Helping kids to navigate big feelings
Kids live life at full speed – full of energy, adventure, mess and fun. With a big life comes big emotions and big challenges, which often leave kids feeling unstuck, unsafe, unsettled and unsure. These big feelings can be overwhelming and confusing –both for kids and their parents! We know that for most people, calm breathing can help reset their nervous system.
Better breathing, backed by science
Did you know that calm breathing is a key to help ground your child, help performance, help anxiety, help connection and help resilience? Scientific studies have shown that slow, deep breathing has the ability to reduce anxiety, increase confidence and memory, and even grow new brain cells!
Here's how →Developed in consultation with psychologists
Brave and Able are here to help kids learn how to take charge of their brains with slow, strong breathing skills that they can carry with them for life. Brave and Able Breathing Buddies offer slow, deep breathing guidance without the need for an app or a smartphone. Guided light teaches kids how to calmly take control of their breathing and regain focus.
Your confidence companion
Brave and Able are the kind of buddies you can always rely on to make you feel safe, calm and in control. A beautiful, tangible tool for grown ups to engage children in conversations about all kinds of feelings, and provide a demonstration for how to start to work through them. We know you can do hard things!
Sensory fabrics
Wrap yourself up in the safety of a trusted friend. Brave and Able Breathing Buddies are made of beautifully soft fabrics in a variety of textures, to add an extra sensory element for kids. This helps them regain focus and be present. Soft and snuggly and great bedtime comforters.
Develop self-regulation skills
Help develop confidence and autonomy in self-regulation and remind kids (and parents!) to take five and come up for air. Use Brave and Able Breathing Buddies to encourage regular quiet play, brain breaks and time in. Build mindful breathing time into your routines while kids are calm, so that these skills can be recalled in tricky situations when they need them most.
Let customers speak for us
Our Story
Hi, I’m Zara! I’m a mother of three young children from South Australia, with passion to positively impact the mental health of our kids. The idea for Brave and Able was born out of my own attempts to find ways I could effectively help my children through their big feelings. In conversations with other parents, I realised I wasn’t the only one struggling to find a way to connect to my child in these moments and that there were limited tangible tools readily available. So, I researched. I sought input from children's psychologists and educators on the approaches they took to help children develop coping skills. I wanted to create something that would empower kids to feel safe with their feelings, and confident to play and learn and try new things – even when it feels hard or a bit scary.
Read more →
Worrying our worries away with a Worry Box
10 Picture books about big emotions to develop emotional literacy
Is calm breathing just meditation?
Meditation and calm breathing – these terms get thrown around interchangeably at times and often get confused. You’ll sometimes hear the term breathwork, too. While they have some overlapping aspects and overlapping benefits, they do differ in many ways.
We’re going to have a look at some of the key differences.
10 ways to help kids through death and grief
Calm breathing with your kids
Parents, caregivers and the village that raise our little people need all the tools in their toolbox to manage big emotions. One of the best ‘tools’ for kids (and adults) is calm breathing.
This skill helps them focus in the moment on something within their body, and within their control – as opposed to the “the thing” (or things) that are making them sad, mad, or frustrated. It also helps them to slow down physically, stopping within a moment and acts as a ‘pause’ button for them to take a break from their thinking and emotions.
Helping your child to navigate their emotions
We are all born with emotions. What we aren’t born with is the skillset to regulate those emotions. These are skills we have to build. Read how.
