The Secret to Helping Your Child Manage Stress? Mindfulness Made Simple
- Ready Rocket Resources
- May 25, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: May 22
After reading this article, you will:
Understand the concept of child-friendly mindfulness and its potential benefits for your child's emotional well-being.
Discover the neuroscience supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness in promoting emotional regulation in children.
Explore the range of engaging and accessible mindfulness exercises provided in "The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket."
You're probably sick of reading about 'today’s busy world', but it's true. Life is busier these days. And with more stress, it feels like there is a growing increase of anxiety and general dysregulation. Teaching mindfulness (the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgement) has become an effective way to help children regulate their emotions and develop resilience. This article will explain the concept of child-friendly mindfulness and why introducing it early can make a big difference. We will also share simple ways to include mindfulness in your child’s daily life and highlight helpful resources like The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket that make mindfulness fun and accessible for young minds.
Child-Friendly Mindfulness and its Benefits
Mindfulness means deliberately focusing your attention on the here and now, noticing your thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without criticism or worry. While often linked to adults, mindfulness is just as beneficial for children. Teaching children these skills early on helps them build confidence, manage stress, and handle difficult emotions (Brown and Ryan, 2003).
Starting mindfulness practices at a young age allows children to grow these skills as they develop. Brain imaging research shows that mindfulness strengthens areas of the brain involved in attention and emotional control (Guendelman et al., 2017). Practising mindfulness creates space between feelings and reactions, reducing impulsive responses and encouraging calmness during stressful moments.
Studies support mindfulness as a way to improve focus, reduce negative emotions, and enhance important thinking skills (Leyland et al., 2019). This evidence highlights how child-friendly mindfulness can boost emotional regulation and overall wellbeing in children.
Simple Mindfulness Activities Your Child Will Enjoy
Mindfulness for children needs to be engaging and easy to understand. It can be used at home, school, or in the community to help children develop a mindfulness habit.
The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket includes a section called Charging Challenges, which features Brain Reframe Cognitive Activities that teach mindfulness in ways that kids will enjoy. These activities use sensory experiences, guided imagery, breathing exercises and gentle body scans designed specifically for children, but written as mini adventures so that these activities target the child's emotion-centres of their brain to help store these strategies in their memory for later use (self-regulation).
By practising these exercises, children learn to focus their attention, observe their feelings without judgement, and find a sense of calm within themselves. These skills support emotional regulation, self-awareness and stress management - all essential tools for life.
Want to Learn More About These Strategies in Action?
💻 Ready Rocket has a range of supports for parents, professionals, and educators who want to confidently guide children through big emotions in a way that’s supportive, science-informed, and truly neuroaffirming.
Choose the Path That’s Right for You:
👨👩👧👦 Online Emotions Workshop – Parents & Carers
🕒 4-hour self-paced training
Gain the tools and knowledge to support your child through emotional dysregulation with confidence and compassion.
🧠 Online Emotions Workshop – Therapists & Allied Health Professionals
🕒 4.5-hour self-paced training
Learn a developmentally-informed, neuroaffirming approach to regulation support for diverse clients and therapy goals.
🏫 Ready Rocket School Learning Program – Educators
A classroom-ready, whole-school emotional regulation program built on the same powerful framework with extension into these concepts and more! Includes developmentally-tailored content for Kindergarten, Pre-Primary, Year 1, and Year 2.
Perfect for early childhood and primary teachers looking for practical, evidence-aligned emotional literacy education.
References: Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822-848.
Guendelman, S., Medeiros, S., & Rampes, H. (2017). Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 220.
Leyland, A., Godfrey, C., & Rooney, R. (2019). Mindfulness-based stress reduction as a stress management intervention for healthy individuals: A systematic review. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 24, 2019.
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