Read past YSE articles from Enlightenment Journal. Look for additional project instruction links in descriptions.
These projects are offered freely. Please consider donating to support the YSE program.
Reflections of the Divine
Finding Our Center with the Labyrinth
Creating Harmony with the Labyrinth Download the template for this craft HERE.
Spirit Trees: Rooted in the Divine Art Projects by age group:Ages 3-6Ages 6-10Ages 11 and up
Ahimsa: Chain Reaction of Kindness
Fulfill Your Worthwhile Dreams with Intention Malas
Gifting Wisdom Tales through Hatha Yoga
Experience the Radiance of the Soul - The light of the soul shines brightly in each of us, even though we may not experience it because of our thoughts, feelings, and physical health. Through creating a Soul-Light Globe Lamp, children and adults can engage in an exploration of our inner light, where it comes from, and how to keep our outer coverings (koshas) clear. (click here for Soul-Light Globe Lamp instructions) -AND- (click here for Shrinky Dink templates)
Yoga as Balance: Experience Your True Nature - When we are in balance, life flows smoothly and freely. When we are out of balance, we get stuck! This Balancing Frog project helps children explore creating balance through equalizing weight on the different frog limbs, just like we balance our lives through caring for our body, mind, energy and spirit. (click here for Balancing Frog template)
Catching an Affirmation - Children can share the power of affirmations with their friends through creating this captivating Affirmation Catcher. (click here for Affirmation Catcher instructions)
A Playful Exercise for Mindfulness - A Playful Exercise for Mindfulness In life, we are frequently engaged in more than one activity at a time. This simple Balloon Experiment explores how relaxing and rewarding doing one thing at a time can be.
Look Within Maze: An Exploration of the Koshas - The map to the inner Self is given in the Koshas, or Coverings of the Soul. Children can explore that map by creating a Look Withn Maze, playing it over and over again, and winding their way through the outer coverings to reach the Self. (click here for Look Within Maze instructions)
SOAR with Nature - The glory of Life is all around us, but we frequently rush past. Through Stopping, Opening ourselves up to nature, Allowing our sense of wonderment to return, and Resting in the divine all around us and within ourselves, we can reclaim our experience of that glory
Experiencing our Breath - Our breath can be a mighty tool for calming ourselves down and controlling our energy, when used consciously. Creating and using a Breath Spring gives a tactile experience of breathing slowly and deeply.
Hidden Connection: Realizing our Unity with All - Invisible threads connect us to all of life and to each other. What one person does affects another. What we do to the environment comes back to us again. This simple string exercise helps us to visualize the hidden connections.
"I Am" Affirmations Project for Children - Affirmations are powerful techniques for calling forth our highest qualities from within. This fun Affirmation Booklet project introduces children to affirmations, and allows them to affirm their own goodness every time they read it!
The Light Within - Our soul light deep within us shines brightly like the sun, but the clouds of our thoughts, feelings and experiences can cover the brightness up. All of these “clouds” are temporary, and will blow away. Through focusing on the light within, we can continually feel the warmth and light of the soul, no matter what clouds are breezing through. This fun pop-up art project helps children explore these simple concepts.
Parents are their Child's First Teacher - We teach our children compassion through communicating compassionately with them. Using specific communication skills we can help our children build their own self-control and increase their spiritual awareness.
Teaching Truthfulness to Children - Truthful living is the authentic expression of who we are. As parents, we can encourage our children to embrace truthfullness through modeling truthfulness ourselves, creating a safe environment where children can practice telling the truth, and sharing the practice of meditation so that our children can clear their minds and know the truth.
Ahimsa Practice for Children - Conflicts arise everyday, even for children! We can share a simple strategy with children for resolving conflicts peacefully by reading a children’s book, and discussing the conflict with the simple problem resolution formula: state the problem, share your feelings, state the other person’s feelings, brainstorm ideas, and pick the best one!
Parenting with Spiritual Awareness - How we show up in the world is the model that our children learn from. We can use the yamas and niyamas to guide our own thoughts and behaviors, increasing our own spiritual awareness and supporting our children in experiencing the Divine in all.
Meditating with Your Child - This simple Chime Meditation focuses our attention on one object (the sound of the chime) so that the mind can naturally settle itself. This is easy to do even with young children.
Meditation Mind Jars - The Mind Jar is a model for what happens to our thoughts and feelings within our mind; sometimes they are wild and fast moving, sometimes slow and gentle. Watching the glitter settle down to the bottom helps us to experience our own thoughts and feelings settling down, so that we can see and think clearly, and so we can experience the Divine within ourselves and all around us.
