Game version
Play “Blow the Feather” as a “my turn, your turn” game with a grown-up. Everyone takes a turn and every try gets a cheer.
Blow the Feather
On land: take a normal breath in and blow a feather or cotton ball across a table. Breathing out slowly is how swimmers learn calm breathing; nobody holds their breath.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026
Set up
Put a feather or cotton ball at one end of a table.
- Ages
- 4 to 6
- Time
- 3 min
- Players
- Just you
- Space
- Yard or field
- Bring
- A feather, cotton ball or ping-pong ball, a table
- Level · skill
- Beginner · Race Mindset
The steps
How it works
- Put a feather or cotton ball at one end of a table.
- Your child takes a normal breath in through the nose.
- They blow it slowly across the table to you.
- Blow it back. Try long, slow blows and short puffs.
Coaching point
Praise the try: “Lovely slow blowing!”
Safety: On land. Normal breaths only: no breath-holding games, ever.
Make it fun
Play it, don't drill it
Story
Pretend you are a penguin playing “Blow the Feather” in the forest, and the whole forest claps for you.
Practice makes progress
Print it now, or save it free
Free for families and teams
Save this drill to your child or team, free
Sign up and the free swimming week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.
14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free
Does your child's coach know about this?
An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.