The Mindfulness Journal for Kids Paperback – 15 December 2020

During some troubling times I found this book for my son to guide him in his thoughts and ease is anxiety. It worked wonders for him and gave him tools to use in various situations to self regulate!

My granddaughter really likes it. I bot it on my daughter's request and was happy when granddaughter said she liked it.

My 11 year old grandson liked this journal. The best compliment was “Mimi, I like this. I will actually use it!”

This book could easily be used by an adult as an introduction to mindfulness. The key ideas are distilled into easily understandable language and easily digested "steps." The first journal activity explains intentions and has you set one. The next has you focus on the present as a way to alleviate anxiety about the future or past. Knowing kids, it would be great if there was space to sketch and draw instead of just writing. While the colors are "gender neutral" with blues and greens, the design is decidedly feminine with floral patterns throughout. While I'm glad the flowers aren't pink, I do wish the book design was more appealing to ALL kids with more "neutral" patterns. Maybe that's my own bias about flowers being feminine. I gave the book to a 13 yr old boy who has expressed an interest in mindfulness, but I'm not sure the book design will make the cut for him. What I hear from so many kids is this overemphasis on meditation they've been handed, and kids tell me that they CAN'T meditate. The last thing kids need is something else to feel bad about not doing well. I can barely meditate as a grown adult. I get it -- it's a practice, no judgment, keep trying. But when I talked with my own kids (13 and 10) about the difference between mindfulness and meditation, they were immediately excited -- "Oh, I already do that when I'm playing a game by myself!" or "Now that, I could do!" So I love that attention has turned for people of all ages from just meditation to a more broad idea of mindfulness that feels more approachable and inclusive. This book is a beautiful introduction to it. The resource lists with apps and books in the back is great, too. Design aside, which I'm sure was a challenge, this book is a tremendous resource for a parent or young person who wants to cultivate a little space for mindfulness and self-compassion. If my 13 yr old doesn't get into it, I will borrow it back for myself! Would be great if the opening pages gave kids permission to think about the questions instead of filling up the lines. But I guess there are mindfulness card decks for those kids. This book is best for a kid who does like journaling already. That's how the book is designed. In any case, I loved her explanations and have already used her wording several times in thinking and talking about the concepts of mindfulness. A truly well done book that would be a beautiful gift for any young person.

We are always telling our kids it is okay to be mad and upset or angry but you do in that moment of those emotions can affect the rest of your life either in a good way in a bad way. This book helps to push that home and it's not just dad and mom telling them. In the stages of puberty, kids think parents don't understand and we do our best to talk through our emotions and to explain why right is right and wrong is wrong then give ways to handle it moving forward. This book allows them to write everything down. From feelings to smell and what they see. We also tell them that they are the only person in this world that can hold themselves back and not blame others for what they choose to do or not do which starts with self-love. There are some pages on "Showing yourself kindness" so they learn to love themselves more without "Just mom & dad saying it because they have to" mindset. It teaches them how to relax and find a calming state of mind. We put a quick stop to the fist clenching and stomping when they were little so the book has that stuff too but they are at that stage where no matter how you talk, you are "yelling" so this makes them write down some truth and may show them how to recognize what is actually going on around them. So I recommend this for all parents to help their kids to find great ways to handle emotions and situations.