Mindful Meditation Day
Hello children, My name is Jodie and I am a children’s author. Today I am joined by my daughter, Bobbie and Mystic Bunny Boy. We would like to welcome you to 'Mindful Meditation Day'. Mindfulness and Mediation are two different ways you can use your brain to help you feel happier, think better and sleep peacefully – how amazing is that? Meditating is when you use your mind to take you somewhere else, and think happy things. Mindfulness is when you concentrate on where you are and what you are doing, to make your mind feel calm and happy! We’ve got some fun activities to learn all about this today, including colouring, an outdoor activity and singing! Plus, at the end of the day we’ll be reading to you our special bedtime book called ‘Mystic Bunny Boy Walks The Rainbow’
We hope you enjoy today as much as we will!
9.30am Activity:
Reading – Mystic Bunny Boy Takes A Step Out Of Time
Meet Mystic Bunny Boy! He’s a child of the universe, made of stardust, moonbeams and eternal love. Mystic Bunny Boy appears to all children in times of sadness, need or curiosity – helping you to overcome fears, challenges and anxieties.
We’re going to read our book 'Mystic Bunny Boy Takes A Step Out Of Time’ to you. You can join in with us during the story, and imagine the feelings and actions – a simple way of meditating!
Grown Ups:
Encourage your children to listen to the story. Talk to them about the different senses they use as part of the journey of the story, and how this makes them feel. Try to get them to tell you about their own happy place, and ask lots of questions so you can really help them to develop and understand this as a safe and secure place that they can use within their own minds any time they need to.
Develops - Communication & Language, PSHE
10.30am Activity:
Mystic Bunny Boys Mindful Colouring
Mystic Bunny Boy thought it would be fun to do some colouring, so we have made some special sheets for you to use! He wants us to colour in a mindful way to help our brains. It’s really simple, all you have to do is concentrate on what and how you are colouring. Perhaps you can describe to your grown up what is in the picture? You could even pretend you are there with Mystic Bunny Boy!
Grown Ups:
Encourage your child to absorb themselves in the pictures and describe to you what they can see, hear, taste, smell and feel when they are ‘in’ the pictures. Studies show that for children, mindful colouring can improve motor skills. It stimulates creativity. Children also have more focus and self-confidence. If you would like to share your pictures with us, feel free to post on social media and tag @MysticBunnyBoy.
Develops - PSHE, Communication & Language and Expressive Art and Design.
1:30pm Activity:
Sing a Rainbow
Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed your colouring in activities.
We are now going to do some singing. The song we’ve chosen is ‘Sing a Rainbow’. I hope you all know the song, but if not then don’t worry, Bobbie and I will be singing along to help you!
Do you know where rainbows come from? A rainbow only appears when there is rain and sunshine at the same time. This is because light from the sun is what makes the rainbow. Did you know that light is made up from ALL of the colours? When the light travels through each raindrop, the colours are ‘split’ and this is when we see a rainbow! How magical is that?
Grown Ups:
Enjoy singing the songs with your children.
Develops - Communication and Language, Knowledge and Understanding of the World
2:30pm Activity:
Mindful Rainbow Walk
Now it’s time for our final activity – a mindful rainbow walk.
Remember, mindfulness is when you focus on where you are and what you are doing, so the idea is to get outside and use the colours of the rainbow to mindfully explore your surroundings!
Bobbie and I went for a walk in the park the other day, and in our video we will show you the things that we found!
But you don’t have to be in a park or garden, we’ve thought of some other things you might see on your walk to school, or when you are out with your grown ups.
Grown Ups:
This is a lovely but simple activity to do outdoors with your children. Encourage them to look for as many colours as they can and talk to them about each thing that they see. This activity can be changed and done anywhere, e.g. in their bedrooms, at the supermarket, on a car journey etc.
Develops - PSHE, Communication & Language and Understanding of the World.
If you've finished these and still have time for fun...
If you have some time, and would like to try a little science experiment with your grown ups, you can try and make your own rainbow at home!
Story time:
Mystic Bunny Boy Walks The Rainbow
Snuggle up and join in with Mystic Bunny Boy, as he journeys through the colours of the rainbow towards a peaceful night’s sleep.
Grown Ups – This story contains a soothing meditation which is easy and repetitive for your children to learn and use as a simple and calming tool before bedtime. We hope you enjoy it.
