Play and rest, breathe and pause

Music

In this Mindful Music activity, you and your child will discover the significance of the rest in music. Music that is made up of only notes and sounds would be almost unbearable. Think of a constantly dripping faucet or a car alarm in the middle of the night that just won’t stop. Eventually, our brains simply turn our attention away from the irritating sounds. Finding, and appreciating, the space in music keeps us engaged and actively anticipating the next beautiful or interesting thing we will hear.

For this activity find something you and your child can keep the beat with. You can use your shakers or a wooden spoon or simply tap your fingers on a table. 

Mindfulness

Breathing is something we do automatically to keep our brains and bodies going. But, simply by drawing our attention to our breath, we can find a little space (and peace) in our often too busy lives. For this week’s last mindfulness activity, we will breathe in, pause, breathe out, pause and repeat.

Please find a small stuffed animal that can rest comfortably on your child’s stomach as he or she is lying on his or her back. Ask your child to take a deep, full breath and fill up his or her lungs like balloons. The stuffed animal should rise up with the inhaled breath. Ask your child to wait just a moment before slowly releasing his or her breath and letting the stuffed animal fall gently as they empty their lungs. Pause again before repeating the exercise as many times as you like.