Smell the Flowers

Taking deep belly breaths is just one way to help children (and grown-ups) feel calm, any time and any place. There are many imaginative ways to encourage children to breathe deeply. You might pretend to blow up a big beach ball or imagine the rise and fall of their bellies as the rise and fall of ocean waves. You might also invite them to breathe in deeply through their noses to “smell” a flower, then blow out slowly through their mouths as if blowing the seeds off a dandelion.

This adult-child coloring sheet can help children and grown-ups relax, collaborate, bond, and talk together. Adults and kids can sit side by side in a quiet space with a surface. Kids color the Muppets, adults color the background (it’s okay to sit without talking and there’s no right or wrong way to color!). Display the completed page in a place visible to everyone, to remember the time they spent together…and to breathe deep.