SEL lesson: “My Magic Breath."

I recently discovered a parenting hack while out at “Five Guys” with my kids. This "hack" has now become my go-to... cause waiting for food with hangry children is never fun. Parents can foresee the train-wrecks and meltdowns coming from miles away cause kids are ticking timebombs. I was "that" parent the other day, praying that the food comes before my kids go off.

By this point, we have already passed the “calm down,” “relax,” and “breathe” stages. None of that was gonna work. The “Five Guys” receipt saved the day (and my sanity). We used it to play a team game. The object of the game was to pass the receipt to each other by blowing on it, without using hands, only deep breaths. Another rule was that the receipt couldn’t fall off the table, which meant the breaths had to be controlled. And the kids fell for it. Ha.

Distracted ✔️Regulated ✔️ Engaged ✔️ Mom's Sanity✔️

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This is how the idea for this activity came about. Most recently, I presented a 20 minute interactive lesson to the 5 year old Pre-K students. We read "My Magic Breath" which focused on processing emotions, practicing breathing and mindfulness. This lesson is most appropriate for lower elementary grade levels but can easily be adapted for older ages. It can also serve as a school-wide Tier I intervention and promote mental wellness. This post is also geared towards counselors teaching SEL lessons in the classrooms. Cause classroom management and the ankle-biters can be scary :)

About the book:

The picture book guides children through deep breathing, visualization and mindfulness. It is ideal for SEL classroom lessons as well as whole-school interventions. Readers are guided through meditation by taking deep “magic” breaths, visualizing the happy thoughts, breathing them out, smiling, visualizing the sad thoughts and breathing them out with their “magic breath.”

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Before the lesson:

Building rapport before the lesson establishes safety and trust. Showing interest, engaging with the kids and having unconditional positive regard for every child in the room creates a connection with each student and makes them feel seen. It creates a sense of belonging. A kid that feels seen, heard, and respected will work a million times harder for their teacher and try to be on their best behavior. Deciding where & if you sit/stand can also directly impact the class engagement and participation.

Set the expectations and the kids will meet them. “I’ve heard you guys are the best class in this whole school! Your teacher says such amazing things about her students and you already look like great listeners. This is a really great story and you’re going to love it! We’re going to do something super fun and I need all of your eyes up here. We can only have one person speaking at a time. If you interrupt and I hear your beautiful voice, we’ll have to pause to answer your question and then we’ll forget the story." Natural consequences.

Hook ‘em: “This book is about magic. I’ve heard that this class knows magic tricks.” Each child shares their special magic trick (be prepared to hear them all, they have wild imaginations and they're convinced we believe them).

Grounding: After they have shared out, present a grounding exercise before reading. Students place their hand over their heart to listen/feel for their heart beat. The quiet and stillness in the room helps the kids regulate themselves and prepare for the lesson. Surprisingly, they all get quiet and try to find their little hearts.

Chunk the book: Do not attempt to read the entire book straight through. These little people have attention spans of fruit flies. Once you lose one, you lose them all. If the kids aren’t engaged, prepare for mutiny. Chunking the lesson improves their engagement, builds rapport and allows room for processing.The lesson becomes interactive and "comes to life." It also makes it easier to remember and implement IRL.

I divided the lesson into 5 parts: 1. Hook

Share your magic trick

Grounding exercise

2. When to use the magic breath

Discuss emotions

3. Visualizing the happy things during the day

Share out*

Breathing practice

4. Visualizing the sad things during the day

Share out

Breathing practice

5. Interactive Post-It breathing practice

The class used a post-it to practice their magic. They held the post-it and attempted to make it move by using deep breaths. The post-it confirmed that they indeed had the real magic. If they wanted a challenge, they could stick the post-it to their fingertip & try blowing it off by using extra deep breaths. The cutest part? The post-it became their prized possession that they all had to take home.

Future Implementation: Up next… a team game where players make goals by blowing ping pong balls off the table into laundry baskets. Coping skills need to be practiced and reinforced in order to be successful. I hope to visit my Pre-K buddies again, help them practice and apply their special magic in everyday life.