Hoberman Square: Mindfulness Ball Breaths
- Nov 8, 2018
- 1 min read
Whenever we at Fablefy, teach kids mindfulness, whether it’s at school or at home, it helps to turn the lesson into a fun activity — through play, movement, visualization, and games.
One of our favorite toys for teaching basic breath awareness is the Hoberman sphere, a geodesic dome that can be folded and unfolded.
We call this tool the breath ball because we can mimic the movements of breathing through the dome’s movements: as the dome folds inward, we imagine the out-breath contracting; as the dome expands, we imagine the lungs expanding on the in-breath.
In the above video we just create images of the hoberman square with music from bensong.com to allow you to breath with the visuals and imagery.
For you class you can even use the script:
1) First, place your hand on your belly. Ask them to breath gently with the eyes closed.
2) Then ask your children to guess whats in the bag which contains the geodesic ball. They may guess something random and as you reveal the ball tell them how magical the ball is.
3) Ask them what in the body does the movement of the ball remind them of.
4) And as they guess, ask them to settle their breathing into a similar pattern. They may even guess the name for the ball. Example a breath sphere, a breathing orb or a mindfulness sphere
Whatever it is, make it fun and make it magical because breathing is magical and brings you back to yourself.
I love how you turn breathing into something playful instead of making it feel like a strict exercise. When I was overwhelmed in school, I remember being so stressed that I even considered whether to pay someone to do my online exams, which showed me how far from calm I had drifted. Simple tools like the Hoberman sphere would have helped me reset. Making mindfulness magical really helps kids connect with it naturally.
I read the post about using a Hoberman breathing ball to make mindfulness fun and how watching it fold and open can help you breathe in and out slowly and with focus . I remember a stressful night before exams when I used law editing services for university students to fix my paper and it helped me calm down and feel more ready to finish, so I get how simple tools can really ease a tough moment. It reminds me that little supports really help us feel calmer and more confident.