Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families

Susan Kaiser Greenland

Nov 2016 · Shambhala Publications

About this ebook

A practical and playful guide for cultivating mindfulness in kids, with 50 simple games to develop attention and focus, and to identify and regulate emotions

Playing games is a great way for kids to improve their focus and become more mindful. In this book, The Mindful Child author Susan Kaiser Greenland shares how parents, caregivers, and teachers can bring mindfulness into the classroom or home. She provides 50 entertaining games that develop what she calls the new “A, B, C’s”—Attention, Balance, and Compassion—for your child’s learning, happiness, and success, offering context and guidance throughout. She introduces:

• Anchor games that develop concentration
• Visualization games that encourage kindness and focus
• Analytical games that cultivate clear thinking
• Awareness games for sensory awareness, self-regulating emotions, and gaining insight into ourselves, others, and relationships

Even though the games are designed for kids, they can be just as fun and transformative for adults. Greenland encourages parents and caregivers to develop their own Attention, Balance, and Compassion and to explore the universal concepts that she presents. Our own mindfulness has a powerful effect on everyone in our lives—especially our children.


“A wonderful, fun, and engaging way to bring mindfulness into a child’s life.” —Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

About the author

SUSAN KAISER GREENLAND developed the Inner Kids mindful awareness program, and teaches secular mindful awareness practices to children, parents, and professionals around the world. In 2000, she established the Inner Kids Foundation with her husband, author Seth Greenland, bringing mindful awareness to underserved schools and neighborhoods in Los Angeles. She was a co-investigator in a multi-year, multi-site research study at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center/Semel Institute on the impact of mindfulness in education. She has spoken at the Mind & Life Institute; the University of California at Los Angeles; the University of Massachusetts; the University of Kansas; Columbia University; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; San Diego Children's Hospital; the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California; the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts; the National University of Singapore; Mahidol University, in Bangkok; Casa Tibet, in Mexico, and many other prestigious institutes in the United States and abroad. Her work has been covered by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Public Radio, various yoga journals, and CBS Morning News. Her website is www.susankaisergreenland.com