Focusing and Calming Games for Children

Book excerpt: Having the ability to focus, relax and concentrate is key to enabling children and young people to achieve emotional well-being, and is also important for a child's development of skills and abilities. This book uses a model of 'mindfulness play' to help children to achieve well-being, an approach designed by the author which encourages children to build awareness of their inner and outer worlds. Part One covers the theoretical and practical background, setting out how to facilitate play using the mindfulness play model, including consideration of the emotional environment. Part Two includes a wealth of games and activities, from 'Body focus' and 'Fidget flop' to 'Musical drawings' and 'Pass a smile'. The activities are suitable for use with groups and individual children aged 5–12, and can be adapted for children with specific attention and concentration difficulties, such as ADHD, and for older children. This is an ideal resource for teachers, counsellors, social workers, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, youth workers, parents, and carers.