Worship

Using Meditation with Young Children
Michelle Richards, DRE
UU Fellowship of Elkart, Elkart, IN

Here is a sample of a meditation I have used with kids in our Children's Chapel. I always use the same opening to guide them and remind them of how we are supposed to behave during the meditation to help them achieve a calm state.

"Now it's time for our meditation. It's time to relax our bodies and our minds. If you feel comfortable, you can close your eyes. If not, find a spot on the wall to stare at as you listen to my words.

Place your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap. Take a deep breath in. Now let it out. Deep breath in. And out.

Keep breathing now as you think about a color. It could be your favorite color, or a color you would like to think about right now. Imagine that in your mind you can see a ball of this color. Look at this ball. Think about this ball. Notice its beautiful color.

As you look at the ball in your mind, you can see the ball getting bigger. It is growing. It is getting bigger and bigger and bigger until all you can see is the color. It is a beautiful color. It is all around you. It is inside you. It is everywhere.

Now you watch as the ball begins to shrink again. It is getting smaller and smaller and smaller until you can barely see it. Then ... it disappears.

(Pause)

Our meditation is ended. When you are ready, come back to this room and open your eyes."

Several things to remember when doing meditation with young children:

1. Keep it short. Remember attention spans.
2. Stick to active visualizations and objects/things they are familiar with.
3. Use words that are age-appropriate (or just above the heads of preschoolers, they soon learn these terms).
4. After giving the initial directions, do not direct them to do anything but breathe, relax or think of something in their minds.*

* During a children's meditation I once made the mistake of saying "you take off your shoes" as I intended to lead them into imagining they dipped their toes into the cold, crisp water of a creek. Bad idea! The whole meditation was disrupted by a room full of young children taking off their shoes! They obviously thought I meant it literally. I guess I should be happy I had their rapt attention! But this sure was hard to recover from as the adults present (including myself!) began to laugh out loud.

Why should you use meditation with young children?

1. It is very calming for them which is often important on chaotic Sunday mornings.
2. It is a valuable life skill you are teaching them, a skill they can call forth when they are facing hard times in their life.
3. It can serve as a form of prayer -- or substitute for prayer -- as they grow older, teaching them positive "self-talk" to help them through life's difficulties.