Children have a very hectic lifestyle nowadays. They do not view life with the same zest as their previous generations did. Responsible for the planet's future, kids of the 21st century have an increasingly stressful and demanding daily schedule filled with school, coaching classes, and extracurriculars.
While nothing is specified under the leisure column, most children engage in digital activities to unwind at the end of the day. While there is nothing wrong with using technology and the internet, prolonged usage and a sedentary, non-active lifestyle can invite various chronic diseases home, like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
And if one takes a look at their mental state, they will realize that these kids, though working hard and striving for excellence, are actually very anxious and lonely. They may have forgotten the feeling of playing outdoors or enjoying their hobbies, but their mind and body have not. In such instances, which are growing more common by the day, it is ideal to inculcate mindfulness in children.
Mindfulness helps live life by savoring the present and exploring it instead of worrying about the future or uncontrollable circumstances. However, children may not always enjoy meditating or listening to guided mental exercises. For such moments, music is the answer. Here’s a quick guide on using music to develop mindfulness in kids.
Music and mindfulness can be employed to help kids focus better and be less stressed in life. Here are some quick tips on it.
Listening to music helps employ the sense of hearing more accurately and regularly in young kids. For example, make your kid listen to a song or particular beats from music and ask them to identify the emotions being expressed. While answers of ‘happy’, ‘sad’, and ‘upset’ are enough for children, older kids playing the game have enough brainpower to put two and two together to express a complex range of emotions.
It is ideal to make different kinds of musical playlists for different moods in kids. This helps them use them better, by identifying their current mood and using the suitable playlist to soothe or improve. For example, if your kid is feeling very active but wishes to go to bed, they can turn on a soothing playlist. Similarly, if they are upset, then they can listen to a playlist on heartbreak.
Freestyle body movement refers to dancing or moving according to the rhythm with no fixed or choreographed steps. Children can put on their favorite music and dance their hearts out with all kinds of dance steps, like robot dance, hip-hop, or traditional dance forms.
Encourage your kids to write positive songs at home. It may not see the light of a concert, but it will definitely help them healthily express their thoughts and feelings. Explain the beats, lyrics, and rhythm so your kid is prepared to continue writing songs. This will help make them creatively resilient to life's challenges and help them healthily cope with negative emotions. This will also make them mindful of making and creating music.
Musical meditation is relatively simple. All it requires is soothing music that helps center your kid’s focus during meditation. This factor is highly beneficial in kids as it greatly multiplies the wondrous benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
Music and gardening have a refreshing relationship. While gardening helps kids get their daily quota of physical activity and vitamin D exposure in, it is ideal to add some music into the mix and make the entire process beneficial. Listening to music will help kids become more mindful and keep all worries at bay while they enjoy the beneficial impact of gardening.
Listening to music helps children dissociate from their racing thoughts and stress and helps them focus only on the music and the task at hand. It is ideal to assign kids some daily household chores and let them do those while listening to music. For example, if your younger child helps set the table and clear it after meals, it makes the entire productivity fun. Put on some dancing music and let your little one dazzle you with their energy while finishing the task at hand early with a pirouette at the end.
Mindfulness and music complement one another in the many benefits they offer. They not only help kids focus on the task at hand but also improve mood and lower stress levels. Another benefit of both is that they keep kids away from a sedentary lifestyle, both mentally and physically. Therefore, it is ideal to wait no longer and use music and mindfulness in the ways as mentioned earlier to enhance productivity and mood in kids.
References
https://blissfulkids.com/mindfulness-game-for-kids-feeling-the-music/