This mindfulness activity encourages your child to use sound and movement to express themselves, stay present in the moment, and regulate their body.
Learning Area(s): Social and Emotional; Physical Development
MATERIALS
Introduce the activity to your child by saying, “Today we’re going to play a game where we use our voices to make sounds that match how we’re moving. We’ll start by walking slowly, making a quiet sound. The faster we move, the louder the sound we’ll make.”
“First, let’s walk around slowly.” Demonstrate walking around the space while making a quiet humming sound while you’re moving. Have your child join in.
After a minute or two, you can prompt your child to walk faster: “Let’s walk faster and make a louder noise!” Increase the volume of your voice while you’re walking around the space faster and have your child join in.
After another minute or two, you can prompt your child to run around the space while yelling: “Now let’s run around the room and make our loudest noise!”
“Now, let’s slow it down and walk while making a quiet sound again.” You can have your child pause at different points in the activity and ask them how they’re feeling emotionally (happy, silly, excited, etc.) or physically (heart is beating fast, tired, full of energy, etc.) at that moment.
LET'S PLAY
- This game will be easiest in a room with an open area or outside.
- Your child can change their movements and sounds with this activity—you are not limited to walking and running! They can make up different movements and sounds, or pretend to be an animal. For example, if your child wants to jump like a frog, they can say “ribbit” at different volumes while they jump slowly or quickly.
- This game can be as long or as short as you and your child want. A maximum of 10 minutes or until your child loses interest would be ideal.
- For additional mindfulness activities, go to: