Part of being mindful, is enjoying the present moment. Learning how to forget about yesterday and not think about tomorrow, but enjoy the little moments WHEN THEY ARE HAPPENING! This is a great lesson to teach our kids…and ourselves!
To begin, I asked my students what they thought it meant to be present. The responses were exactly what I wanted them to be…not the meaning of present!
I read the story out loud, pausing for moments of conversation! When we finished, we discussed the new meaning of present that we discovered!
I then explained to them (referencing a page in the book) about how being present could mean taking a moment to enjoy every bite of your food.
I used Raisins, but the choice of snack can be anything! It just has to have a lot of flavor, texture etc. because you will be focusing on the five senses! If it is a snack that some students may not like, make it very clear that they do not have to participate in eating the snack, but maybe at least feeling the snack is enough so they can participate.
We then made a chart with the five senses and took our time to focus on JUST THE RAISIN! If something was brought up about recess, lunch, home, etc. that became a teaching moment to bring us back to the PRESENT MOMENT!
This lesson then becomes a reference for every lesson and moment in the classroom, and the best part is…you just taught your students a moment of mindfulness in the least complex way you possibly could!
Below I have referenced several other books that could be used for mindfulness lessons:
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This is a great concept and idea!
Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed it!