How mindfulness adds to the growth of students' concentration

Let's prepare a toy before the class or together with the children that show how the mind can calm down naturally.

For this exercise, we need a large bottle with a tight cap or cork. We pour distilled water into it and add some glitter. When we shake this bottle, it shows how thoughts and emotions swirl and spin when we are moved by something or feel stress. To make the glitter particles settle, we cannot move the bottle. However, after a moment of standing still, the glitter particles fall to the bottom and the water becomes clear. Similarly, when we feel many emotions, the mind needs silence so that all thoughts and emotions can settle. This game consists of staring at the falling glitter until the water becomes clear. We can imagine that some of the swirling and falling flakes are our own thoughts and emotions.

Source: Ołtarzewski, E. (2019). Mindfulness in early school education. School Life, 44.