An Inspiration of Mindfulness at Infinite Sun Preschool Box
An Inspiration of Mindfulness at Infinite Sun Preschool Box
Fun fact: A child’s brain develops faster in the first 5 years than at any other time in their lives. Experiences and relationships stimulate their development creating millions of connections in their brains.
At Infinite Sun Preschool Box, we want children at an early age to understand and apply change to their negative thought process when experiencing challenging situations. Our mindfulness technique cards give children the opportunity to change their outcomes with self-affirmations, yoga poses, and meditation practices.
Our technique cards were inspired by the following research:
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy was developed by therapists Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, and John Teasdale who aspired to build upon the principles of cognitive therapy by using techniques such as mindfulness and meditation. The goal is to teach people to consciously observe their feelings without placing any judgments upon them.
A presumption of Cognitive Therapy is that thoughts lead to moods and false self- beliefs lead to negative emotions. MBCT utilizes elements of cognitive therapy to help you recognize and reconsider your patterns of negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.
Research Journals
South African Journal of Childhood Education – Mindful Awareness in Early Education
Mindfulness-based practices appeal to children and young people because they are self-management techniques and therefore allow them to play a key role in their own growth and development (Semple et al. 2005).
Mindfulness training seems to be an ideal way to begin teaching children at an early age how to deal with stress and anxiety and enhance focused attention. The research points out that ‘repetition is the mother of all learning’: repeating an exercise is key to actually developing mindfulness. We need to teach students reflective skills in schools. It is most effective to practice every day, preferably at home as well as at school. ‘Developing the reflective mind, nurturing the mind’s awareness of itself in the development of mindsight, is what is needed to build this wider circle of compassion’ (Siegel 2009).
Another appropriate period could be preschool age: intervening at the start of this period would be particularly beneficial, because of the potential to enhance children’s capacities for responding to stress before the often-stressful transition from preschool to elementary school. A growing body of research indicates that self-regulation is surprisingly malleable during the preschool years, when behavioral and neural plasticity may be particularly pronounced (Diamond & Lee 2011). Using age-appropriate activities to exercise children’s reflection on their moment-to-moment experiences may support the development of self-regulation by targeting top-down processes while lessening bottom-up influences (such as anxiety or stress) to create conditions conducive to reflection, both during problem solving and in more playful, exploratory ways (Zelazo & Lyons 2012).
Nieminen, S.H. & Sajaniemi, N., 2016, ‘Mindful awareness in early childhood education’, South African Journal of Childhood Education 6(1), a399. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/sajce.v6i1.399
http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajce/v6n1/01.pdf
Preschool and school-based mindfulness programmes for improving mental health and cognitive functioning in young people aged 3 to 18 years: Protocols
Mindfulness activities have been advocated as both prevention and treatment for childhood mental health difficulties, and as a tool to enhance cognitive functioning (Flook 2010; Greenberg 2011). Methods, materials, and activities for younger age groups are generally light-hearted, with a focus on fun and with less emphasis on long periods of silence. An explicit focus on meta-cognition (i.e. standing back from thoughts, seeing that they are not facts, and being aware of thinking) is generally introduced in later childhood or adolescence, as it is a difficult concept for young children to grasp (Weare 2013). Increasingly, mindfulness activities are being recommended for children from preschool age onwards (Zelazo 2012), as well as for children with developmental disabilities, autism and conduct disorder (Felver 2014; Singh 2007).
O’Toole C, Furlong M, McGilloway S, Bjørndal A. Preschool and school-based mindfulness programmes for improving mental health and cognitive functioning in young people aged 3 to 18 years. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD012518. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD012518.