Craft of the Week: Garden of Our Mind

Last summer, I had the privilege of supporting the Building for Kids children’s museum in developing a mindfulness curriculum for their Summer Explorer Camps.

As students began to more deeply understand mindfulness, they also began to learn more about their brains! They learned more about how thoughts, behaviors, and feelings work together. And they were able to see how they can grow their minds, just like we cultivate and grow gardens in our backyard. Together, during Mindfulness Mysteries! camp, students were able to create their very own Garden of The Mind.

You too can invite your children or students to create a Garden of The Mind, listing their weeds, flowers, and the butterflies and birds that help pollinate their gardens. Gather some simple art supplies including colored construction paper, glue, markers, and scissors. Then, provide each student a large piece of 11x17 posterboard, and ask them to add the following to their gardens:

The Weeds: All gardens have weeds. Dandelions (although whether a dandelion is truly a weed can be debatable). Crabgrass. Thistle. And for us, as humans, the weeds often manifest as feelings of fear, worry, anger, or resentment. The weeds in our mind sometimes begin to crowd out the flowers and beauty in our life. Have students draw some weeds on their posterboard, and label each one with a weed from their own life. Worries. Fears. Negative thoughts (Math is hard!). Help children begin to understand (on a basic level) that we have the power to choose our thoughts because our brains are always growing and changing through the magic of neuroplasticity!

The Flowers: Not only can we recognize the weeds that are in ALL of our brains, but we can also cultivate more beauty in our mind through using tools like mindfulness and gratitude. We can take one deep breath. We can list three things we are grateful for. We can notice our internal emotional weather, put a hand on our heart, and show ourselves love. Through these simple steps, we can grow more flowers in the garden of our mind. Have students draw or make flowers with construction paper (paper strip flowers work great here!), and label each flower with something awesome in their life. Their home. Their pets. Their own positive, happy thoughts. These are the flowers of our mind that we can cultivate more of with mindfulness tools. Each flower represents a moment of gratitude in the students’ lives.

The Pollinators: We all have pollinators in our gardens, people who bring more happiness, joy, and calm to our lives. Have students draw some pollinators, like birds, bees, and butterflies, on their garden posters. Label each pollinator with the name of a person who brings joy, happiness, or love to their garden. Mom. Dad. A teacher. A coach. A friend. These are our support systems that help the Garden of Our Mind grow big and strong!

And, three cheers! They have done it! Your children (or students) have now created their own Garden of the Mind, a way to understand what emotions and thoughts are inside their brains. Invite students to continue to practice their mindfulness tools as a way to water their internal gardens, such as the Butterfly Breath created by Dr. Christopher Willard. Have students extend their wings and spread their arms like a beautiful butterfly on the in-breath, and flap their wings gently on the out-breath.

What weeds are popping up in your life this week? And also, what flowers are blooming when you pause to notice? I’d love to hear.

Love,

Christy

*Note: Garden of the Mind activity inspired by Louise Shanager’s work in Creative Mindfulness.

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Alternatives to Asking “How Was Your Day?”

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The Gift of the Precious Present