A selection of kid-friendly meditations, from Children’s Pastor, Diane, and a song from Susan, our Children’s Ministry Co-Director.
Hot Chocolate
Imagine you’re holding a cup of hot chocolate in your hands.
It is much too tot to take a sip, so you need to blow on it to cool it off.
Bring your cup up close to you, take a long breath in, and slowly blow the air out, to cool off your hot chocolate.
Take another long, deep breath in and slowly blow the air out.
Now take a tiny little sip of your hot chocolate, and say “Mmmmmm…!”
Make the “mmm” sound last as long as you can.
Try it again! Take a tiny little sip and say “Mmmmmm…”
Put your hot chocolate down, take a long breath in and let all the air out!
Your Favorite Color
Take a long, slow, deep breath in through your nose and blow out gently through your mouth to calm yourself and get ready.
What is your favorite color?
Is it blue, purple, orange or red? Or another color?
Imagine a little ball of your favorite color inside your body.
Maybe it is where your heart is, or maybe it’s in your belly.
Take a big breath in, and imagine the ball getting bigger and bigger. It takes over your whole body!
Imagine that everything all around you is your favorite color and it feels really warm and good.
Take another long slow breath in and let it out again, slowly. And one more time. Take a long, deep breath in and let it all the way out this time.
Flower Breath
Imagine a flower in front of you.
It’s the most beautiful flower you’ve ever seen.
Can you see all the colors of the flower in your mind?
It might be pink or blue or yellow or red, or a combination.
Imagine how it smells.
Take a long sniff in through your nose, and let all the air out through your mouth.
Take another long sniff in through your nose, and let all the air out through your mouth.
Keep focusing on your flower and how pretty it looks and how nice it smells.
Take another long breath in and this time, just let all the air out!
Butterfly Meditation
Lie down or sit comfortably and take in a deep breath through your nose and a long, slow breath out through your mouth.
Do that again.
Now imagine there is a butterfly touching each of your toes. Think about how that would feel.
Next the butterfly moves to the top of your feet. Imagine it flitting there.
Next picture the butterfly on the lower part of your leg, then he hops to the top part of your leg.
Can you feel the flutter of his wings?
Now the butterfly moves to your belly, and then to your shoulders.
Feel the small amount of air from its wings blowing gently on you.
Now the butterfly is moving down your arm and then on to your hands.
It moves to your mouth, tickling your lips a little bit. then your nose and your eyes.
It finally lands on the top of your head, where it helps you to relax.
Take another long, slow breath in and let it out.
Take Five
So, first we’re going to take a long, slow breath in and let it out through our mouth, slowly.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Let’s take five?”
It means to take a quick break from what you’re doing and it’s a great way to calm down.
You have to breathe slowly to be able to do this.
So, breathe in and as you breath in, think: one… two…three…four…five.
Now breathe out, and think: one…two…three…four…five.
Try it again! Breathe in and think: one…two…three…four…five.
Breathe out and think: one…two…three…four…five.
I think you’ve got it!
Whenever you’re mad or upset, try to remember to “take five.”
It can help you feel calm and peaceful.
Where is Your Breath
Sit up tall, shake your body out a little bit, and then hold still.
Take a long breath in and let it all the way out. Keep taking long breaths in and long breaths out.
Think about where you feel the air in your body.
Do you feel it in your nose or your mouth?
Your chest or your belly? Your left pinky toe?
In your mind, follow the air as it comes into your body and goes back out again.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out. Where do you feel the air?
Take one more long breath in, and just let it all the way out.
Imagine You’re a Tree
So sit comfortably and take a long, deep breath in, through your nose and a slow, nice breath out through your mouth to get ready.
Imagine you’re a tree.
You have roots growing down into he earth, holding your trunk steady and strong.
Put your feet on the floor, so you can imagine how your roots are connecting you to the earth.
You branches are reaching up high.
What kind of tree are you?
You can be any kind you want.
Decide what color leaves you have, what your branches look like and how tall you are.
See your whole tree in your mind.
Remember, your tree has strong roots that hold you safely in the ground, and strong branches that reach up toward the sky!
When you feel a breeze come along, the branches wave a little bit, but your feet are firmly planted on the ground because of your roots.
Take another long, slow breath in then slowly let all the air out.