Planning a Mindful Summer

 To follow last week's blog, we have another worksheet we can use to be mindful as the school year closes out.

Last week we had the Rose, Thorn, and Bud, to reflect on success, struggles, and desired growth. This week we are going to think about how to plan a mindful summer.

Below is a link to three versions of a worksheet. One is a clean and simple version, for our students that like minimal distractions, and other two are fun and inspirational.

Mindful Summer Vision Board

Our Mindful Summer Vision Board is a fun activity to help students plan out a positive and mindful summer. 

The board has spots for; people they might see (or want to see), foods they want to eat, mindfulness they can do, new things they want to try, places they might go, goal to accomplish, and a free space to share anything planned for summer.

I find that when I ask students about summer I get a lot of, "I don't know" or "play on my phone/tablet/video games." 

Not all parents are around in the summer. Not all parents encourage activity, reading, outside time, mindfulness, and exploration. For a lot of children summer is spending time sleeping in, staying up late, and playing endless hours of video games.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics on average children spend nearly 8 hours a day on screens. In contrast children only spend 4-7 minutes a day outside. 

We can help our students think about things to do over the summer and encourage them to explore screen free, outdoor activities. 

The sad reality is, our students have been handed screens too young and are often not encouraged to do much of anything else. We need to be a force for good and encourage them to pick up a book, ride a bike, draw with sidewalk chalk, run through a sprinkler, go on walk, spend time outside taking deep breaths, watch nature, etc. 

We need to spark an idea. We need to help our students see summer in a different light, preferably the sunlight not the light of a screen.

In the free space we could encourage them to think about what time they will go to sleep and wake up. We could encourage them to set a summer reading goal. If you aren't familiar with the Ypsilanti libraries they do a summer reading program with lots of fun rewards. Barns and Noble also has a summer reading program that encourages reading with rewards or stickers and a free book.

Take some time during these last few weeks and explore a mindful summer vision board with your students. Encourage positive, mindful habits to help prepare them for the following school year.