30 Questions to Promote Mindfulness

Mindfulness doesn’t need to be complicated. Bring an object to your classroom — it can be anything such as a plant, a photograph, or even a paperclip. Then, put up a chart paper in your classroom and start asking questions to build presence, focus, and new awareness.

Attention-Focusing Questions

1. Have you seen ______ before?

2. What do you notice about ______? (invite full inquiry into the five senses)

3. Can you explain what ______ is for or how it works?

4. If you had to explain ______ to someone else so that they could draw a sketch of it, what would you say?

5. What is the purpose of ______?

Measuring and Counting Questions
For many of these questions, if you can’t think of a number, think of something familiar that might be of scale. For example, “I think the tissue box weighs about the same as a loaf of bread.”)

1. How many ______ do you see?

2. How long is ______?

3. How much do you think ______ weighs?

4. How tall is ______?

5. How wide is ______?

Comparison Questions

1. How is ______ the same or different than other ______ you have seen?

2. What do you notice that is different between ______ and yourself?

3. What do you notice that is the same as ______ and yourself?

4. What could improve ______?

5. Why would you choose this ______ over another ______?

Cause and Effect Questions

1. What happens if I take ______ and (insert action, i.e. flip it upside down)?

2. What would happen if we put ______ in a time capsule and opened it after 10 years?

3. What action would make ______ more useful?

4. What action would break ______?

5. If you change ______, how does that change its purpose or use?

Problem-Solving Questions

1. Can you think of a different way to use ______?

2. If ______ was damaged and no longer able to fulfill its original purpose, how could it be repurposed?

3. If you could change one thing about ______ what would it be and why?

4. If ______ was damaged or broken, how could you fix it?

5. What could you use as a substitute for ______?

Reasoning Questions

1. Why would someone want ______?

2. Why would someone want to get rid of ______?

3. If you showed ______ to someone from 100 years ago, what would they think it was?

4. How does thinking carefully about ______ make you feel, and why?

5. What is one new thing you are aware of now that we have explored ______?