Blue Light, Slow Breaths

With the room dimmed, the teacher projects a colored light on the ceiling, and each color asks for a different way to calm down: blue means slow breathing, green means stretching, yellow means hugging yourself. It practices breathing and relaxation with visual support.

How to play

1. Lying on your back with the blinds halfway down, the teacher shows the flashlight and its three cellophane “hats”: blue, green and yellow (1 min).
2. Blue light on the ceiling: it’s a calm sea; breathe slowly with your hands on your belly, rising and falling like a wave (1 min).
3. Green light: it’s grass; stretch out super long, arms over your head and toes reaching far (1 min).
4. Yellow light: it’s warm sunshine; hug yourself and rock gently (1 min).
5. The teacher changes colors more and more slowly, and we end with the blue light holding still for a good while (1 min).
6. The flashlight goes off, the blinds come up little by little, and we sit up slowly (1 min).

Rules

• Stay in your spot, lying down, not touching your neighbor.
• Do what the color asks, without talking.
• Get up only when the teacher says so.

Variations

Adaptations

• Autism or fear of the dark: don’t lower the blinds all the way, and let them lie next to an adult.
• Visual impairment: the teacher says the color softly and adds a gentle tap on the shoulder at each change.
• Limited mobility: do it seated or in the wheelchair; the green stretch is arms only.

Learning goals

• Calm down after activity.
• Breathe slowly from the belly.
• Link a color with a way to calm down.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Flashlight: 1
• Colored cellophane: 3
• Rubber bands: 3

Teacher tip

Prepare the flashlight ahead of time with the cellophane held on by a rubber band, and check that the color shows on the ceiling with the blinds halfway: you don’t need darkness. Rubber bands and flashlight always stay in adult hands.

More activities like this

More cool-downs for Elementary