The Christmas holidays can be a stressful time for both adults and children. Help to make sure that all is calm and all is bright with this fun breathing wand craft. Not only is it a great activity to do together, but it also offers a great way for them to control their breathing and relax.

What you will need:

• A paper towel or toilet paper tube (one per wand)
• Scissors
• Good strong tape
• Ribbons, fringe or strips of colourful crepe paper.
• Tinsel, glitter, colourful markers, Christmassy stickers, paint and any other festive decorations

How to do it:

1. This step is for adults only: using scissors, cut off about 4cm from the top of the cardboard tube and put the smaller piece to one side, then cut right along the length of the larger piece.
2. Tuck one side of the tube you’ve just cut behind the other side, and gently push together to make the tube thin enough for a child to hold comfortably in their hand.
3. Tape the tube back together by taking one piece of tape and hooking it into the hole at the top, ensuring that it sticks firmly to both the inside and outside of the tube.
4. Do the same to the other end, using as much tape as you need to keep everything firmly held together. This will be your handle!
5. Now take the 4cm piece of tube that you cut off and turn it on its side, so that the hole faces left to right rather than up and down. Tape this to the top of the longer piece of tube. Watch the video carefully to see how we do this. Again, make sure it’s stuck down firmly. This will be your breathing hole!
6. Now, using more tape, attach the ribbons or fringe securely around the outside of one side of the breathing hole.
7. Decorate your breathing wand with your markers, stickers, glitter, paint and whatever else you like! Be gentle to make sure your wand keeps its shape.
8. Once all of your decorations are dry, your wand will be ready to use!

Encourage children to use their wand to help with their breathing when things get a little too much. They  just need to take a deep breath and blow firmly through the hole, watching the colourful ribbons or fringe flutter. Deep, slow breathing like this helps to keep youngsters calm.