Living through a global pandemic has taught us all that self-care — and self-awareness — are incredibly important to our well-being. As adults, we’ve focused hard on new routines that help us cope physically and mentally. However, kids are feeling those same stressors, and it is just as important for them to learn and develop healthy coping habits and mechanisms, especially at an early age.
Enter: Little Renegades’ Mindful Kids Activity Cards, a great way to enter the new year as kids recharge and refocus. These activity cards have a range of mindfulness exercises that help kids learn how to focus their minds and energy on the present moment.
The instructions start off with “First things first: It’s impossible to mess this up,” which should calm everyone down right off the bat. The cards are designed as an easy entry point into the present moment for kids, so they can find stillness, confidence, and joy there. Through practices such as sensory awareness, breathing, meditation, and stretching, kids will explore ways to help them mitigate stress and promote overall well-being.
The little rituals are a great addition to either your morning or bedtime routine — or both! They feature different mindfulness activities such as Mighty Moon (“Close your eyes and breathe in. Exhale. Say out loud, ‘Just like the moon, I am enough.’”) and Deer Stretch (“Take a deep breath, reach your arms toward the sky, then bend over to touch your toes. Breathe out.”). The more active stretches and exercises are perfect to help kids wake up and get energized in the morning, while the breathing exercises help calm and relax at bedtime.
The front of the cards feature beautiful, watercolor illustrations, with vibrant, pastel colors that are just as calming as the exercises themselves, as well as the basic practices kids should follow. (The trendy look also makes them the perfect gift!) The back of each card dives deeper into the exercise, but also offers guiding questions and explains the purpose of the exercise further, so adults can get a better understanding of the benefits.
I particularly love the way that these cards can provide the foundation to healthy habits that can follow kids throughout their day — and also well into adulthood. The social-emotional learning benefits from these cards are out of this world (I now keep a set at my desk and bedside for my own meditation needs).
Although these cards are designed for kids ages 3 and up, I don’t think you can ever outgrow them. They are great to keep on-hand nearby, and can also easily be put into a bag and taken on the go, whether it’s on vacation, to sleepaway camp, or to Grandma’s. The Mindful Kids cards feature a full variety of exercises perfect for day or night, but there is also a Mindful Kids Bedtime kit designed specifically for bedtime routines.
Build those super important wellness habits early with the beautiful Mindful Kids Activity Cards from Little Renegades.
