If you need help for kids with anxiety, I am so grateful for these terrific mindfulness podcasts for kids. We all know that unfortunately, anxiety is on the rise for lots of children, including my own. Maybe you’re trying to help a child with chronic anxiety, or maybe they’re just feeling anxious about heading back to school, issues with friends or just general…stuff.
All the resources we can find to help our kids cope are so valuable to us, and these mindfulness podcasts — all made just for kids — are no different. So grab a pair of kid-sized headphones, or listen together, and get ready to bring the chill.
Hey, it can’t hurt parents stop and take a deep breath too, right?
Related: How this screen-free mindfulness device helped my child with his anxiety at night
Via @likeyoupodcast on Instagram
4 terrific mindfulness podcasts for kids
When we tune in, my son and I now walk on the moon together, pick flowers from a meadow, or ride on a cloud (in our imaginations, of course) to calm him down before the school day or when swim lessons start. And I really hope they help you too.
1. Best Day Yet: Affirmations for Kids Podcast
The Best Day Yet podcast is a great mindfulness podcast choice for slightly older kids who are capable of more sustained meditation — say, 10 to 15 minutes. This podcast has impressive production values, so it’s easy to get lost in the meditation stories. I like that they also introduce kids to positive affirmations, thanks to the writing and guidance of host Marjorie Stordeur, who has a 20 year background in education and children’s media in addition to being a yogi herself.
If you need a place to start, try the Self Love for Kids calming episode, or for something more specific Affirmations for a Calm & Confident School Dayis lovely.
Related: Wonderful books about anxiety written just for kids who worry
2. Like You: Mindfulness for Kids Podcast
The Like You podcast (get the double entendre there?) is hosted by dad of two, Noah Glenn, and offers a fun mixture of stories, affirmations, breathing exercises, and lessons on emotional regulation all in convenient podcast form to support kids with anxiety. The episodes of this mindfulness podcast for kids may be a little long for preschoolers, but I think grade schoolers and older kids through tweens can really benefit.
The episodes called Feelings are Visitors and Popping Worry Bubbles are particularly wonderful, and at under 20 minutes each — sometimes as short as 12 minutes — they’re manageable when you don’t have a lot of time. Like right before school, should that be a trigger point for your kid..
Related: 7 of our favorite meditation apps
3. Peace Out: Mindfulness Stories for Kids Podcast
The Peace Out podcast for kids, created by educator, family supports practitioner, and yoga guide Chanel Tsang, is now in its sixth season, so there’s plenty of content you can go through to help you find exactly what your child needs. I appreciate that they focus on breathing techniques in every episode, but use different themes, like dinosaurs, forests, and space, to keep even younger kids interested and engaged.
(I particularly love the Try, Try and Try Again episode to help foster persistence.)
Bonus: the Peace Out website includes great supplemental resources and articles for parents in the show notes of each episode, to help keep the learning going, should a theme strikes a chord with your kids.
Related: Our guide to the best headphones for kids of all ages
4. Relax and Be Happy: Mindfulness for Children Podcast
The Relax and Be Happy podcast is an especially good mindfulness podcast for younger kids who may not have the attention span for longer meditations. It’s hosted by Bari Koral — a family music artist we’ve known for ages, who also teaches the Yogapalooza you and mindfulness course for kids — and features music by Grammy-winning New Age artist Paul Avgerinos.
Most episodes run only two to four minutes, long enough for bite-size, kid-friendly versions of the kinds of meditation topics on apps like Calm that you may be familiar with. This way, you can choose an episode based on the support your child needs for anxiety or stress: relaxation, cheer, motivation, “candle breath.”
Just note that this podcast is part of the subscription-based Pinna app (a CMT favorite!), so you can’t just go ahead and listen on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. But you can listen to a sample before you commit to the subscription.
Top image: Emily Wade on Unsplash
