Thoughts from Children

When in a spacious, welcoming environment, the natural wonder and beauty of children’s spirits unfolds and they express so much innocent wisdom and delight. Like the unfurling of a fern frond, their growth in understanding happens gently, visible to the attentive observer. We have loved hearing children’s comments, both at Kaleidoscope when we gather together and also via parents when they talk about their experiences. We share some here:

“Now that I have been coming for a while I feel ok about closing my eyes for meditation because I am used to it and it helps me to be calmer. I trust everyone now and so I like it.
(11 year old)

“I can be calm in meditation time just by breathing and saying the word a lot of times.”
(6 year old)

“I just focus on my candle and I breathe.”
(5 year old)

“If I need to, I know I can be still and take some deep breaths, even when I am at school – like if I am worried about something.”
(11 year old)

“When I feel worried at school I could go and find the two trees that I like. One has brown bark and the other is white. I can stay in their shade.”
(10 year old)

“Some people think that God is very far away but I don’t because I know that God is very close inside me.”
(5 year old)

“I want to go every Saturday AND every Sunday to Kaleidoscope!!”
(5 year old)

“Sometimes I feel really calm after Kaleidoscope because it is peaceful and I connect with how tired I am and I have a rest. It makes it easier for me to fall asleep. Sometimes I almost fall asleep when I meditate!”
(11 year old)

“What I like about Kaleidoscope is that there are lots of creative activities and you get to be creative with your choices. You can take your time with it and you can just do the ones that you like. Probably my favourite one was colouring the sun-catchers. It reminds me about colours.”
(9 year old 

“What I like about Kaleidoscope is that it is very, very relaxing and that is a special thing for me.”
(10 year old)

“Instead of a story tonight I would like to have some quiet time with my candle mat.”
(5 year old)

“I made all these rainbow shapes like the ones in the story. I am going to hide them in places in my home and also put some in my friends’ school bags. I think that will be colourful and fun!”
(9 year old)

“I liked writing special letters. My mum was surprised about the letters I wrote. I loved your letter and thank you.”
(6 year old) 

“I liked learning that I can light a candle to remember that there is also a light in me.”
(7 year old)

“When I make my candle mat, I can be quiet and remember that I do not have to be anxious any more.” 
(8 year old) 

“I liked learning that God knows exactly who I am even though I might look a bit the same as other people.”
(9 year old)

“I know a lot about listening to nature and I like talking about it here. I hear the wind and it says welcome.”
(6 year old)

“We learnt about being centred and then everyone was quiet to meditate, mostly, but there was someone who was a bit outer-centred!”
(10 year old)

“When you said to think about little things that mattered in my day, I didn’t think of one then, but now I have thought of some to tell you about, some that made me happy.”
(8 year old)

“Learning meditation has really helped me to know how to be quiet and to calm myself down. So now instead of being really mad at my brother and having a brain explosion, I can be a lot calmer.”
(10 year old)

“I like the idea of listening to other people’s stories. I think I could ask the new girl at my school what her story is.” (11 year old)
“And I could ask the new boy in my class what his story is, because he is from a different country.” (9 year old)
“I want to know the story of the Queensland groper fish!”
(7 year old)

“Next time I am going to bring my friend because she really likes relaxing too.”
(9 year old)