Although the official Opposite Day has been declared on January 25, kids love to celebrate Opposite Day anytime. A fun way to do that is with The Opposite Yoga Pose Game and dog pose.
Kids love this yoga game and it really stretches their minds as they think creatively and move their bodies in different ways. Kids don’t necessarily need to have an understanding of all the yoga poses to be able to play. Use The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards to help this game be even more successful and fun for kids.
Have the child think of an opposite yoga pose for it. For example; Down Dog Pose could be Boat Pose. Or Frog Pose would become Happy Baby Pose and the opposite of Mountain Pose is a Headstand.
The next child then selects a card and everyone demonstrates the opposite of.
Continue around the circle until everyone has had a turn.
**If the child cannot think of what an opposite yoga pose, he or she can make one up or the group can help them think of one.
How many more opposite yoga poses can you think of? It is okay if the children (or you) do not know the name of the poses they are making. Just make them up and have fun!
A helpful tip is to look at the pose card and see what they can come up with. This is a fun game that allows collaboration and teamwork within the group. It is the simple act of moving their bodies in creative and different ways that will produce many benefits.
Congratulations! You have made it to the main part of your yoga class where you can introduce and teach poses to your students. Kids enjoy learning new yoga poses and often get excited about adding new ones to their repertoire.
Boat Pose at the Park: Yoga is a Great Exercise for All Ages
How to Teach Yoga Poses to Kids
When teaching yoga poses to kids, I have found it helpful to group the yoga poses together by a theme. It is also helpful to only introduce 4-6 yoga poses per class. This really gives children the opportunity to practice the yoga poses and remember them outside of class.
I have found that concentrating on fewer poses in class allows the children to truly focus, pay more attention to correct form and achieve success. They will feel themselves getting stronger, longer and more flexible as they become more comfortable with the poses. Your theme-related yoga poses are also a great way to differentiate and accommodate for the varying needs of your class.
How to Introduce the Yoga Poses
When introducing the yoga poses, it is important to be excited about the poses and build anticipation. This is a great technique and you will have the kids in the palm of your hand and so excited to learn what the next pose will be.
Gather the children in a circle
Have some sort of seasonal bag or prop (colorful gift bag, basket, stocking cap, sand pail) that you have placed the 4-5 pose card visuals. I use The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
Call on a child to come and “draw out” the next pose.
Everyone practices the pose. Discuss what parts of your body you feel working and getting stronger.
Call on another child to draw out the next pose and practice.
Continue in this format until all of the poses have been drawn.
I like to give the students a “test.” Since I am a teacher they find this highly interesting and engaging. I call out a pose that we have learned and the students must get into it as quickly as they can. For younger ages, it is fine to show the Kids Yoga Pose Card to help them find success.
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards include 40 yoga pose cards. Partner yoga poses, yoga games, and mantras for mindfulness are included.
How to Teach Yoga Poses to School-Aged, Tweens, and Teens
After learning and practicing the yoga poses with older students, we will flow the poses together. Our yoga mats are already placed in a circle and I then place the yoga pose cards (that we just learned) in the center in the center in the circle and also order that we will flow. The children really enjoy this and they feel very grown-up.
They are definitely not too grown-up, however, when the Yoga Flow ends and it is time to practice the poses with a Yoga Game! Kids never ever want to pass up a yoga game!
Stay tuned for our favorite Kids Yoga Games in our Kids Yoga Lesson Planning 101 coming up next!
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There are lots of fun Spring yoga poses and games that can be done at any time. Today we are going to take you through some of the Spring themed Easter Poses. You can find an entire list of Spring and Easter Yoga Poses and Games at https://www.gogoyogakids.com/spring/
This kids yoga class is geared toward children ages 3-10. I do have my helpers here with me today, I know that they are little older, but they still love to have fun with yoga. You do not need to have any props, but I am using some plastic eggs and our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
We are going to have fun with this Spring Family Yoga class!. Let’s learn and practice our Spring Easter Poses!
Join Go Go Yoga for Kids for a fun-filled partner yoga class at Athleta.
First the children warmed up their bodies with some sun salutations and exercises. Then they got into pairs to determine a team name which they loved!
I used the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards to unveil the 5 different leveled partner poses. We started off easy with See Saw Partner Pose. First I showed the partner pose card example and then had a partner pair demonstrate the pose. We also talked about being safe and careful with our partners.
Next we were ready to move into the Level 2 Partner Pose which is Raindrop, followed by Double Boat and Double Down Dog. To celebrate our success we played a fun group yoga game with Down Dog Tunnels which was so much fun. No kids yoga class is complete with Stillness and Savasana and the children settled right into it.
A Partner Pose themed yoga class is a lot of fun for kids as they love working together and teamwork. Find out more about the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards we used during class: http://www.gogoyogakids.com/store/
Hello and welcome to our Kids Yoga Lesson Planning 101 Training. Get your free workbook and get all caught up below
We are covering the most important parts of your Kids Yoga Class in our Kids Yoga Lesson Planning 101. Each part is important in its own way and not to be missed.
Part 4 of your Kids Yoga Lesson Plan: Active Movement
There is a reason that Active Movement is near the beginning of a kids yoga class. The children are so excited to be there from The Welcome then after theirBreathing Exercisesand Sun Salutations, they are good and ready to move their bodies around the room and use their large muscle groups.
Why Active Movement is Important
Active Movement provides the chance to put all of their well-intentioned energy to good use and let the kids have some fun while moving their bodies and making them strong.
The main benefits of Active Movement are to get students’ hearts pumping, build strength, and get their wiggles out (especially in the younger ages)! They will then be good and ready for the Themed Yoga Poses that will follow.
Yoga is more than breath, it is also about strengthening your whole body as well as your mind!
Active Movement
Examples:
Freeze Dance
Follow the Leader
Animal Walks
Jumping Jacks
High Knees
Skipping
Galloping
Do Not Overthink
Just move your body in good and healthy ways! That’s it! Turn on some music and for sure join in the fun! The kids love it! After a few moments, turn the music off, settle the children back into a circle. Have the children place a hand on their heart and feel it pumping energetically.
Make Your Heart Happy
I like to explain to the children how they made their hearts so happy. I tell them that sometimes their hearts get very bored when they are sitting for such a long time in front of the TV or video games. I ask them to put their hand on their heart and feel how happy they made their hearts now! Look around the room after you do this. Light bulbs are going off! The children have definitely made a connection with how to make their hearts happy!
