Are you a parent or teacher looking to infuse mindfulness into your nature outings with kids? Let’s transform your outdoor excursions into moments of mindful discovery! 🌿👧
Mindfulness is when we are present in the moment. We can activate our mindfulness muscle by engaging our senses of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. This helps us to become aware of our mind and body in a moment of time and supports us in becoming more aware of our surroundings.
Today, we’re exploring the enchanting world of pine cones through a sensory adventure. Join us as we guide you through this immersive experience or feel free to adapt it to suit your own explorations.
Discover the Magic of Pine Cones
This autumn, take a moment to find a pine cone on your nature walk, observe and engage your senses:
- 🌱 Visual Exploration: What does the pine cone look like? Notice its intricate patterns and textures. Can you observe symmetry or asymmetry?
- 🌱 Tactile Experience: How does the pine cone feel in your hand? Explore its shape and surface.
- 🌱 Aromatic Delight: Take in the earthy scent of the pine cone. Notice how nature’s fragrance surrounds you.
- 🌱 Listening to Nature: Tune into the gentle sounds of your surroundings. Listen to the wind, birds, or rustling leaves. What sounds do you notice as you hold, scrunch, drop, crush or shake the pine cone?
Although this activity focuses on pine cones you can use these prompts and the guided mindfulness audio below to observe on any piece of nature such as leaves, sticks, rocks and flowers to name a few.
Guided Mindfulness for Kids
We invite you to use our guided activity to nurture curiosity and mindfulness in your children. It is a great opportunity to connect with nature together and can help you when the kids are in those moods when they need to hear it from someone else! 🍃💚
If you have children aged between 1- 4 you may focus on one sensory element such as sight, smell or touch. We recommend referring to the main sense that your child knows, so if you speak with them about things they see most then refer to this. The vocabulary and conversation you engage in with your little people will be relevant to the age of the children you are sharing this activity with, so don’t be afraid to keep to simple and listen to their responses.
If you have pre-teens or young people you may encourage them to tune into how it makes them feel on an emotional or spiritual level or ask them to share a memory of pine cones or nature walks from their childhood.
In our experience, we are always blown away by the insights of children and young people. Mindfulness activities can create a beautiful bond between parent, teacher and student and it encourages a space for each person to be seen, listened to and heard.
Follow us for more tips on cultivating mindful moments with your little ones and building confidence in sharing these experiences.
Let’s make nature walks a journey of discovery and mindfulness! 🌲
✨ #ShineOmAU #MindfulKids #NatureExploration #SensoryActivity
