Kids are usually able to copy this, but they almost always continue to breathe through their nose while their mouth is closed and their cheeks are puffed out.
So, make sure you put your finger under their nose to feel for air. If you feel air coming from their nose, gently pinch their nose closed with your fingers and remind them to hold all the air inside their body.
Pinching their nose closed may cause them to open their mouth to breathe. This is because they’re not used to holding their breath! Just remind them to keep their mouth closed so the air doesn’t escape. (You can even make a game out of it… “Keep that silly air inside and don’t let him escape!” “Uh oh… he’s escaping, keep him inside!”)
It may take some time for your kid to understand the concept of holding their breath, and that’s ok! Work through this exercise a few times each day until they are able to hold their breath for at least 5 seconds.
1.2 How to teach kids to blow bubbles from their mouth at the surface of the water
The easiest and most fun way I’ve found to teach young children to blow air out of their mouths is to buy a bottle of soap bubbles and practice blowing bubbles that way first.
Once they’re good at blowing soap bubbles, move on to teaching your child how to blow bubbles at the surface of the water either during bath time or at the pool.
Take a big, exaggerated breath in, and then start blowing air out of your mouth as you lower your head to the water surface. As you lower your head to the water, they’ll see the air starts to form bubbles in the water (just like it did with the soap bubbles).
You may have to show your child a few times before they feel confident to try. Then, gently encourage them to try it. You can make a game out of this by putting a floating rubber duck (or other toy) in the water and blowing bubbles next to the duck to get it to move.
1.3 Teach your child to blow air out of their nose ABOVE water
It’s inevitable that, at some point during your child’s life, water will go up their nose. (Think back to when you were a kid… yep, it happens.)
So, it’s good to teach your kid how to blow air out of their nose (just like they were blowing their nose into a tissue)—this way, if water ever does go up their nose, they can simply blow it out. Also, swimmers breathe by blowing air bubbles out of their nose and breathing air in through their mouths, so this lesson will be good for the future as well.
Show your child how you blow air out of your nose (out of the water—this can be done anywhere!) by keeping your mouth closed and blowing hard from your nose. Exaggerate it a bit for effect. Have them practice until they are able to do it
