Just take a deep breath.
You’ve probably heard it before, or even instructed your students to try it when things start to get out of control. Inhale, exhale, relax.
Breathing exercises can be helpful to cool the body back down after an exciting game, diffuse tension after a conflict, or just recharge and refocus. To make this cooldown tool more fun for kids, try out these 10 creative breathing exercises.
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Hot Chocolate Breath:
Hold the imaginary mug in front of your nose and take a deep breath in, smelling the delicious hot chocolate. Then breathe out and blow on it to cool it down.
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Smell Flowers/Blow Dandelions:
Grasp your hands together just below your face as if you’re holding a bouquet of flowers. Take a deep breath as if to inhale the beautiful scent of the flowers. Exhale and blow out the air as though you were blowing the little wispy seeds off of a dandelion.
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Five Finger Breathing:
Hold one hand out in front of you with your fingers spread apart. With your pointer finger from the other hand, start at the base of your thumb and trace along the edge of your hand. Inhale as your finger traces upward, and exhale as your finger traces down between fingers.
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Lava Breath/Volcano Breath:
Start by putting your hands together, and sending them straight up like lava flowing up a volcano. Once they are fully overhead, release your hands and let them spread out wide, falling slowly back down to your sides as the lava erupts out of the volcano.
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Birthday Cake Breath:
Pretend to hold a platter with a tasty, multi-tier birthday cake. Breathe in and smell the cake, then breathe out to blow out the candles.
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Whale Breath:
Take a deep breath in, and then as you exhale, tilt your head up and blow out like a whale spraying water out of a spout.
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Bumblebee Breath:
Open your mouth wide to take a deep breath in then gently put your teeth together and breathe out slowly making a gentle buzzing sounding like a bumblebee.
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Balloon Breath:
As you inhale, lift your arms above your head as if to inflate the balloon, and lower your arms to deflate the balloon.
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Bunny Breath:
Take three quick breaths through the nose as if you’re hopping along, then release one long exhale through the mouth.
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Snake Breath:
After taking a deep inhale, pretend you are a snake and exhale slowly through the mouth with a soft hissing sound.
Do you have other ideas for creative breathing exercises or want to share these in action? Share them with us on Twitter.
