Breathing & Relaxing Exercises for Kids

Types of Breathing

• Liz Bragdon, certified yoga instructor, suggests using four styles of breathing for children and finding which ones work best with your child for each type of circumstance. The types of breathing are flower breath, hissing breath, bear breath and bunny breath. These names are given in a way that a child can easily understand how you want them to breathe. The flower breath is done as though the child is smelling a flower. Hissing breath is done like a snake. The child will breathe in through the nose and then out with the mouth making a hissing snake sound. Bear breath is the gruff huffing that bears sometimes make. The child will breathe in through the nose and exhale through the nose with strong pressure. They will pause and then exhale again and so on until the breath is gone. Bunny breath is tiny little sniffles of air through the nose. Sniff, sniff, sniff and exhale.

Using Props

• If you are having a hard time getting the child to participate in the breathing activities, try using props that require the use of smell. Scratch-and-sniff stickers can be used to encourage taking deep breaths. Essential oils or any item with a strong pleasant scent can be used. Place the object in front of the child and then instruct them on how you want them to breath using any of the four breathing styles outlined.

Breathing Games

• According to the website Kid's Relaxation, use a variety of breathing games to engage the child. One game is called "I'm a Little Steam Engine." In this game, the child will pretend to be a steam engine train and you will see how much steam they can blow. Have the child breathe in deeply and exhale making a /sh/ sound. See how loud and long the child can make the sound. This will encourage deep breathing and long breath release. Another game suggestion is ocean breathing. In this exercise the child will make sounds of the ocean for 60 seconds. The ocean sound will promote rhythmic breathing for relaxation and calming.

Purpose Specific Techniques

• If a child has a specific fear that causes distress or uneasy feelings, create an atmosphere of calm with breathing exercises. One example is in-flight relaxation techniques. If the child has a fear of flying and is having anxiety during a flight, have her place her hand or an object on her tummy and move it up and down. Have her focus on the object and watch it as it moves. This will encourage patterned breathing and visual relaxation watching the item move slowly. This can be used in any setting where the child is experiencing fear.