Wesley Rice took a practice breath. Then he breathed hard into a tube with measurements all over it.

Respiratory therapist Julia Hill said it wasn't enough.

"Blow a little harder," she told the 8-year-old. "Put a little more behind it."

He tried again and this time it registered on the peak flow meter, a device used to measure the force and volume of air coming from the lungs.

Because Wesley didn't have a cold or wasn't having an asthma attack, this measurement would be a baseline for good breathing capacity, or the green zone.

Hill placed a sticker on the tube with green, yellow and red sections. If Wesley breathed into the tube and he only reached the yellow, or caution, zone, he should tell his mom or dad about it. The red zone is the danger zone and he would be having an asthma attack.

She told Wesley he should blow into the peak flow meter every day at the same time to check where his breathing is. Sometimes peak flow will decrease before symptoms of an asthma attack begin and alert the child to take medications or use an inhaler to prevent serious asthmatic episodes.

Hill, who works at Mountain View Regional Hospital, handed the marked tube to Wesley for him to keep.

Wesley, who will start third grade today at Fort Caspar Academy, was one of about 10 kids between the ages of 4 and 11 who attended Camp Huff n' Puff Saturday and Sunday at the Boys & Girls Club of Cental Wyoming.

In its second year, the camp is for kids with asthma to learn about their condition, develop ways to deal with it and have a little bit of fun before the summer ends. It also tries to give children the power to not allow the disease to control them and the activities they do.

Kristi Hack, organizer of the event and recent graduate of Casper College's respiratory therapy program, suffers from asthma.

"It's really important they learn a little bit more about it so they can get out there, have fun and not feel different," Hack said. "They may feel like they have to sit on the sidelines, but it's not necessary to feel that way."

Hannah Gross, 11, knows the feeling of being left on the sidelines.

"I can't play most sports because of my asthma," the sixth-grader at Centennial Junior High School said. "My lungs start hurting. I wheeze and cough a lot."

But she does play volleyball and loves to skateboard.

Before Saturday, she had never used a peak flow meter but said she would try to use it every day from now on to help her prevent major attacks.

In between making flies with people from the Ugly Bug Fly Shop, playing air hockey and hula hooping, the kids spoke with Dr. Teunis Zondag about asthma.

An asthma attack occurs when the lung muscles spasm and swell, Zondag told them. Symptoms of an asthma attack might include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing and feelings of anxiety.

Triggers of asthma attacks might include animal dander, smoke, perfumes, dust and flowers. Kids need to know what causes their asthma to flair up and avoid those triggers.

"We want kids to recognize the symptoms and to know what to do so we have less deaths," said Zondag, a chronic pain specialist at Mountain View Regional Hospital. "So they are not presenting in the ER with severe asthmatic cases."

If kids start feeling any of these symptoms, Zondag told them they need to tell an adult.

Zondag gave the kids several scenarios and asked them what they would do.

If mom is dusting in the house, they should play outside and if they want to help, they should wear a mask.

If an attack occurs at night, they should sit up in bed to help their breathing.

If they begin to feel symptoms of an attack during gym class at school, they need to tell a teacher and take a rest.

"Just recognize that if you keep running what's going to happen," Zondag said.

Wesley, who has had asthma most of his life, said he learned how to better handle his asthma because of the camp.

"They're bossing the disease," Hill said, "not the disease bossing them."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.