Breathing Exercises for Kids that are FUN!
Are you looking for children to practice deep breathing? Deep breathing exercises can be an excellent stress management technique for children. In addition, it is an important step to improving core muscle strength. Here are some breathing exercises for kids that are FUN!
Blow air to spin a pinwheel.
Blow regular bubbles.
Head outdoors and use different household items to blow bubbles. Watch the video below for ideas.
Put a straw into a cup with a little water and dish soap. Blow bubbles! Remind them not to breath in though!
Good old fashioned “spit balls” – grab a straw, using your thumb and index finger wad up a small piece of paper, get it wet in your mouth, stick it in the end of the straw, take a deep breath in, put the straw in your mouth and blow the “spit ball” at a target.
Pom Pom Races – use a straw to blow pom poms across the table or the floor to a finish line.
Art Projects- use a straw to blow paint across the paper. Check out this Frozen themed idea.
Make a snowstorm or rainstorm in a bag. Maybe a party in a bag with confetti.
Party blowers!!!! Yeah for kids – not so much for adults… Same can be said for whistles but it does help with deep breathing.
Birthday Party Play Dough – put birthday candles in a play dough birthday cake and pretend to blow the candles out.
Give each child a feather and a straw or just use your mouth. Can you keep the feather up in the air?
Use a straw to pick up small objects to move somewhere else. For example, put small pieces of colored paper on the table. Have a piece of paper with a large cupcake drawn on it and glue on the top of the cupcake. The child puts a straw in his/her mouth, sucks up the small piece of paper and transfers it onto the large cupcake for sprinkles.
Pretend to be a fire breathing dragon. Tape strips of orange and yellow tissue paper to end of a large milkshake straw and blow.
Use a “breathing ball” to demonstrate and learn how long to inhale and exhale. A “breathing ball” is a ball that opens and closes i.e. Hoberman sphere ball.
10 Benefits of Deep Breathing Exercises for Kids
- Decreases stress.
- Reduces anxiety.
- Helps you to remain calm.
- Strengthens sustained attention.
- Sharpens the ability to focus and learn.
- Slows the heart rate.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Helps to control your emotions.
- Promotes appropriate social behaviors.
- Encourages happiness.
Additional Resources for Deep Breathing Exercises for Kids
Children will be able to master certain deep breathing techniques better than others. Teach various deep breathing exercises to children so they can determine which ones are most beneficial.
Give it a try with this FREE Bumble Bee Breathing Break. Download your FREE breathing break here (a tab will open in a new window). This is from the Breathing Breaks complete packet.
Bumble Bee Breathing and all the Breathing Breaks are a great activity to teach children to help them to tune out stress, to relax and to get the mind ready to learn. Here are some suggested times throughout the day to try Bumble Bee Breathing with children:
- Before the school day begins.
- After recess to help calm the class.
- After a brain break.
- Following a kinesthetic lesson.
- After lunch.
- Before a test.
Give the children some time to learn how to do the bumble bee breathing. Make sure they understand the benefits to the exercise and try and keep it serious. Children can get silly easily so remind them to stay focused and mindful on their own breathing.
Check out the complete Breathing Breaks packet.
Breathing Breaks: This digital download is a collection of 16 deep breathing exercises and 3 tip sheets. Deep breathing exercises can help to decrease stress, reduce anxiety, remain calm, strengthen sustained attention, sharpen the ability to learn and more! This packet includes 16 full page breathing exercises and 3 tips sheets in color or black and white. In addition, the breathing exercises are provided 4 to a page to make smaller cards or booklets. FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.
If you need more calming activities check out:
Calming Strategies for the Classroom
Yoga in the Classroom Bundle – includes deep breathing exercises
