How to Teach Mindfulness to Kids -5 Part Series – Lesson 2 -Mindfulness Walk

Whether you are a teacher or parent you can follow our 5 part series of Lesson Plans on Mindfulness for kids to instill the powerful habit of mindfulness meditation in kids at a young age. In this series, each lesson plan focuses on a specific aspect of mindfulness and includes activities and worksheets to practice the concept of the lesson. This is a progressive series on how to teach mindfulness to kids and we recommend you to follow the series in order as each lesson lays the foundation for the next lesson. In the second lesson of the series, students will continue to progress on their journey to mindfulness by using their 5 senses as Anchor points from Lesson 1 and going on a mindful walk.

Lesson 2: Mindfulness Walk

Lesson Overview:

Students will continue learning about mindfulness and their five senses in this interactive “field trip” lesson.

Lesson Setup:

This lesson involves taking a short walk outside. You may choose to select a specific walking route around your neighborhood or school.

Prior to this lesson, students should already be familiar with the topic of mindfulness, as well as using their five senses as an “anchor” for mindfulness practice. You may choose to spend some time reviewing these topics at the start of the lesson.

Lesson Activities:

Begin the lesson with a discussion about mindfulness. Ask students to recall what they’ve already learned about practicing mindfulness and awareness.
Explain that today, students will be taking a Mindfulness Walk. Remind students that when practicing mindfulness, it can help to have an “anchor”—something to bring us back if we get distracted. Mindfulness anchors can be many different things, but today, it will be our five senses.
Have students get ready to go for a short walk outside. Explain that in order to allow others to keep their awareness, it is important to stay quiet and listen to directions during the “field trip.” Remind students that even if their mind starts to wander, it’s okay; that’s why we have our anchors to bring us back to awareness.
Tell students that for the first part of the walk, they should focus their awareness on what they can see. Challenge students to notice things they may not have noticed before, even if they are very familiar with the area. After a few minutes of walking and noticing, have students pause to discuss what they’ve noticed so far.
Continue the walk, this time asking students to focus their awareness on sound. What can they hear as they walk? Birds, cars, airplanes? People talking or laughing? Wind blowing? Walk for a while, then pause and have students reflect silently or through discussion.
For the remaining senses (smell, taste, and touch), you can have students stay seated for a few minutes as they notice each sense. What does the air around them smell like, taste like, and feel like? Is it humid or dry? Once again, have students reflect on what they notice about each sense. When they have reflected on all five senses, tell students that as they walk back to the classroom, they can choose one or two of their five senses to focus on for the remainder of the field trip.
After returning to the classroom, have students discuss everything they noticed during the Mindfulness Walk. (You may choose to make a chart or list with each of the five senses, and fill it in with the things that students noticed.) Have students reflect on the activity, and how practicing mindfulness outside felt to them.

Questions for Further Discussion:

Did you notice things on our Mindfulness Walk that you have never noticed before?
What were they?
Why do you think you never noticed them before today?
How can we use our five senses as a mindfulness anchor every day?
How can we use them at home, school, etc.? How might this help us?

In the series ” How to teach Mindfulness to Kids ”