A Mindful Art Activity for Kids
Making art to sound is an easy, mindful art activity for kids of all ages. We were inspired to try it after reading one of my son’s favourite books called, Bertie and the Bear. In this story the bear is chased by a long line of characters playing instruments, we noticed how the sounds were drawn so colourfully on the pages and decided to have a go ourselves at drawing out sound. This fun, musical art project is a simple way to introduce mindful listening to children, helping them to develop focus, attention and self awareness.
Let’s Make Mindful Art!
- Skill Level – Beginner: Suitable for all developmental stages.
What you will need for this activity:
- Musical instrument
- Pens or paint
- Optional: Read the Bertie the Bear book or find a read aloud on youtube
1 – Get your paper and brushes at the ready, it’s about to get messy!
2 – Take a long, deep breath and settle into the moment. Check out some of our fun breathing activities in our store.
3 – Explain to the children that they will be painting a sound, they need to listen carefully and afterwards they can choose any colour and paint/draw anything they like. Older children could add words too if they want to.
4 – Before you play the instrument, ask your child to close their eyes (if that’s comfortable for them), tell them to listen carefully and then play the sound, when the sound stops they can open their eyes.
5 – The children can create whatever comes to them and you may want to play the sound some more for them as they draw / paint.
6 – Afterwards, take the time to explore the work. Ask your children about the colours and shapes. Finish the activity by listening to the Bertie and the Bear story.
A simple way for children to practice mindfulness is to focus on paying attention to what they hear. Young children do not like to sit for long so this mindful art activity for kids is a fun way to capture their attention and practice.
Here are few prompt questions:
- What did they notice when it was quiet before the sound?
- Was the sound quiet, loud, soft, strong? Get them to think of some words to describe the sound with out judging if it was good or bad.
- Play a sound and ask children to jump up when they hear the sound has finished, this is a fun way to add movement too.
This Sounds Like Art!
More fun ideas:
Listen to the Bertie the Bear story or look for other stories in your collection that include sound.
- Music: Pick some songs out and paint as you listen to music.
- Relaxing Breaths: Practice taking a calming breath with one of our breathing actvities and then paint or draw your breath.
I’d love to hear if you try out the activity 🙂 Take Care
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