The Breathing Brush

Sitting down, children hold an imaginary paintbrush that paints in time with their breathing: it rises as they breathe in and falls as they breathe out, drawing mountains, waves, and a sun. They practice breath control and calming down.

How to play

1. Sitting cross-legged, we pick up an imaginary brush and dip it into a jar of very soft paint (1 min).
2. We breathe in through our noses and the brush rises slowly; we breathe out through our mouths and the brush comes down: we're painting mountains in the air (1 min).
3. Now we paint ocean waves: the arm moves side to side as we breathe out very slowly, like the wind (1 min).
4. We draw a big sun: breathing in, we make the circle, and breathing out, we paint the rays one by one (1 min).
5. We put the brush down, place our hands on our bellies, and feel them rise and fall on their own (1 min).

Rules

• The brush moves as slowly as the air.
• Breathe in through your nose.
• Paint quietly so you can hear your breathing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: if they can't move their arm, the imaginary brush is on their nose and they draw by moving their head.
• Autism: draw the three shapes on a whiteboard first and point to the current one.
• Hearing loss: the teacher faces the child and shows the rhythm with an open hand rising and falling.

Learning goals

• Coordinate movement with breathing.
• Breathe slowly and deeply.
• Calm down at the end of the session.

Teacher tip

Don't just say "Take a deep breath"; the brush makes it make sense. A common mistake is lifting the shoulders on the in-breath, so help them notice their bellies instead.

More activities like this

More cool-downs for Elementary