This introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents includes practices that can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware. The accompanying audio CD has guided meditations voiced by Myla Kabat-Zinn, co-author of Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting.

Interested in the self-paced online course, Sitting Still Like a Frog: An Online Course in Teaching Mindfulness to Kids taught by Eline Snel? Click here for more information and to register.

"Sitting Still Like a Frog introduces the basics of mindfulness to children in an easy-to-understand and playful way. It guides children in the cultivation of presence: presence of mind, presence of heart, and presence in the body. This is something we are all capable of but usually don't cultivate intentionally. Why not start young in training those capacities? The world nowadays is so complex and fast-paced that knowing how to ground oneself in the present moment is an absolute necessity to make sense of the world and to continue learning, growing, and contributing what is uniquely yours to contribute in this world. "—from the foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn

"Sitting Still Like a Frog teaches children mindfulness through an amphibious friend who sits very still. . . . Many practices fill the book and audio CD, and all of them remind us, and our children, just how easily thoughts can move us off our lily pads. "—Mindful magazine

"From the central image of sitting still like a frog to the spaghetti test for physical relaxation, the images, metaphors, and practical exercises are pitched at the right level to really engage children—this book and CD will prove a valuable resource for our family's spiritual explorations. "—Juno magazine

The audio exercises included with Sitting Still Like a Frog are based on mindfulness-training exercises for adults and developed especially for children and their parents. They form the core of learning to be more mindful at different times throughout the day. You can do the exercises together with your child or children. Some kids like to do the exercises on their own, and many parents love doing the exercises themselves. You can do them sitting on the floor, on a couch or chair, or lying in bed.

To play the audio exercises in your web browser, click the links below. To save them, right click on the links below and download the files to your computer.

Basic meditation for kids age 5–12 or anyone who wants a simpler, shorter version of exercise 1