When you take a deep breath in and out, you are giving yourself a wonderful gift! A mindful breathing stick is helpful when you want to feel relaxed and calm. Practicing conscious breathing helps when you feel overwhelmed, upset, or frustrated. A mindful breathing stick can help guide young kids through the process of learning and adopting breathing techniques. Keep reading for an easy DIY activity learning how to make and use DIY breathing sticks with your kids.
For more creative ideas, take advantage of our free printable below!
The Benefits of a Mindful Breathing Stick
Deep breathing is an essential tool for maintaining mental well-being. It’s a natural and easy way to lower stress and calm anxiety. However, putting the practice of deep breathing to regular use can be challenging, especially when teaching the technique to kids. Using a visual tool like a mindful breathing stick can help younger kids simplify the process. Making the stick is also an excellent opportunity to have a conversation about why learning to manage stress and anxiety is essential for your health.
When to Start Teaching Kids Mindful Breathing
It’s never too early to teach your kids about mindfulness and introduce calming techniques. You can even use mindful breathing successfully with babies. The earlier you start adopting healthy habits that support mental well-being, the easier it will be for your kids to use these tools routinely as they grow.
Kindness Club Project: Mindful Breathing Stick
Now it’s time to get crafty! All you need are two simple items to create this project shared by second grade teacher and founder of the WISH Kindness Club, Adrien Murphy.
Materials needed:
- pipe cleaner
- 8 beads
How to make a mindful breathing stick:
- Step 1: Bend your pipe cleaner at the end so your beads don’t fall off.
- Step 2: String 6-8 beads on your pipe cleaner and bend the other side when you are done.
- Step 3: Gently slide one bead to the opposite end of the stick as you inhale slowly and then exhale.
- Step 4: Repeat moving the beads and taking deep breaths until you have moved all of the beads from one end
to the other. - Step 5: Repeat until you feel calm and relaxed.
As a teacher at WISH Charter Community School Adrien Murphy adores teaching kindness and mindfulness in her classroom and social skills during her after school Kindness Club. Her dream is to inspire kindness in the world and to help schools and communities start Kindness Clubs. Follow WISH Kindness Club on Instagram for more info. And be sure to join our Facebook Community get more kindness projects.
Check out some other fun Kindness Projects:
Kindness Club Kidspiration: Thinking Cap & Wishing Crown
Kindness Project: Heart Bookmarks
Kindness Club Project: Goal Wands
Looking for more Kindness projects? Head to our Kindness Community on Local Anchor.
Want more ways to boost mental well-being? Studies show that giving back can actually make you happier. Download our free printable and receive dozens of ideas for kids’ activities and simple acts of kindness.
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