What is mirroring?
Mirroring is copying someone’s movements exactly, like you’re in a mirror.
Why is mirroring a good play activity for kids?
Mirroring is a great play activity because it can:
- improve children’s physical coordination and gross motor skills
- help kids build relationships and empathy for others
- give children the chance to work together
- let children experience taking the lead and following others.
What you need for a mirroring activity
All you need for a mirroring activity is 2 or more people. They can be an adult and a child, or they can be 2 children.
You can also do mirroring games in small or large groups with one person leading the movement for others.
How to do mirroring activities
- Stand facing each other.
- Choose one person to be the leader and one person to be the ‘mirror’. The leader does movements for the other person to copy. The mirror copies the leader’s movements exactly, as though they’re in a mirror.
- Don’t physically touch each other. Just watch each other closely and copy the movements.
- Take turns being the leader and the mirror.
The movements could be anything from whole-body movements to facial expressions. Try to make the movements slow and deliberate so the other person can keep up.
How to adapt mirroring activities to suit children with diverse abilities
Children who find eye contact difficult
- Focus on hands and arms instead of looking directly at faces.
- Do the movements side by side instead of facing each other.
- Mirror movements by using objects like a digger truck or toy animal.
Children with restricted mobility
- Move just arms or just legs.
- Try copying facial expressions and head movements.
Children with a lot of energy
- Try mirroring with the whole body.
- Use big movements like jumping, swaying arms, stretching, crouching or shaking.
You can get more ideas for adapting this activity from our articles on play and autistic children and play and children with disability. You might also like to explore our other activity guides. They can all be adapted to suit children with diverse strengths and abilities.