Breathing exercise

At a sunny beach, King Friday sets out to build a royal sandcastle but keeps getting frustrated when it does not work. Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda join him as the Royal Sandcastle Builders and discover that each of them calms down a different way, by running in small circles, by playing the bongos, or by doing a slow stretch. Once they have managed their frustration, they work out that adding water makes the sand hold together. They finish a castle that looks just like King Friday's real one.

S01 E33

Donkey Hodie

Superhero Squabble

Donkey Hodie and her best friend Panda play superheroes and invent a mission to protect a mailbox from a made-up 'mailbox snacker'. They disagree about whose pretend power is better, and the argument grows until they declare maybe they should not be friends anymore. Each one takes a deep breath to calm down, sings about whether their friendship is over, and works up the courage to apologize. They make up, agree that friends can argue and still be best friends, and team up to finish their superhero game.

S01 E18

Me & Winnie the Pooh

Eeyore's Morning Affirmations

Eeyore, a soft blue donkey, greets the viewer and shares his 'rainbow thoughts', short affirmations he says each morning. He guides a slow breathing exercise, then offers thoughts about sunny and cloudy days and about getting back up after falling. He walks to a special hillside spot to say his favorite thought and enjoy the view. The episode ends with Eeyore saying goodbye until next time.

S01 E20

Me & Winnie the Pooh

Pooh Bear Has the Hiccups

Winnie the Pooh gets the hiccups outside his tree-stump house after eating too fast, and turns to the viewer for help. He works through two remembered tricks, first slow in-and-out breathing while thinking of honey, then blowing bubbles. The hiccups stop and Pooh cheers before saying goodbye. The episode closes on a branded title card and a thumbnail teasing another video.

S01 E06

Bea's Block

Danny Sings

Danny is excited to sing his favorite song, 'I Love Today', for his class, but freezes up with nerves when it is his turn. His friends from the Kindness Club meet at their treehouse and try different ways to help, including running to burn off energy and slow belly breathing. After practicing in front of stuffed animals and a group of goats, Danny asks his friends to play instruments alongside him. With their support he sings the whole song for his class and thanks his mini music band.

S01 E08

Me & Winnie the Pooh

Pooh Bear's Morning Routine

A honey-colored bear greets the viewer from his cozy tree-house home and invites them to join his morning routine. Together they do simple stretches, eat honey for breakfast, brush teeth and change into a clean hoodie, with the bear narrating each step. He talks straight to the camera and asks the child about their own morning habits along the way. The episode ends with a warm goodbye and an auto-play card leading to the next episode.

S01 E04

Get Rolling with Otis

A New Truck in Town

Otis, a red farm tractor, spends the day doing chores with his friend Celeste, a young pink piglet, on a country farm. When Kevin, a big new truck, arrives and turns out to be faster and stronger at every job, Otis begins to worry that no one needs him anymore. The turning point comes when Celeste gets stuck in sticky mud and is frightened, and Otis makes a plan and teams up with Kevin to pull her out. By the end Otis sees that he still matters, and the friends welcome Kevin to the farm.

S01 E08

Barney's World

Big, Bigger, Best

In a sunny town park, a young boy named David wishes he were bigger so he can reach the monkey bars and slam dunk like his older brother Liam. Barney, a friendly purple dinosaur, uses a bit of magic to grow David bigger and then biggest, but each new size ruins the things David loves, from hide-and-seek to eating a pretzel. After David grows frustrated, Barney helps him calm down with a breathing exercise and explains that he will grow at his own pace. David asks to return to his regular size, tells his brother he loves himself just as he is, and the friends head back to their game.

See all Breathing exercise shows for 2-year-olds

For 3-year-olds

Three-year-olds are starting to put names to feelings, and can begin to link 'I feel wobbly' to 'I can breathe'. They still need an adult to notice and start it for them. Look for a story where a character breathes in a quiet, ordinary moment as well as an upset one, so it does not read as a punishment for crying. A short repeated phrase or song helps, because at this age the words are what your child carries off the screen.

Esme & Roy

Lunch Crunch

Esme, a girl, and Roy, a large yellow monster, babysit a young monster named Simon while his grownups are away. When Simon's favourite fish and stinky cheese sandwich is eaten and the ingredients run out, the pair try a pretend restaurant, a spoon game and finally food sculptures to coax him into tasting something new. Along the way Simon has an upset moment that is calmed with a breathing exercise. By the end Simon happily tries carrots and other foods and proudly calls himself a food artist.

Brightly Storytime

Worry Detective

On the first day at Wildwood Elementary, Hattie Harmony, who calls herself a 'worry detective', helps her friends handle their nerves. She gives Pearl a way to shake off belly butterflies, hands Seymour a squishy ball to ease class jitters, and teaches Duncan to breathe slowly when he cannot find his bus. Along the way Hattie faces her own fear at the top of the big slide and talks herself through it. The two authors open and close the read-aloud with a short message about managing worries.

S01 E09

Phoebe & Jay

Fire Drill

Siblings Phoebe and Jay, with their dad, grandmother, a young friend named Lupe and Fire Inspector Josie, learn about fire safety in their apartment building, Topsy Towers. They find safety tools, learn what exit signs and the emergency exit are for, and build a family fire safety plan with three steps: stop, exit, and wait at a meeting place. When Lupe is frightened by the loud alarm, a grandmother teaches a calming breathing trick. The family practices the drill, completes all three steps, and receives Safety Squad badges.

