Above: Preschoolers can learn how to sit like a frog and other “mindfulness” techniques from Southborough’s Sheryl White next week. (image cropped from Facebook)
Next week, the Southborough Library is holding a Mindfulness for Preschoolers event:
Sheryl White of Baby Kneads will lead this group for preschoolers to help them be more aware of and in the present moment. These techniques can be used at home to improve concentration and relationships with others.
It will take place on Tuesday, April 24th at 10:30 am in the Children’s Room.
Some of you may be familiar with White from her baby massage and infant sign classes. This fall, a local paper covered her Mindfulness classes at the Westwood Library.
Hometown Weekly wrote about her sessions which incorporated activities meant for children to explore all of their senses:
“What’s really different about this program is that it’s for preschool-aged children,” said Sheryl. “They really learn how to be aware of their feelings, the ones inside of them and the feelings they get from their surroundings.” . . .
By showing the children and their parents the benefits of mindfulness, Sheryl helped the preschoolers discover a new world of tools to regulate emotions, improve concentration, and work on self-control.
The paper detailed some of her techniques:
To begin the workshop, Sheryl greeted the children and their parents before taking out two bells. She asked the children to listen very carefully to the sound of the bells and instructed them to raise their hands once the calming ring of the bells ceased to be heard. She clinked the bells together and the children, sitting up straight and covering their eyes to focus on listening, raised their hands as the sound of the bells faded. . .
One of the children’s favorite mindfulness activities was drawing in a Zen garden. Sheryl transported the Zen garden in a Tupperware container and brought a small rake for the children to relieve stress as they made designs in the sand, showing parents that it could easily be recreated at home. . .
During one activity, Sheryl gave the children raisins, which they listened to as they rolled them between their fingers, before smelling and tasting them, as well. Other activities, like lying on their backs with stuffed animals on their bellies, helped the children focus on their breathing.
Click here to read the full story.
