The first of eight lessons introduces learners to Breath Awareness—an exercise that brings focus and thoughtfulness through breathing before engaging in other activities.

Scholars calm their minds and bodies with a 5-5-5 breathing exercise. Learners breathe in for five seconds, out for five seconds, then wait five seconds to start again. The exercise takes one minute to complete. 

Instill the importance of mindfulness with six breathing exercises. Scholars trace shapes using their fingers, following arrows that tell them when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Exercises increase by counts of breath in and out.

A pinwheel encourages deep breathing to calm one's body and recenter their thoughts. Scholars breathe into a personal pinwheel with different types of breathing patterns then answer a question about how they feel. 

Take a deep breath and have your class construct working models of a lung! Using 500ml plastic bottles as the chest cavity, and balloons for the lung and the diaphragm, learners work in groups to make a model. The models help them to...

Feeling stressed, angry, or nervous? It's time to practice the exercise detailed in Deep Breathe to breathe your cares away. The activity brings the focus back to one's self and identifies the importance of...

Mindful breathing or belly breathing is the basis for most mindfulness exercises. Introduce mindfulness practices with a short exercise in breath awareness designed to reduce stress and increase awareness.

Ten minutes are all you need for a breathing exercise designed to bring calm and focus. Young scholars get their wiggles out, then shift their gaze and belly breath, paying close attention to how they physically feel.

With a partner, youngsters measure their pulse and breathing rates, both at rest and after running in place for a minute. While this activity is not novel, the lesson plan includes a large-scale classroom graphing activity and other...

Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure is the core text in a interdisciplinary unit study of immigration at the turn of the century.

The 1960s were a pivotal time for many Americans who had long been discriminated against. Scholars read a document addressed to President Kennedy in support of LGBTQ+ rights and why they are essential. The activity includes group...

Respond rather than react! A self-management exercise teaches pupils a Mindful S.T.O.P. activity. Participants Stop their thoughts or actions, Take deep breaths, Observe how they are feeling, then Proceed with a response that will help...

Life science learners construct lung-o-meters from gallon-sized milk jugs and then measure their lung capacities. For older students, have them graph the vital lung capacities of each person in the class. Cross-curricular pieces are...

Elementary schoolers play a respiratory relay toss in order to take in the respiratory system! They also create their own question cards based on several kid-friendly online articles about breathing and the health of the lungs. They use...

Breathe life into a reading of the children's story Clever Jack Takes the Cake with this Reader's Theater script. Offering speaking roles for nine students plus a sound effects chorus, this is a great activity that engages the whole...

Breath life into the pages of a text with this instructional video on creating pop-up books. From choosing a topic, through the planning and creation phases, this video examines how to develop engaging visual...

Breath new life into your class's study of dinosaurs with this extensive collection of materials. Offering everything from a printable T-rex mask, word searches, and connect-the-dots activities to informational handouts, hands-on...

Working together isn't as easy as it looks! Small groups of classmates try to keep a balloon in the air using only a straw, their breath, and team communication.

You've probably heard of solar-powered cars, but what about wind-powered cars? Scholars build cars that can travel at least six feet. They can only use their breath to move the car—so, obviously, a sail might be a good feature for the...

Mint candies are good for more than just one's breath. Using basic materials such as mint candies, straws, index cards, and Popsicle sticks, scholars create race cars that meet a given budget as well as design constraints. They perform...

Let it go! As part of the Mindfulness series, pupils learn a technique to manage stress and strong emotions. While doing the deep breathing exercise, they imagine a train of stressful thoughts, take a step back, and let the train pass.

Following a breathing exercise, scholars examine facial expressions and body posture to identify feelings. The exercise ends with a reflection.

Encourage scholars to build self-confidence by thinking positively. Learners focus on breathing and then think of positive statements about themselves, their relationships, appearance, physical health, and so much more. 

Strong emotions may arise at anytime and any where. This activity boosts self-awareness and management for when young learners require assistance with their feelings. Tips include: remaining calm, breathing, explaining how they feel, and...