LESSON 3: Breathing NASPE Standards: 2, 4, 5

Grades: Pre K - K
Equipment: Yoga mats, respiratory system visuals

Theme Breathing

Concept How does breathing work?

Time In (Breathing) Feeling Breath / Sounding Breath

1-3 minutes
Talk to your students about how they can feel and hear their breath

Discussion Ask students why we breathe. Show respiratory system visuals and point out the
3-5 minutes nose, mouth, airways, and lungs. Describe breathing in simple terms: we absorb
oxygen when we breathe in and we release carbon dioxide when we breathe out.
Explain that when we breathe, we feed our body with oxygen—the fuel we need to
survive.

Warm-Up Balloon Deflates

5 minutes
Vary the speed of “inflating” and “deflating” while making sure students do not
breathe in so fast that they hyperventilate.

Yoga Postures Mountain, Star, Folding Star, Crescent Lunge, Dragon, Lying Twist
15-20 minutes
During yoga poses, coach students to breathe deeply and notice if it feels
different whether they are standing tall, twisting, or folding forward. In Dragon Pose,
have students practice Dragon Breath.

Yoga Story Idea: Stargazing

Imagine you are on a high mountain, where the sky is very clear. You see lots of
stars twinkling and a crescent moon. You see a dragon in the stars and, as the
stars twinkle, the dragon twists and turns. You’re getting sleepy now, so you lay
down, stretch/twist, and fall asleep.

Partner Work Tree

5-10 minutes

Relaxation Guiding Star

3-5 minutes

Project/
Homework/ Teacher Observation: Students show Feeling Breath
Assessment
3-5 minutes