A Stillness Activity

Originally published 3/09/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Stillness isn’t something that we often explore with children. We might long for quiet as they stand in place crunching leaves underfoot or they speak using their very loudest “outdoor voices” while walking along a trail. To capture stillness is different. Stillness isn’t just the absence of sound or movement because it also includes a vibrant level of alertness.

We are more than motionless because every sense is on alert. So, how do you convince kids to explore stillness? For children, stillness is less about meditative reflection and more about the chance to hear insects munching leaves and locating chipmunks roaming through the leaf litter. If you can’t see your children enthusiastically plunging themselves into observant stillness, try a trick that captures their attention.

You can introduce the rewards of stillness and listening by stopping and asking with great surprise and intent, “Did you hear that? What was that?” Use some body language to discourage questions. Now, you didn’t have to hear anything in particular, but chances are when you fall silent you will hear something. Of course, you can’t pull this too often, but at some point you can say that you found it really interesting to listen to the different sounds in nature. If your children agree, try the following activity

Find a spot where you can avoid being disturbed for five-to-fifteen minutes. If you are with two or more kids, look for a clearing where everyone can sit looking out from the center of the space to avoid having the kids stare at one another. Kids should be out of fingertips range of one another. Older children may prefer to scatter to different spots within your sight.

Before separating the kids, let them know how long they will be doing this activity. Plan approximately 30 seconds for each year the child is old (average the number for mixed age groups). If the activity appears to be going well, you can always extend things for a minute or two, but don’t push beyond that time.

Each person sits, lays, or stands in one place with her eyes either opened or closed. Encourage participants to open their attention to the surrounding sights and sounds as well as noticing any interesting smells or textures within their reach. The key is – no movement (no wiggling, twisting one’s head this way and that, no wandering, etc.) except for one’s eyes.

After the experience, ask participants (this includes the adults) to mention at least one thing that they are grateful to have noticed while remaining still. Try this activity at different times of day – dawn, morning, afternoon, dusk, or night. Each time brings unique sights and sounds, even if you always do this activity in your backyard.