Breathing & relaxation cards
Feeling wobbly? Let's find your calm.
Pick a card and the creatures will guide you, one slow step at a time. Keep the ones that help.
Helping a child right now?
- Get down to their level. Keep your own body and voice slow and quiet.
- Use very few words. "I'm here. Let's breathe together."
- Offer a choice of two or three, not the whole deck. Calm me now does this for you.
- Do the card with them. Children borrow our calm before they find their own.
- Talk about what happened later, once they're settled, not during.
How's the weather inside you?
Pick the one that feels closest and we'll suggest some cards.
Cards that help you
These are the cards you said made you feel much calmer.
Four ways to calm down
Everyone settles differently. If breathing isn't for you, try moving your body or using your senses.
For parents, carers and teachers: how to use the cards, breathing safely, and notes on SEND and inclusion.
Read the guideAll the cards
Tap a card and its guide will walk you through it.
Calm Kit
My Calm Plan
Which cards help when the weather inside changes? Practise them when you feel sunny, so they're easy to use in a storm.
For grown-ups
How to introduce the Calm Kit, and how to keep it safe and inclusive.
Getting started
- Let the child pick a card. Any family is fine.
- Try it together for about a minute. The guide on each card sets the pace.
- Ask: do you feel the same, a bit calmer, or much calmer? The app asks this too.
- Keep the cards that help. The others aren't wrong, just not right for now.
Practise when calm. A strategy learned on a sunny day is far easier to reach in a storm. My Calm Plan helps the child choose cards for each kind of inside weather.
Breathing safely
- Breathe gently. A slow breath is quiet, not big. Never force air in or hold it until it hurts.
- Holds are short: 3–4 seconds at most, and always optional. Younger children can skip holds altogether (Settings → Skip the holds).
- Keep to 3–5 rounds. More slow breathing is not better.
- Feeling dizzy or tingly means the breaths are too big or too fast. Stop, breathe normally, and try a Body or Senses card instead.
- For asthma, follow the asthma plan first. These cards are for calming down, not for treating breathlessness.
Inclusion
- Choice, not instruction: "try this if you'd like". Some children find being told to breathe, or noticing their body, more distressing, not less.
- Interoception: autistic children and others may find it hard to notice heartbeat, tummy or breath. Body and Senses cards work from the outside in. Offer those first.
- Sensory needs: Wall Push, Butterfly Hug and Shake It Out give proprioceptive and rhythmic input. Bumblebee Hum gives vibration. These are good for children who need to move.
- ADHD: short, physical, countable cards (Five-Finger Breathing, Shake It Out, Colour Hunt) usually land better than long stillness.
- Trauma-aware: eyes open is always fine. No card requires closing your eyes, lying down or being touched. Safe Place means a place that feels safe to the child, real or made up.
- Reading load: every card front is 15 words or fewer, and the breathing guides work without reading.
- Not a fix: the cards help a child settle. If a child is often overwhelmed, notice that and follow it up.
Privacy
Favourites, the Calm Plan and anything typed into a card stay on this device. Visits are counted without cookies, and anything you choose to send through the feedback form comes to us. There are no scores or streaks.
Tell us what you think
Is Calm Kit working for the children you support? What would make it better?