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Feeling big emotions is perfectly healthy. However, for young children, this can be scary because they feel and are out of control. This play, inspired by Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, will give you new ideas for how to be brave even in the face of big challenges.

Bravery Breathing

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Bravery Breathing

Image of a young child reaching her arm and hand out in front of her with palm and fingers stretched. She is facing the camera looking brave and ready to try these out these social-emotional learning ideas and breathing techniques.

Ready

  • Hands    
  • A willingness to try something new
Image of a mother and child looking lovingly at a stuffed animal while snuggling on a bed. This is a suggested set-up for families to establish a safe foundation for social-emotional learning ideas.

Set

  • Find a safe place to experiment with these techniques before big feelings arise so that they become practiced tools that you can pull out of your “toolbox” the next time you need them.

Play!

  • BREATHING HANDS: Use your index finger, on one hand, to trace the fingers on your other hand as you breathe in and out. Let’s try it together!
  • SHARK BREATH: Use one hand, your face, and your breath to voice the word ‘shhh’ as you try this breathing technique. Let’s try it together!
Image of a young child looking upwards in his room practicing a social-emotional strategy: Balloon breathing.
  • BALLOON BREATHING: Use your breath and your imagination to blow up a pretend balloon and watch it rise into the sky.

Why Play This Way?

Empowering your child to independently calm themselves will make being brave during scary moments a whole lot easier for all of you. If you enjoyed these techniques and find that they bring you peace of mind, work them into your daily routine. Developing strategies that can be accessed during times of stress or anxiety is like adding a powerful tool to your little one’s social-emotional toolbox. These three techniques are simple, easy to use, and can help refocus the mind and calm the heart.  

Discover the book that
inspired this play

Read While You Play & Play While You Read

Image of suggested book cover: Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall. This is an amazing book about bravery to be used in conjunction with these social-emotional learning ideas.

“Jabari Jumps” by Gaia Cornwall

Book Summary

Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He’s finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test. Plus, he’s a great jumper, so he’s not scared at all. “Looks easy,” says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back. In a sweetly appealing tale of overcoming your fears, Gaia Cornwall captures a moment between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can’t help but root for.

Why We Love It

Jabari Jumps is a story about bravery in the face of fear, a topic we feel is extremely important and therapeutic for young children to explore. This book is a profound treatise on love and patience and also on the starring role of kindness in overcoming fear even in the scariest of times.

Learn & Play with

“Jabari Jumps” by Gaia Cornwall

Extension Activities

Choose your own adventure! Select any of the extension activities or resources below and see where your play takes you next. They are all inspired by the featured book to invite deeper connections to stories through play. 

Don’t have the book? No worries! All of our activities can be enjoyed with or without a book in hand.

Button Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Jump into the Unknown; Try something new
Button for: Phonics Fun (Play more with Letter J)
Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Spotify Playlist featuring songs that start with J
Button for Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Act is out to Own it (Dramatic Play)
Button for: Learn the Letter J with PomPom
Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Related Books and Materials
Button Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Read Aloud Questions; Time for Book Club
Button for Social-emotional learning ideas: Alliterations; Say Silly Sounds

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more fun activities

Whoever said work isn’t fun?! These activities, inspired by Joan Heilbroner’s marvelous book “Robert the Rose Horse”, reinforce the notion that “Play is the work of childhood!” Explore countless opportunities to notice the important jobs and workers around you. Then, discover the ways that even the youngest among us can be workers too!

Get to Work!

Splish, Splash I’m not takin’ a bath…I’m just playing with water! These activities are designed to delight your little one with all the sensory fun of water while also delivering the soothing social and emotional benefits inherent in this type of play. Discover ways to play with water in all kinds of places and with unexpected materials.

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Make math time happy with these fun counting activities. #1: Create your own abacus. #2: Count and play all day! These activity ideas provide a playful introduction to counting and the many ways that we encounter and use math in everyday life.

Count on It

Roll on into fruit play! Have a blast experiencing fruit in new and hilarious ways that will get you moving and laughing. Get your muscles ready, but be prepared! These activities might make you hungry and ready to quickly transition from playing to eating!

Let the Fruit Times Roll

This game brings all the creative fun of printmaking to the sensory goodness of dough play and then adds a clever twist! You make the prints, and your friend guesses what you used to make them. But watch out…it’s simple to make a mark, but easy to be fooled when you are the guesser. When you’re done with the game, keep playing with The Dough Project’s super, all natural, dough.

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Feeling big emotions is perfectly healthy. However, for young children, this can be scary because they feel and are out of control. This play, inspired by Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, will give you new ideas for how to be brave even in the face of big challenges.

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