include, "Has anyone practiced mindfulness, and how has it gone for you?" or "What do you think is the reason most people do not practice mindfulness, and how can we start changing this?"

A Take-Home Message

Research confirms that mindfulness can improve mental health by aiding wellbeing, attention, self-regulation, and social competency. It just needs to be practiced-and encouraged.

Mindfulness-based programs in schools can have a life-long impact on the psychological, social, and cognitive wellbeing of children and teens. Even at home or with clients, how can you incorporate mindfulness into your teachings and own schedule?

Do you have kids or work with kids on a regular basis? Try these tips and activities out, and let us know how they worked in the comments section below.

Good luck, and remember this old saying:

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Mindfulness Exercises for free.

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25 Fun Mindfulness Activities for Children & Teens (+Tips!)

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Here's a list of fun mindfulness activities and exercises for kids that will teach them about mindfulness in a playful way. Enjoy!

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KidsHealth is the #1 most-trusted source for physician-reviewed information and advice on children's health and parenting issues. For parents, kids, teens, and educators, in English and in Spanish.

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What Is Fat?

The name fat may make it sound like something you shouldn't eat. But fat is an important part of a healthy diet. Fat from your diet gives you energy. As a bonus, fat in food helps you feel full, so you don't eat too much.

Some foods, including most fruits and vegetables, have almost no fat. Other foods have plenty of fat. They include nuts, oils, butter, and meats like beef.

What Are the Types of Fat?

You might see ads for foods that say they're "low-fat" or "fat-free." Low-fat diets have been recommended for health and to help people lose weight. But nutrition experts are finding that fats are more complicated. Some people who cut back on fats end up eating a lot more sugar and carbohydrates, and that's not good for you.

Some kinds of fat are better than others and are actually good for your health. Here are the three major types:

Unsaturated fats: These are found in plant foods and fish. These fats are good for heart health, especially when they're used in place of saturated and trans fats. Unsaturated fats are found in salmon, avocados, olives, and walnuts, and vegetable oils like soybean, corn, canola, and olive oil.

Saturated fats: These fats are found in meat and other animal products, such as butter and cheese. Saturated fats are also in palm and coconut oils, which are often used in baked goods you buy at the store. Eating too much saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the chance of getting heart disease.

Trans fats: These fats are found in stick margarine. Trans fats are also found in certain foods that you buy at the store or get in a restaurant, such as snack foods, cookies and cakes, and fried foods. When you see "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" oils on an ingredient list, the food contains trans fats. Trans fats are also listed on the food label. Like saturated fats, trans fats can raise cholesterol and increase the chance of getting heart disease.

Why Do We Need Fat?

Fat helps a kid's body grow like it should. Fats fuel the body and help absorb some vitamins. They also are the building blocks of hormones and they insulate the body.

So fat is not the enemy, but you'll want to choose the right amount - and the right kind - of fat. If you're getting most of your fat from lean meats, fish, and heart-healthy oils, you've already made fat your friend!

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The name fat may make it sound like something you shouldn't eat. But fat is an important part of a healthy diet. Fat from your diet gives you energy. As a bonus, fat in food helps you feel full, so you don't eat too much.