Breath

Sensory integration

﻿Hi, my name is Anele and I'm one of the Occupational Therapists. In today's lesson, we are going to learn more about our interoceptive sense and we're specifically going to look at our lungs and how we breathe. So for this lesson, you are going to need some bubbles and you may also want to get a balloon. So get all of these things ready and then press play once you've got them all together. We as therapists have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. Each lesson will have ideas and activities that can be carried out at home or in school. This information is to be used alongside any specific strategies or resources which have been given by your child's school or therapist. If you have any questions or would like help tailoring this to your child's needs, then please contact your local therapy service. Our lungs are part of interoceptive sense. So our inside-my-body sense really helps us to stay safe. It keeps us alive. It keeps us healthy. It helps us to understand our feelings and it helps us with decision making, with playing, with learning and with being independent. And let's have a look at our lungs and find out some fun facts about it. You have two lungs. They are in your chest. They help you to breathe. So what happens is they inhale breath, that kind of air from outside, and then our bodies use the oxygen from the air as fuel, and then we exhale carbon dioxide. So let's quickly practise that together. So when we breathe in, we are breathing in air. And now our lungs are busy working out and they are sorting out the oxygen from the carbon dioxide, and when we breathe out, a lot of it is carbon dioxide. So these are two gases that are released, but the oxygen is really important because that helps to keep us alive. Well, let's pause the video here and let's do a quick activity together. You are going to do some balloon or some bubble blowing, so ask your parent or carer to help you blow up a balloon or blow some bubbles, and can you see what happens to your chest when you breathe in and out,? Have a chat with your parent or carer and see if you can work out what happens. Once you've done it, press play and we will carry on with this lesson. So our lungs are really amazing, and I'm sure that you've just seen how your chest will expand and then deflate as you breathe, especially when you take a deep breath in and out . When we exercise, our breath can become a little bit quicker, but when we go to bed, usually our breathing becomes slower and deeper. When you're scared or angry or really worried, our breathing often also becomes faster. But there's something really interesting. You can slow down your breathing and then that helps you to become calm and not worried so much anymore. So you can do something when you are feeling stressed and worried, or really angry by just changing the way that you breathe. So we're going to do an activity together, now. You're going to pause the video to complete this and ask your parent or carer to come and join you. So, first of all, clear a space and then lie down on your back. Now, take a slow, deep breath to fill your tummy up with air as if you're trying to kind of blow up that big balloon. Expand your belly as much as you can. Now slowly let the air out of the balloon , as you release the breath from your tummy, so as you breathe out. We're going to do it one more time, and now we're going to use some counting. So we're going to breathe in two, three, four. We're going to hold it, two, three. Now we're going to blow out, breathe out, two, three, four, five. Now it's going to be your go, so have a go with your parent or carer and see if you can do this activity by taking two deep breaths in and out. And once you've done that press play and we will carry on with the lesson. Well done! that was amazing. You have learned today how you can make a difference to feeling worried and stressed and even angry so just by changing the way that you breathe. And I hope you've enjoyed this lesson about the lungs today. Have a great day.

Breath

Breath

These resources were made for remote use during the pandemic, not classroom teaching.

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