As promised we are covering some of the fun and helpful mindful breathing exercises for kids in this post. If you have not read the precursor to this post where we had discussed about mindfulness in general and various options to practice, have a look.

One of the simplest and most effective forms of mindfulness is focused breathing. This involves paying close attention to the breath, observing each inhale and exhale. For children, this practice can be taught through fun visualizations like pretending to blow up a bubble or imagining the rise and fall of waves.

As per a study by Stanford researchers, a few deep and slow breaths for up to or around a minute can significantly reduce stress in young kids.

We will quickly state a few mindful breathing techniques here. Try them one by one with your kid and see what they like best. Once they like it, make it a part of their playtime or bedtime. Also tell them they can do this any time they feel stressed, anxious, angry or even simply bad. Remember to breathe in through the nose always. So here we go:

4-7-8 mindful breathing

This is probably a technique that has been there for ages. Get your kids to breathe in for a count of 4 second, hold it for 7 and breathe out for a count of 8 seconds. You must do this with them the first few times to help them get a hang of the timing. And yes repeat until you want to. While this one can be done by anyone, we have a few that will be more fun for smaller kids.

Bubble breathing

This is something we have explained in many of our earlier posts also. We also have a story on this one where a teacher helps an anxious kid by getting her to do bubble breathing.

What you can do here is get a small ball and ask the child to imagine that they are filling a bubble of that size with air. Breathe in together and breathe out. Then ask them to imagine a larger bubble (maybe the size of their head or yours) – again ask them to help fill the bubble with air – breathe in and out. Then imagine a larger bubble as big as them or you – again fill air by breathing in and then out. You can keep increasing the size of the bubble to fill the room, the block, and so on, until they seem relaxed, or ask you to stop. 😀

Blow candles

All kids love to blow candles. My kid blows candles for everyone’s birthday in our house. I am sure your story is no different either. So, the first few times maybe you can actually light one for them to make it interesting. Get them to breathe in deeply and breathe out through the mouth to blow it out. Later, you can get them to imagine more candles and get them to breathe deeper. Again, repeat as many times as they want.

Smell the flowers

Get your child to stand near a flower, pluck one or imagine one. Then get them to smell it. Tell them that the oxygen they release helps us and the carbon dioxide that we breathe out helps them make their food. So, ask them to take a deep breath in and leave a long breath out. Again, feel free to repeat as many times as they want.

Lemon squeeze

Ask your child to imagine that they have a lemon in each hand. As you breathe in squeeze your fists until all the juice in the imaginary lemon is fully squeezed out. And while breathing out, get them to open their fists and relax. Repeat this as many times as you like, or they do. Remember to do it with them the first few times, just like for any other practice.

Stuffed animal breathing

Get your child to lay on their back with they favorite stuffed animal on their tummy. Ask them to look at the rising animal as they breathe in and watch it lower as they breathe out. This will help them focus and make it more enjoyable as well.

Other animal breathing techniques

Bunny breathing is one that might turn out to be a favorite. Get them to breathe in thrice like a bunny and breathe out deeply. Get them to extend the exhale as they practice more. Snake breathing is for the hiss lovers. Get them to breathe in to a count of 3 seconds, hold for 1 and make a hissing noise while breathing out. If the hiss is more like a buzz you can call this bumblebee breathing. So these were some fun animal mindful breathing techniques for all the fun loving kiddos.

And Last but not the Least!

When they have a tough time, sit down with them in a safe space and get them to talk about it. Listen without being judgmental. Validate their feelings. Let them know that you understand how they feel, and it is ok to feel that way. Help them do their favorite mindful breathing technique to feel better. Also tell them that they should try doing the same when you are not around.

Let them know that if you are away when things go wrong, they can talk to some other trusted adult or wait until they are back with you to vent. Meanwhile they can try doing one of these techniques that you must have taught them. Make sure that you share this guidance with them, so they know that you have their back always.

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