Little Hands Learning | Mindfulness Box

 “A monthly subscription box, inspired by the magic of books.”

We are back on track – January’s box was the perfect New Year theme. It was all about mindfulness, self-care and gratitude – which is all so important, not just for us parents, but our children too!

I recently shared on Instagram about Alfie learning about worry dolls at school and I immediately bought some (quickly followed by a wonderful book called Silly Billy) and those combined with last month’s Little Hands Learning box have been fantastic. As always, the activities were so well thought out, and ideal for doing together, while talking about feelings.

The activities were inspired by the book Happy: A Children’s Book of Mindfulness, written by Nicola Edwards and illustrated by Katie Hickey. We actually read it together tonight at bedtime and it’s a beautiful book, which really gets you thinking. We love the lyrical language and rhyming words, alongside stunning illustrations – and each page ends with a question or statement to explore the emotions described, in more detail.

In this box, we were able to:

• Create a mindfulness jar
• Craft a breathing board
• Make a charm
• Write in a gratitude diary

All that glitters

The mindful jar was the first activity we completed and thankfully Alfie finished the strawberry jam in his sandwich that lunchtime, so we had a spare jar. Alfie completed this independently – pouring in some pre-measured water, before adding the glue and the beautiful blue glitter. He gave the jar a good shake and watched as the glitter swirled around in the mix.

I explained that the jar would be kept on the dining table so that if he ever felt angry, sad or annoyed, to give it a shake. The swirling glitter is soothing, and great for calming the mind and body. The jar is still on the dining table – and I have to say, if I’m feeling a bit stressed, I give it a shake too!

Fine tuning fine motor skills

We made the charm next… I say we, again, Alfie managed to do it all by himself (with the tiniest bit of help from me). He decided he wanted to create the charm for his school bookbag. So, I tied a knot in the end, before we took it in turns to close our eyes and pick a bead from the paper bag. Alfie then threaded them on the pipe cleaner, one-by-one. Once there were a selection of different coloured beads on the pipe cleaner, I created a loop and threaded it onto his bag – attached to a keyring he already had.

Sadly, the clip on his keyring recently broke – luckily, the bag charm was put inside the bag for safe keeping. I found another pipe cleaner in our craft trolley and have managed to re-attach it to his bag.

And breathe…

Alfie made the breathing board with my mum when she came to look after him on the school strike day. He enjoyed smelling the cinnamon-scented dough in the packet, before pouring it into a bowl, adding the water and stirring. He used his mini rolling pin to roll it out, and then as well as putting his handprint into the dough, he also wanted to use the star cutters to create some indents. With the excess, he also decided to make a small Christmas tree. The dough went into the oven to dry out. As well as tracing the fingers, he enjoys tracing the star print. The dough still smells incredible too!

We have only just started to write in the gratitude diary – I had intentions of beginning on February 1^st, but instead, it has coincided with half term week. I’m looking forward to writing in it together every night before bed, and then looking back on so many memories afterwards!

The Mindfulness box is still available in the shop and is priced at £28. However, if you’d like to purchase it – or anything else – you can use my code LUCYLOCKET to receive a discount on any future orders. Just remember to leave in the notes section that you’ve used my code!

Follow Little Hands Learning on Instagram for sneak peeks of future boxes, plus lots of educational ideas, fun crafts and experiments.

Love, Lucy xx