Taking Mindful Breaks

Hi, my name is Samantha, and I'm a kids and family mindfulness expert. One of the things you can do to really help your kids to focus and use their time effectively throughout the day is to schedule regular breaks. Today, I'll be walking you through some tips to help you make the most of those breaks and help beat boredom at home through the coming days ahead. So now is an especially challenging moment for teachers, caregivers, and parents. Between trying to figure out school routines and dealing with the frustrations of being cooped up in the house, it takes new levels of resilience and patience just to get through the day. I have a couple tips that I hope can help you and your kids stay entertained and focused during this unique time. So the first tip I want to offer is to check in with your kids to see how long they feel they can focus for. You can suggest 20 minutes or 30 minutes or maybe even 40 minutes. Having kids decide how long they can focus for helps them feel in control and accomplished. Let them be the ones to decide the timeframe, and then check in with them throughout the day to see if that time needs to be adjusted. My next tip concerns what to do during those break times in between focus sessions. This is another chance to allow your children to express what they need. Begin by making a list of general needs. So for example, food, water, play, exercise, rest. Then within these categories, sit down with your kids and have them tell you what they enjoy doing. So if they need rest, for example, maybe they need to watch a TV show or play a video game. If they want physical activity, perhaps they want to go outside and play a sport or run around the block. Whatever the activities may be, having this list ready to go helps keep break time structured and easy to manage. Once your children have gotten the break and rest that they need, then they can go back into another period of focus time. My final tip for effective break times is just to help your kids get a sense of accomplishment by sitting down with them and going over all that they accomplished in the day. Doing this allows your child to feel confident in their ability to focus and to complete tasks. This will help break time feel like a reward for a job well done, and it may even motivate them to jump into another period of focused activity. I hope these tips help you make the most of your time at home with your kids. And thank you so much for watching. (birds chirping) (kids chattering)...