Steaming pots are set, dainty napkins rest next to glazed hand-pinched cups, and garden-collected flowers adorn tables under a fragrant spring tree. This is the work of a crowd of tittering 5-year-olds as they prepare to school their adult loved ones in the elusive pursuit of mindfulness.

“We work with values here,” said Marcela Caceres, founder of the Bright Start Childhood Development Center, of the six months her students have been preparing for this meditative tea celebration. “The children were very present throughout the entire project.”