Creativity in the Classroom: Mindfulness Exercise for KS1/KS2

Welcome to our Creativity in the Classroom series! In this series, we share some of our favourite activities, games and challenges to stimulate creative learning on curriculum topics. All ideas come from our online teaching resource, Uno. To find even more engaging activities and interactive videos, visit the Uno website and sign up for your free trial! 

Processing our emotions, dealing with stress, communicating our feelings – these are powerful life skills that Mindfulness exercises can help us with.

It may sound tricky, but Mindfulness is actually super simple! It’s the act of bringing awareness and calm to the present moment. If you’ve ever stopped and taken a deep breath to help calm down – that’s Mindfulness! We all have the power to become more mindful, which is why today we wanted to share a great Mindfulness exercise for children.

Introducing… the Glitter Bottle Mindfulness Exercise!

This creative Mindulness exercise is a huge hit in our school workshops. All you need is an empty bottle, some water and different coloured glitters (biodegradable is best, if you can find it). Then you’re all set to go!

• Fill your water bottle with water
• Choose a coloured glitter and pour it into the water. As you do so, have a think about a difficult emotion this colour reminds you of. For example, it could be sadness, fear, anger or jealousy. There are no wrong answers!
• Repeat this step with at least two or three other colours. Remember to have a think about which emotion each colour represents.
• Once all the glitters are in the water bottle, secure the lid tightly and give it a good old shake!
• Now’s the really creative part. In this Mindfulness exercise the bottle represents your mind and the glitters are your emotions. As you can see, once shaken the glitter all swirls around and it can be difficult to see clearly, just like the emotions in your mind!
• Set the bottle down and take a few deep breaths as you watch the glitters gently slow and settle. As you focus on the present, you’ll notice how the water becomes clear once more

Mindfulness Glitter Bottle video tutorial

Not only is the Mindfulness glitter bottle a great, visual exercise to help children understand the purpose of Mindfulness, it’s also a tool within itself. Make a glitter bottle with your class, or at home, and use it to give children an opportunity to find calm within their day.

Here’s a short video by our brilliant facilitator, Jenny, of a DIY glitter bottle in action.

If you’d like to learn more tips for improving Creativity in the Classroom, take a look at our online teaching resource, Uno. This easy-to-use website is packed with interactive videos and teacher guides on a wide range of topics. Please get in touch to find out more and begin a free trial for your school.