Introduction

Teaching young children how to cope with their emotions is an essential part of their development. In this blog post, we will explore two animal breathing techniques that can help PreK students calm down when they are feeling upset or overwhelmed. These techniques, called Lion Breathing and Cat Breathing, are simple, fun, and engaging ways to incorporate Social-Emotional Learning in your classroom or home environment.

No-Prep Activity

One of the best aspects of these animal breathing techniques is that they require no preparation or materials from the educator. Here’s a step-by-step guide to a different no-prep animal breathing activity called Elephant Breathing:

1. Ask the children to stand up and spread out, giving each child enough space to move around.
2. Instruct them to bend at the waist and let their arms hang down in front of them like an elephant’s trunk.
3. Encourage the children to take a deep breath in through their nose while raising their “trunk” up towards the ceiling.
4. As they exhale, have them lower their trunk back down, making a gentle “whooshing” sound as if they are spraying water from their trunk.
5. Repeat this process 3-5 times, allowing the children to become more relaxed and focused with each breath.

Discussion Questions

After practicing the animal breathing exercises, engage your students in a discussion to help them understand the benefits of these techniques. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

• How did you feel before and after practicing the animal breathing exercises?
• Which animal breathing technique did you enjoy the most and why?
• How can these breathing exercises help you when you’re feeling upset or overwhelmed?
• When might be a good time to practice these techniques during your day?
• Can you think of any other animals that could inspire a calming breathing exercise?

Related Skills

Practicing animal breathing exercises can help develop a variety of related skills in young children. Some of these skills include:

• Self-regulation
• Focus and attention
• Body awareness
• Imagination and creativity
• Stress management

Next Steps

Now that you’ve learned about these animal breathing techniques, we encourage you to explore more resources and activities to support Social-Emotional Learning in your PreK classroom. To get started, sign up for free samples of the discussed skill and others at Everyday Speech. These materials can help you create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for your students, fostering their emotional well-being and overall development.