How Breathing Buddy works
Breathing Buddy is a calming game in the sense that it gives a child something to do rather than something to win. One large circle sits in the middle of the screen: it swells while you breathe in, holds its size while you hold, and shrinks while you breathe out. The word above it names the step - Breathe in, Hold, Breathe out or Rest - and the number underneath counts that step's seconds down to zero. Press Begin and the cycle repeats on its own until you press Stop.
There is nothing to tap during a round, no score and no way to lose. The only number that accumulates is Cycles, which ticks up each time a full out-breath finishes and resets to zero every time you press Begin. The circle also changes colour with the step - green in, teal hold, purple out, amber rest - so a child who is not reading the words still knows where they are in the breath.
Controls
- Pattern menu: the dropdown above the circle picks one of four breathing patterns. Changing it part-way through stops the round, so the next Begin starts the new pattern cleanly.
- Voice button:toggles a recorded voice that says "Breathe in", "Hold" and "Breathe out" as each step starts. The rest gap is deliberately silent.
- Begin and Stop: one big button under the circle, reading Begin while the pacer is idle and Stop while it runs.
- Keyboard, switch and touch: every control is a plain button or select, so Tab and Enter reach all of them and a single tap works on a screen. Nothing is held down, dragged or timed.
The four breathing patterns
The numbers in each name are seconds, in the order breathe in, hold, breathe out, rest:
- Box (4·4·4·4) - four seconds on every step. The even square rhythm is the easiest to predict, so most children settle into it first.
- 4·7·8 Relax - in for four, hold for seven, out for eight, one second of rest. The long out-breath makes it the wind-down option and also the hardest to sustain.
- Smooth (5·0·5·0) - five in, five out, no holding at all. The one to reach for if holding a breath feels uncomfortable.
- Kid-size (3·3·3·0) - three seconds a step and no rest. The shortest cycle here and the gentlest place to start.
Which pattern loads first
The pattern already selected when the page opens follows the working level set for the session: KS1 (Years R to 2) starts on Kid-size, Lower KS2 (Years 3 and 4) on Box, and Upper KS2 (Years 5 and 6) on 4·7·8 Relax. It is only a starting point - every pattern stays in the menu whatever the level, and changing the level while the pacer is idle re-suggests the matching one.
Stickers
Breathing Buddy feeds the site-wide sticker book by counting completed cycles across every visit, not just the current one: three earns Calm Breath, ten earns Zen Mode and thirty earns Mindful Master. The on-screen Cycles number restarts each time you press Begin, but the running total behind the stickers does not, so a child doing three breaths a day still gets there.
Tips for a calmer round
- Start on Kid-size even with an older child. Moving up to Box after a good minute is easier than rescuing a round that felt like hard work.
- If holding the breath causes strain, switch to Smooth - the only pattern with no hold at all.
- Turn the voice off where two audio streams would overlap, and leave it on when a child wants to shut their eyes and just listen.
- Pick the pattern before pressing Begin, since switching mid-round stops the pacer.
Who Breathing Buddy is for
Paced breathing is one of the few regulation strategies that needs no reading, writing or talking, which makes it usable at the exact moment a child has stopped being able to do any of those things. The circle gives an overwhelmed learner one thing to follow, and with no scoring and no failure state, nothing here can add to the pressure that caused the wobble.
It was built for 1:1 SEND tutoring and screen-shared therapy sessions, where a two-minute reset mid-lesson is often the difference between finishing the work and losing the session. It runs in any modern browser on a tablet, laptop or classroom whiteboard, and works as well over a video call as it does in the room.
Questions parents and tutors ask
Is Breathing Buddy free to play?
Yes. It is free to play in your browser, with no signup, no download and no in-game purchases. Built by a UK SEND tutor with QTS.
Does it need sound?
No. The recorded voice is on by default but the Voice button turns it off, and the circle carries the whole pattern on its own.
How long should a round last?
As long as it helps. There is no timer and no target - watch the Cycles counter rather than a clock, and press Stop when the child is ready.
Can it be used outside a lesson?
Yes. It is a self-regulation tool first, and it lives on our calm corner next to the feelings check and the Comm Board, so it suits bedtime or the walk into school just as well.