Every Fall, there is a rite of passage for kids aged preschool through college which involves preparing to go back to school. Usually, this means gathering school supplies, going school clothes shopping, registering for sports and activities, Meet the Teacher Night or visiting the school before the start date. These are all part of the back to school transitions which help kids and parents physically and mentally prepare.
The worries and fear of the unknown are real and can lead to feelings of worry and uncertainty. While these feelings are normal there are things that can be done to help children emotionally prepare for a successful year!
Parents play an influential role in helping children cope, encouraging a positive back-to-school transition and helping to reduce children’s anxiety and worries. These mini yoga brain breaks can help.
Enjoy the Following Back to School Help and Tips
Have Honest Discussions
It is important to sit down and really talk to your child. It doesn’t matter their age. Spend some time talking about how things may be different. As them if there are are specific things they are worried or concerned about, and talk these through with them.
Talk to them about what they can do to stay safe such as hand washing, using hand-santizer, keeping their distance from others avoid touching their face.
Get a Routine in Place
This is very important for children! Kids thrive on routines in place because they know what to expect and they feel like they have control.
Have your children wake up at the same time and follow a morning routine such as eating breakfast, brushing teeth and getting dressed for the day. Packing lunch the night before also helps minimize morning decisions and chaos.
Plan on certain places to keep masks easily accessible such as on hooks by the door. Have children help prepare the night before with homework completed and packed into a backpack, lunch prepared and in the fridge, and school clothes laid out. These simple steps will save so much time in the morning and really help with building a routine.
Children ages 3 and older are also old enough to have chores and to contribute positively to the family. Chores such as putting away dishes from the dishwasher, watering plants, walking the dog, taking garbage out, all help build responsibility and community within a family.
It’s important to acknowledge children’s worries, but parents also need to encourage their children to focus on the things that are positive and they are forward to.
Before school starts, you can ask, “What are you looking forward to about school school?” or “What have you missed about school?” Once school starts, you can ask, “What was something great that happened today?”
At dinner, we like to take turns sharing something positive about our day. With so much negativity going on, it is important to truly be intentional about looking for the positive.
Be a Role Model
Children are watching and looking to us. They are noticing how we are responding to the changes and new challenges. Children even pick up on the nonverbal with our facial expressions.
It’s OK for us to feel uncertain and worried. However, as much as possible, try to model calm and confident attitudes about returning to school for your child and use cheerful, positive messages.
Please take the time to care for your own well-being and mental health. Be kind to yourself and one another. Seek out help if you needed. You are not alone. Make time for what makes you happy.
Conclusion:
While this year’s back to school is different, we can help children feel optimistic by listening to their worries, helping them feel confident by establishing routines and coping strategies. Our kids need us to lead the way for a successful back-to-school transition and to develop the lifelong skills they will need in the future.
Bring the Summer Olympics to you! Get children fit, focused and Olympic ready with this free Go Go Yoga for Kids Summer Olympic Guide. Swim, row, and vault your way to a Gold Medal… kids yoga style!
These resources gives teachers, parents and yoga instructors EVERYTHING they need to teach yoga to kids. Included are lesson plans, creative games, breathing and calming strategies, mindfulness exercises, yoga poses and much more. These ideas can be used right away to bring yoga into kids’ lives.
I was honored to be a guest on the Mindful Moments for Families & Schools Podcast! We continued to crack the code on how to easily incorporate mindfulness and yoga into your children’s everyday routine.
Get Ready to Discover:
Recommendations on how to get started with a yoga & mindfulness practice yourself
How to get started teaching yoga to children
Create mini mindful moments with Kids
How the Go Go Yoga for Kids books & resources came to fruition
In today’s episode I chat with Sara Weis. Best-selling author Sara J. Weis is a creative and passionate teacher who has inspired children for over twenty years. In Go Go Yoga for Kids, Sara has combined her experience as a school teacher and a certified kid and adult yoga instructor to introduce children to yoga in engaging and child-friendly ways.
Sara holds a master’s degree in education as well as bachelor’s degrees in early childhood and elementary education. She is a teacher for West Des Moines Schools and leads kids yoga classes for a nationally-known health and fitness club. Her Go Go Go Yoga for Kids Teacher Training and books are found in over 200 health clubs, gyms and schools across the US.
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards will challenge you and children with balance, flexibility, mindfulness, and more. This card deck includes 40 poses including partner poses, confidence building pose mantras, and fun games to play together using these cards.
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards Include:
40 progressive yoga poses including partner poses
Empowering pose mantras for beginners and meditation
Poses rated from 1-5 stars based on difficulty
Easy to follow poses to create many original yoga flows
15 Bonus Games to play using these pose cards
Tested and proven yoga poses to bring most mental and physical benefit
Takes only minutes each day to gain lifelong skills and health benefits
Are you ready for the Summer Olympic Games? After last summer’s hiatus, the world is waiting, watching and ready. Get your whole family involved in the Summer Olympics by having your own Yoga Games!
Games are perfect for:
moving your bodies in good & healthy ways
building strength & flexibility
Practicing following directions and working together
Learning yoga poses and practicing them fun and engaging ways.
It will be so much fun learning a variety of yoga games perfect for all ages!
These Yoga Games Will:
Create strength physically and mentally for kids
Promote teamwork and team building skills
Build confidence
Increase flexibility
Improve Balance and focus
Enhance creative thinking
Bring joy, laughter, and reminders not to take ourselves too seriously!
Each game include videos, directions on how to enhance and differentiate for kids with varying abilities within the games, as well as game images and lesson plans.
Age Group Characteristics & Groupings for Yoga Games
The following guidelines will help you decide which yoga games and activities are most appropriate for the children you will be working with.
Early Childhood: Ages 2-5
Children at this stage thrive on repetition and routine. This knowledge is helpful not just in their play, but in all areas of their lives. Children at this age have difficulty waiting for their turn, but they learn as it is shown and modeled.
Preschool children are just discovering all of the different ways their bodies can move around—skip, hop, gallop, shuffle, run, walk backward—making active movement games especially beneficial. Incorporating pretend and fantasy into yoga games feeds imaginations and allows for unique personalities and ideas to emerge and grow.
Keeping games short, five to seven minutes at most, and giving simple directions will keep them present and focused. They are easily distracted but they are eager to learn and will engage well with repetitive directions, movements, and play.
School Age: Ages 5-11
As kids mature, they develop longer attention spans, stronger bodies, and more control over their movements. But they also need variation, as they grow bored with anything too repetitive.
Physically, kids this age can handle additional large motor movement and poses, so incorporating more complicated games and activities will challenge them and keep them engaged. Introducing themes helps them retain information and recall it.
This age group enjoys cooperation and teamwork. Friendships are important. Children quickly learning interpersonal skills as they move through elementary, primary, and intermediate schools. They understand the concept of taking turns and often have a developing or well-formed understanding of teamwork.
“How do you bring out the best from within you, to excel in this journey of parenthood? Are you plagued with questions like:- Am I a good parent? Why is it difficult to raise kids? Will my child turn out right? Learn how to be more present with this webinar!
This webinar also commemorates the United Nations Global Parents Day! Featuring Mary Wheatley and Sara Weis. Mary is a Conscious Parent Coach from Hawaii who is going to talk about the great parent slowdown during today’s pandemic times and she comes with her bag of tricks to help us all out in our individual personal journeys. Sara is a bestselling author and kids yoga instructor who is going to happily share with us a few dynamic yoga poses for us to connect with our kids.
kids yoga style!
