Breathe and Blow

(Life Skill)

Our breath is the best tool we have to regulate, that is to calm ourselves. Certain fun idea uses our kiddo’s breath. By doing so we introducing our kiddo to a powerful life skill – to calm and self regulate.

We have used balloons and bubbles before. However we often use curled and cut paper most often for simple reasons: we have plenty of paper, easy to clean up and it could be used over and over again for many kind of activities.

We could use a tray but it is so much fun to do while laying down on the floor. What I did was giving her an example. I would say “breathe” and begin inhaling air into my lungs. Next, I would say “blow” and begin blowing away the paper cuts.

I would show her how to observe our own breath strength and control. We could see what happen if I blow the air “hard” or “gentle.”

Huff! Puff! Blow the air hard and the paper cuts would blown away abruptly everywhere

Huff! Puff! Blow the air gentle and most the paper cuts would just shaken a bit but barely moving

We could blow from side to the other side or simply blow paper cuts out of the tray. Just “breathe” and “blow. Y would follow along to breath in and blow out air side by side with me. The most important thing here is to associate breath with our activity.

She used to be the most impatient kiddo I know for waiting her boiling hot miso soup to be tame enough to be eaten. These days whenever she sees her soup and it’s still piping hot, she could understand me blowing some air to make it less hot. She kept on staring to her soup, yes, but no more drama related to it. Just breathe and let mummy blow. Eventually her favorite soup would be tame enough anyway.

#breathe #toddler #blow #paper