The Potential Benefits of Mindfulness Training in Early Childhood

Early childhood is a time of substantial development in kids' self‐regulatory skills supporting school readiness and socioemotional competence. Evidence from developmental social cognitive neuroscience suggests that these skills develop as a function of changes in a dynamic interaction between more top‐down (controlled) regulatory processes and more bottom‐up (automatic) influences on behavior. Mindfulness training—using age‐appropriate activities to exercise children's reflection on their moment‐to‐moment experiences—may support the development of self‐regulation.