As the holiday season approaches, students are often filled with excitement and energy—lots of energy. While this festive spirit is wonderful, it can also lead to restlessness and make it harder for kids to focus and stay calm.
So how do teachers tackle the holiday chaos? Try incorporating simple, effective mindfulness and calming activities into the day to channel that energy in a positive way. The trick is to make the calm engaging! Here are some creative and engaging ways to bring calm into your classroom during the holiday season!
Holiday Themed Breathing Exercises
Mindful breathing is a powerful tool that helps students slow down and reconnect with their breath. This can be particularly helpful when the classroom feels a bit chaotic. It also comes in handy when you as the teacher are feeling overwhelmed and need to regulate your own emotions before moving on in your lesson. Take a whole group breathing break! Here are some fun exercises to try:
Snowflake Breathing: Ask students to imagine they are holding a delicate snowflake on their palm. As they breathe in deeply, they “catch” the snowflake by breathing in through their nose. Then, they gently blow it away by breathing out through their mouth. Repeat this exercise a few times to help everyone settle into a calm rhythm.
Hot Cocoa Breathing: Have students imagine they are holding a cup of delicious hot chocolate. Inahle to smell the yummy treat and exhale to blow on it to cool it down before taking a sip
Candle Breathing: For a holiday twist, have students imagine they are holding a candle. As they breathe in slowly, they imagine watching the flame flicker gently, and as they exhale, they “blow out” the candle with a slow, steady breath. Encourage them to keep the flame calm by breathing softly.
Santa Belly Breaths: Like regular belly breaths, but with a Santa twist! Students will lay flat on their backs and place a hand on their belly. While taking big breaths in and out, students will notice how their hand rises and falls with their belly.
Mindful Coloring with Holiday Mandalas
Coloring can be a wonderfully calming activity, and for many students it’s quite engaging! Holiday-themed mandalas or winter scenes add a festive touch. Provide students with winter mandala coloring sheets or snowflake designs, and invite them to focus on the colors and patterns as they color. Encourage quiet focus, letting them use this time as a mindful break.
To add an extra layer of calm, play soft instrumental music in the background, perhaps something reminiscent of winter sounds like light bells or gentle holiday tunes.
Visualization Exercise: Winter Wonderland
Visualization can help children focus and relax by encouraging them to picture calming, positive scenes in their mind. Try guiding them through a “Winter Wonderland” visualization:
Have students close their eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then, invite them to imagine a snowy winter scene, with gentle snowflakes falling, sparkling snow on the ground, and maybe even a peaceful forest. Describe sensory details, like the crisp air, the sight of snowflakes falling slowly, and the sound of soft winter winds. This exercise can help students feel grounded and calm.
Calm Down Jars with a Holiday Twist
Calm-down jars are a favorite tool for helping students self-regulate. For a holiday twist, make calm-down jars filled with glitter and holiday-themed colors. Use clear jars or bottles, fill them with water, add glitter, and then let students shake the jar when they need a calming moment. Watching the glitter settle can be a very soothing, mindfulness-focused activity. This can be a simple, rewarding craft activity that also teaches mindfulness.
Guided Mindful Movement
(Christmas) Tree Pose: A festive twist on a Yoga pose!
- Start in mountain pose: Stand up straight and tall, and take a deep breath.
- Bend one knee: Bring your foot up and place the sole of it on the inside of your standing leg, between your ankle and thigh.
- Shift your weight: Ground your foot, imagining it’s a tree root, and shift your weight into it.
- Bring your arms up: Inhale and bring your hands to your sides, then raise them out wide like tree branches.
- Hold and gaze: Hold the pose and focus on a point ahead of you, like a wall or object.
- Repeat: When you’re done, lower your foot back to the ground and repeat with the other leg.
Settle Like a Snow Globe: Students will jump up and down and wiggle all around to “shake themselves up” like a snow globe, then practice settling down and imagine all of the snow settling to the ground as they practice calming strategies like deep breaths.
Gratitude Circle
Gratitude can be a calming practice, helping students shift their focus to positive thoughts. A gratitude circle is a quick, easy way to bring this practice into your day.
Gather students in a circle and ask each one to share one thing they’re grateful for about the holiday season or wintertime. It could be something as simple as warm hot chocolate, holiday lights, or spending time with family. This practice helps build a sense of togetherness, grounding, and appreciation.
Add an extension activity with this “Gifts of Gratitude” reflection!
Holiday Themed Sensory Bin
For younger students, a sensory bin can be a calming and engaging activity. Fill a bin with holiday-themed sensory items, like faux snow, jingle bells, pom-poms, or mini holiday decorations. Allow students to interact with the items in a calm, gentle way. Encourage them to take turns, engage with the materials slowly, and focus on how each object feels, sounds, or moves.
Sensory play can be very grounding and can offer students a chance to take a break when they feel overstimulated by holiday excitement.
Mindful Listening With Holiday Sounds
Sound-based mindfulness activities are a great way to capture students’ attention and calm their minds. Play holiday or winter-themed sounds, like gentle bells, wind chimes, soft snow crunching, or even the sound of a crackling fireplace. Encourage students to sit quietly and listen carefully, focusing only on the sounds and noticing how they make them feel.
Afterward, discuss how these sounds help them feel calm or what they noticed during the listening exercise. This activity strengthens their ability to focus on the present moment.
Mindful Eating with Christmas Snacks
Mindful eating is slowing down while eating and paying close attention to the texture, taste, smell, feeling, etc. of your food.
You can try this with holiday snacks like candy canes, hot chocolate, Christmas cookies, etc.
Positive Affirmation Ornaments
Write simple positive affirmations on paper ornaments and hang them in your classroom or have students complete a positive affirmation page like the one below. This exercise helps them focus on positive thoughts, which can be especially grounding during high-energy times like the holiday season.
Bringing mindfulness into the classroom during the holidays can help students manage their excitement, stay focused, and feel calm. These simple activities can be integrated into the daily routine and offer students a sense of peace and grounding during a bustling time of year. By encouraging these practices, you’re helping students develop lifelong tools for managing emotions, staying present, and enjoying each moment—both during the holidays and beyond.
Let me know in the comments which idea is your favorite and any other ideas you’ve used in your classroom!
No Comments