S01 E01

Esme & Roy

Monster Trucks

Esme, a girl, and Roy, a yellow monster, are monster sitters spending the day looking after Tilly, a small pink monster who loves her cars. After a backyard race leaves Tilly muddy and smelly, the two need to get her into a bath, but she only wants to keep playing. When Tilly melts down, Roy helps her calm down with a glitter jar and slow breathing, and then the sitters turn the tub into a pretend car wash. Tilly happily drives through it, gets clean, and asks to go again.

Pajanimals

A Super Sweet Night

The Pajanimals, a group of animal friends, come home from a costume party with goodie bags full of candy. Cowbella eats all of hers at once and becomes too jittery to sleep, so her friends sing with her and then take her to the Land of Hush to visit Bedtime Bunny. Bedtime Bunny leads a slow breathing exercise and explains that candy is a once in a while treat. Cowbella calms down, says sorry, and falls asleep as a lullaby plays.

S01 E05

Vida The Vet

Koa's Prickly Predicament

Vida the vet runs a clinic in the woodland town of Sweetwood with her pet hamster, Popcorn. Prickly the porcupine brings in his friend Koa the tiger, who has a quill stuck in his bottom and is afraid to have it taken out. Vida teaches Koa to breathe slowly, tries several ways to help him relax, and removes the quill while Popcorn distracts him with a joke. The episode closes with a song and a short trivia quiz that replays scenes and asks viewers three questions about what happened.

Do, Re & Mi

Listen to Your Body

Ray the hummingbird bends her tail feathers dancing too hard in Flora Flamingo's class, and her friends tell her that her body is asking for rest. She resists, suggesting her body wants a snack or another dance instead, and keeps tumbling out of the air until Doe catches her. Maestro Moon explains that even music has rests, and Ray's friends bring her home and settle down with her. After a long rest her feathers mend, and the episode closes with the whole group singing about the signals a body sends.

S01 E04

Meekah

Meekah Flips on a Trampoline at Skyzone

Meekah visits a trampoline park to learn how to do a flip. She picks out grippy socks, counts the trampolines, jumps into a foam pit, and tries shooting baskets while she searches for an instructor named Quincy. When she finds him, he leads her through warm-ups and somersaults and shows a front flip, reminding her to only try one with a grown-up. Meekah decides to keep practicing and closes by inviting viewers to look up her name.

See all Breathing exercise shows for 3-year-olds

For 4-year-olds

By four, a child can remember a strategy exists, though rarely in the middle of a big feeling. Frustration, fairness and fear are the usual triggers, and pausing before reacting is genuinely hard work. Look for characters who stop and breathe before deciding what to do, and for stories honest enough to show that the feeling does not vanish straight away. That honesty matters more than a tidy resolution, because it matches what your child actually experiences.

S01 E22

Carl the Collector

The Green Piece/The Fuzzyworld Book of Records

recommended age co-watching from 4

In the first story, a new friend named Dylan brings a board game to a party, then knocks the playing pieces into a floor vent and becomes furious, yelling at the others before Carl, his friends and Carl's mother help him calm down and make a plan. They end up using the colored beads from Dylan's scooter as replacement pieces and finally play together. In the second story, Carl reads a book of world records and decides to set one by building a giant pyramid of playing cards, which keeps collapsing. His parents share their own stories of failing many times before succeeding, and Carl resolves to keep trying.

See all Breathing exercise shows for 4-year-olds

For 5-year-olds

Five-year-olds want to know why something works. They can feel their heart racing, notice a tight tummy, and connect those signals to how they feel. Look for an episode that links breath to what the body is doing, and that offers more than one way to settle, since a child this age likes having a choice. Room for a feeling to stay difficult after the breathing is a good sign; it keeps the tool believable rather than magical.

Stillwater

Gift of Compassion

Calming

Addy is frustrated that her younger brother Carl will not share a new marble-maze game, so she calms herself with deep breathing and visits her neighbour Stillwater, a giant panda. He plays a Chinese flute, scoops leaves from his pond, and tells her the story of Master Chu, who keeps saving a scorpion from the river even after it stings her. Addy realises she should try a different approach with Carl, and instead of taking the game she offers to play it together with him. The two cooperate, steering the maze ball side by side, while Stillwater is heard trying something new of his own.

S01 E05

Stillwater

Dressed Up

Calming

Carl is convinced his favourite shirt has shrunk, so he goes to see his panda neighbour Stillwater, who is practising Tai Chi in the garden. As they move and talk, Carl slowly realises the shirt did not shrink, he has grown. Stillwater tells him the story of Nani, a hermit crab who learns to leave her outgrown shell for a new one. In the end Carl accepts a bigger hand-me-down shirt from his brother Michael and joins Stillwater for one last Tai Chi move.

SciShow Kids

Amazing Cave Animals

Host Jessi, a male co-host and Squeaks the robot rat get ready to visit their friend Sam the bat in his cave. Along the way they explain that a cave is a habitat, show real footage of an olm, a Mexican tetra and a cave spider, and point out that these animals have no eyes. They walk the viewer through why deep cave animals rely on smell and touch instead of sight, and invite the child to close their eyes and notice their own senses. The episode ends back in the studio as the hosts finish packing for the trip.

S01 E10

Dora and Friends: Into the City!

The Search for Mono