Wellbeing

As we continue to progress through The Resilience Project, we have been learning about mindfulness. This is the ability to notice what you are thinking including staying present in the moment, being less reactive and not getting carried away with everyday thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness exercises for children can provide benefits such as resilience to stress and cognitive performance. This in turn may help children show more empathy, have more emotional control and take a more perspective view while participating in tasks and activities.

Key Vocabulary:

Mindfulness, breathing, emotions, empathy

How can you support your child’s Wellbeing learning at home?  

Mindfulness is very effective with children and this interconnects with how the brain develops. Brains have the quality of neuroplasticity (explaining this to children can be a bit like using playdough to represent the brain and by adding different colours to show various parts and regions of the brain). This is the ability to change, to relearn, rewire and strengthen important connections. This is explained through Rishi Sriram’s article ‘Why ages 2-7 matter so much for brain development’, published on Edutopia, 2020. This article emphasises the importance of emotional intelligence in children aged between 2-7 years of age. He writes, ‘the advantages of learning during this first critical period of brain development should extend to interpersonal skills such as kindness, empathy and teamwork’. All of which we incorporate through The Resilience Project, as well as teach and model both in and out of the classroom, to our Prep students and the whole school community.

We should all practice a little mindfulness each day and let ourselves just be in the moment.

There are many ways to incorporate mindfulness into every day.

Breathing

Children focus on the sounds of their own breathing and the motion of their tummies rising and falling, helping them to be in the present moment. A fun way to do this activity is to have your child place a soft toy on their tummy and watch the toy move up and down with each inhale and exhale. You can instruct that on the inhale, we are smelling something yummy, like a favourite flower scent or the smell of freshly made popcorn; on the exhale, they can pretend to blow out some birthday candles or cool down some hot pizza.

Take a Walk

Walking and mindfulness are a great combination, as it involves exercise, some sunshine and fresh air. On a walk, you may take a few minutes to be completely silent and pay attention to the surrounding sounds. This may include birds tweeting, cars passing by on the road, a dog barking, people talking or shouting. Of course, the sounds may be different depending on the environment in which the students are walking in. After the walk, your child can share what they heard and how these sounds made them feel.

Eat a Snack

To engage all five senses the activity of mindful eating can be practiced. Before eating their food, remind your child to look at the food and think about its appearance, shape, size, colour, smell and texture. When placed in the mouth, think about the taste, sensation and process of eating.

Improved Sleep

By focusing on a calm and clear mind, falling asleep may become an easier task. Through promotion of calmness, boosting focus and emotional regulation enhancement, mindfulness can help students unwind after a very busy day at school.

Perceptual Motor Program (PMP)

This term, the prep children will continue with the weekly movement-based program for the remainder of term three. Each Tuesday they will develop their hand/eye and eye/foot coordination, balance, locomotion, eye-tracking skills and general fitness. 

We are also looking for any parents/grandparents or carers with a Working with Children Check that can assist with supervising a station for PMP. Please speak to your classroom teacher if you can volunteer. Any time you can give is greatly appreciated.