Spider-Man: Practicing Mindfulness and Increasing Focus

Spider-Man: Practicing Mindfulness and Increasing Focus

Here’s a Spider-Man Script for you to try out with your children or students to practice mindfulness and increase focus. You can also incorporate this into your childs play therapy.

Materials Needed:  Bell, Flower, Small Food Item (such as a berry, piece of cereal, or raisin)

One of Spider-­‐Man’s super powers was the ability to tune into his senses. Like a spider, he could hear very tiny noises. He was able to pay very close attention to the noises. When you pay very close attention, you are able to calm your mind and let go of all the noisy thoughts in your head that can be distracting. With practice, you can improve our focus and relax right now, right where you are.

Right now we are going to learn to activate your super powers to tune into your senses, just like Spider-­‐Man. These are your Spider­‐Man Super Senses. What it takes is a little practice. Let’s start with your sense of hearing. First let’s sit down. Close your eyes and place your hands on your knees. I am going to ring a bell. When you hear the bell, pay attention to the ring until you can no longer hear the ringing sound, clasp your hands together in your lap. (Repeat 3 times). Like Spiderman, we have activated your super power of ultra hearing! Excellent work!

Next we are going to activate your super powers of ultra seeing, touching and smelling. I’m going to give each of you a flower. Hold your flower gently in your hand. When I ring the bell, I want you to gently touch the petals. Feel what each petal is like beneath your fingers. Pay attention to if the petal is soft, rough, wet, furry, smooth, or prickly. See what you can feel. Imagine, like Spiderman, your hands have the power to sense very carefully what the flower feels like. As I ring the bell next, I want you to smell the flower. Breathe in deeply with the flower under your nose. See what the flower’s scent is. Is it sweet? Maybe it has very little smell at all? What do you smell? Now, finally, as I ring the bell, I want you to look very closely at the flower. Pay attention to the lines on the petals. What does the center of the flower look like? Is it bumpy? Smooth? Soft looking? Wet looking? Is there powdery pollen in the center? See what details you can notice in the flower, what little shapes, what lines, what circles, if any. (Ring the bell a final time to signal the end of the activity).

The final activation of your Spiderman super power of ultra senses, is to practice your sense of taste. We are going to practice by tasting, paying very close attention to what a berry tastes like. (Please feel free to use whatever small food you like such as a piece of cereal, a sunflower seed, a raisin, etc. . . ). Start by looking at the berry and noticing, using your super power sight, what the berry looks like. Turn the berry gently between your fingers, feeling what the berry feels like. Next, place the berry in your mouth. Allow the berry to be slowly in your mouth, paying attention to how if feels on your tongue, how the juices in your mouth start to flow. Now slowly begin to chew the berry. See how slowly you can chew it. How does it taste? Sweet? Tart? Sour? Gently swallow the berry, paying attention to the taste that remains in your mouth after you swallow it.

Now you have activated all of your Spider-­Man Super Senses! Remember that when you get very quiet and focus, your body and mind are able to relax and take a break from the day’s busy activities. You have the power to activate your Spider-­‐Man Super Senses whenever you want to calm down and focus for a moment.