Triangle Breathing

Sitting or lying down, children trace the sides of a triangle and a square in the air with a finger, breathing in along one side, holding along another and breathing out along the last. It builds calm breathing and remembering shapes and their sides.

How to play

1. Sitting in a circle, the teacher shows the triangle card and we trace its three sides with a finger, very slowly (1 min).
2. Up the first side we breathe in through the nose, down the second we let it out like a deflating balloon, and along the third we rest (1 min).
3. We repeat three triangles drawn in the air with a finger, eyes open or closed (1 min).
4. We try the square: four sides, four counts (breathe in, hold, breathe out, rest) (1 min).
5. We lie down and draw a very slow circle on our tummy with a hand, with no corners, like a cloud (1 min).

Rules

• Your finger moves slowly, like a snail.
• Air comes in through your nose and out through your mouth.
• We stay quiet so we can hear our breathing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Child with limited mobility: traces the shape with their eyes or with a finger on their leg.
• Blind or low-vision child: traces a cardboard shape with a raised edge (glued yarn).
• Autistic child: a fixed card in front of them with the shape and an arrow marking where to start.

Learning goals

• Breathe slowly to a rhythm.
• Remember the shape and number of sides of a triangle and a square.
• Calm down at the end of the session.

Equipment for a class of 25

• tarjetas de formas: 3

Teacher tip

Count the beats softly at first (one, two, three), then stop counting aloud. Many kids blow out all at once: show them how to blow like making a candle flicker without putting it out.

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