Mindfulness Journal October Uniqueness Mindfulness Activities for Students SEL

Introducing the Mindful Thoughts Journal - a fun and engaging way for students to develop their mindfulness, social emotional learning and growth mindset! Each month, students will focus on a different character education concept and complete daily reflection activities to build their skills.

October's theme is all about uniqueness - students will explore how everyone is unique and yet similar in their own ways. These mindfulness activities are designed to be flexible, so you can use them any month of the year. Plus, with a fall theme, they're perfect for use in September, October, November yet they can also be used in March, April, or May, whatever helps you and your students most.

Every day, students will reflect on the theme of the month, record their emotions, express daily gratitude, track the books they're reading, and stretch their creative muscles with a daily doodle prompt. Plus, we've included downloadable images, Google Slides, and Google Drawings files for easy use through Google Classroom, Seesaw, and other learning management systems.

Our journal is designed to help students become more mindful of their thoughts and actions and how they can impact others. We've included a range of mindfulness activities for students including a mood tracker, reading log, and gratitude journal to promote a growth mindset. Plus, we've included a Directions spread you can edit using PowerPoint. It has a glossary to help students complete their journal independently.

We recommend using the Mindful Thoughts Journal as morning work to start the day on a positive and mindful note. The journal prompts also make great conversation starters during morning meetings, giving students the opportunity to share their thoughts and reflections with the class.

The journal is designed to be printed back-to-back and bound in a three-ring binder, spiral binding, or with staples. We've included five weekly spreads, so you can pick and choose the pages that work best for your schedule.

Included Mindfulness Activities for Students:

★ Directions Spread with Glossary:

There is a small glossary on the Directions spread to help the students complete their Mindful Thoughts Journals independently. We have created the Directions spread as editable allowing you to tweak the directions to best fit your classroom and students.

★ Currently:

Here students will write a few things that they currently enjoy doing. These things will likely change from month to month. The Currently page is a fun keepsake to look back at throughout the year to see how students' likes and dislikes change as they grow.

★ Reading Log:

Here students will write the titles of books that they have read during the month. Students will enjoy tracking their books on this fun themed page.

★ Mood Tracker:

Here students will keep track of how they feel each day. They will color in today’s number with the color that represents how they feel today or felt yesterday depending on when you have your students complete their journals. We recommend having your students work on their Mindful Thoughts Journals in the morning as they are beginning their day and complete the mood tracker for the day before. Keeping track of how your students feel will help them to better understand their emotions, how those emotions are triggered, and how their emotions can influence their day.

★ Daily Gratitude:

Gratitude is about focusing on the good things in our lives and being thankful for what we have. Here students will write one thing that they are grateful for each day. According to Harvard Health Publishing, studies have shown that the practice of expressing gratitude each day "is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships." In a world where everyone from our students to our teachers and administration are feeling stress, teaching self-care practices with mindfulness activities for students like gratitude journals are not only encouraged but essential.

★ Weekly Spreads:

Each two-page spread is designed and laid out a little differently but they all have some of the same pieces. Each spread will have a spot to write and draw each day. We recommend that the students write their answers in complete sentences and expand on their writing. For example, they can explain why. Remember these questions are just to get the students started thinking.

Each day also has a doodle section. This section is meant to be a quick drawing for students to practice their sketching skills, and creative skills and practice expressing themselves. Some spreads have extra doodle sections. We like to have our students complete those sections when they have extra time after they have completed their other work.

★ Reflection:

When the journal is complete, students can think back on the work they’ve done focusing on the theme for this month and develop an action plan for the future.

Start promoting a growth mindset and help your students develop their social emotional learning and mindfulness skills with the Mindful Thoughts Journal. Order yours today!