The official start of summer is with the arrival of the summer solstice on June 21st. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the longest day of the year. This is the moment when the Sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer, which is its highest point. For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the shortest day of the year and the arrival of winter. The solstice happens at the same moment for everyone, everywhere on Earth.
What makes this day even more special is that June 21st is also International Yoga Day which is recognized around the world since its inception in 2015.
What better way then to recognize both of these celebrations than with some family-friendly outdoor yoga?! Check out some of our favorite yoga poses and games!
Do you love yoga and kids? Keep the fun of International Yoga Day going all year long! Introduce the joy and fun of yoga to children while instilling the benefits they will have for life. Enrollment is now open for our Kids Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Training! Find out more here.
“Mother’s hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts, forever…” –Unknown
Celebrate Mother’s Day with these Family Fun Yoga Ideas!
Back to Back Breathing:
Back to Back Breathing is a wonderful and relaxing way to connect with your children. It also builds mindfulness. Sit tall in a comfortable position with legs crossed. Slowly rest your back gently against your partner’s back. Encourage your child to try to notice your breath. Is it shallow or deep? Fast or slow? Can they feel your back move as they breathe? This is a really sweet partner exercise for any age and feels so comforting to lean against another person like that.
Family Trees:
Stand in a circle side by side and touch palms to help balance each other. Then take one foot and place it on our leg. Bring your branches (hands) up taller. Remember to switch legs. Notice how you are all stronger when you work together!
Legs Up the Wall:
Kids and adults both love this relaxing yoga pose! Scooch up close to a wall and lie flat on your back. Slowly raise your legs straight up against the wall which makes an L shape with your body. Keeping your legs together, flex your feet. Relax your arms to the side and keep your neck in a neutral and relaxed position. Close your eyes, and take a few moments and rest in this incredible restorative pose! This can also be done as Partner Legs Up the Wall Pose.
Toega:
Toega is the perfect yoga game to play with all different ages. What exactly is Toega? It is yoga for your feet! Kids love this simple exercise and it is good for them as well. All you need are some colored pom pom balls and bare feet! It is fun and easy to play. Find out how to play here.
I have such great memories as a kid with creating May Day baskets with my sisters on the first day of May. We would fill our homemade baskets with little candies, popcorn, and flowers. We would then deliver them to our neighbors. This involved sneaking up to our neighbors’ house, placing the May Day Baskets in front of the door, ring the doorbell and run around to the side of the house to hide. We were almost always seen by our neighbors because our high pitched giggling was sure to give us away.
It was then so much fun to get back home from our deliveries and discover May Day baskets left by neighbors on our front step. It was a sure sign that the other neighborhood kids were celebrating the start of May as well.
Years later, I kept this tradition going with my own children. Although we live in a bigger city, we try to make our own little community by knowing our neighbors and surprising them with this somewhat forgotten tradition.
May is such a beautiful month filled with new growth and life. Celebrate this month and Spring with the children that you love and care about.
Get out your plastic Easter eggs ready and celebrate Spring with this fun kids yoga lesson plan, games, and activities. Easter Egg Yoga is for kids of all ages this holiday.
On small pieces of paper write the following poses and put one in each egg.
Robin: Airplane Pose
Duck: Duck Pose. Encourage the kids to flap, quack, and waddle around like a duck.
Sun: Mountain Pose with arms outstretched to the sun
Spring Hat: Down Dog
Spring Tree: Tree Pose
Rainbow: Bridge Pose
Spring Basket: Boat Pose
Flower: Lotus Pose. Make petals by having the children hold their arms above their heads.
Caterpillar: Locust Pose. Have the students raise and lower their heads as if eating leaves.
Butterfly: Butterfly Pose. Fly butterflies fast and then slow.
Bunny: Hero Pose. Have the children make bunny ears with their hands.
Kids love to try the partner poses that included in our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.These 40 Yoga Pose Card Visuals include starred level of difficulty (1-5 stars) and mantras for mindfulness.
For more Kids Yoga Lesson Plans check out our bestselling books filled with over 150+ ready-to-go kids yoga lesson plans and kids yoga games and activities.
Why the Go Go Yoga for Kids E-Store Matters to You:
Now you are able to easily download your Go Go Yoga for Kids books on any device. This means your iphone, computer, tablet, kindle, ipad. Any of these places!
You can also easily transfer your Go Go Yoga for Kids books from device to device.
This is also extra exciting because you are able to easily print out sections that are important to you. You know how much I love writing and putting together kids yoga lesson plans. Now you can easily find which lesson plan you want to use and print it out for your personal use. This is also true for our lesson plan templates, guides and games that are found in our books!
Another great reason to purchase your e-books directly from the author is that it does help me out. You know how kids yoga is my passion and I love being able to get resources and ideas straight to you. When you purchase directly from the author this allows a great connection and helps small businesses such as Go Go Yoga for Kids.
Thank you for checking out our Go Go Yoga for Kids E-Store and directly supporting me, the author. I have changed my shopping habits with so many small businesses feeling the impact from the coronavirus. I so appreciate your support.
How amazing would it be if we all did one small act of kindness each day? What better day to start than on National Random Acts of Kindness Day on February 17th?
This day has grown in popularity over the years and what a game changer it could be if everyone participated.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
Aesop
We tell kids all the time to share, play nicely and be kind to others. It is one thing to say, but we all know how actions mean more than words.
Often random acts of kindness can go a long way to brighten our day more than we would ever imagine.
Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week with the Go Go Yoga for Kids Kindness Bingo Game
Yoga Bingo is a fun and active game for all ages. This game is an engaging and easy way to introduce and teach children a variety of yoga poses. Plus a fun way to help kids practice a wide variety of poses. Yoga Bingo is perfect for large and small groups. Downloadable for immediate play!
Your Complete Kids Yoga Pose Bingo Game Includes:
10 Unique Full full-sized yoga Bingo Cards
Directions on How to Play
40 Different Yoga Poses
Multicultural & Diverse
1 Caller Card
Downloadable for immediate play
Perfect for school, home, camps, clubs, and parties. Ages 3-Adult
Will it be an early Spring, or will there be six more weeks of Winter? The groundhog gets to decide with this fun yoga game for kids! Decide if it will be spring or winter with yoga poses such as Snowflake Pose and Warrior 2.
Select one child to be the lead groundhog. Have everyone begin in Child’s Pose with their foreheads to the ground as if they are hibernating groundhogs waiting for February 2nd.
The lead groundhog will emerge first from slumber, look around, and announce to the other groundhogs if it is Spring or Winter. Based on what the lead groundhog selects, then choose from the following poses:
Winter Groundhog Yoga Poses
Snowflake: Begin in Mountain Pose with arms outstretched above. Next dive forward and bring your arms to the ground as if you are a snowflake falling. Repeat this several times to represent lots of snowflakes falling.
Snowboarder: Stand strong in Warrior 2 with arms outstretched and your front leg bent. Try jumping and switching directions while landing in Warrior 2. Try to get a little hang time in your 180 degree jumps as if you are a star snowboarder!
Snowball: Lie on your back and hug your knees into your chest. Rock and roll back and forth as if you are a snowball being rolled. Do this several times. It is almost like getting a back massage.
Spring Groundhog Yoga Poses
Tree Pose: Get your Spring tree ready for leaves! Bring your foot to your calf and place your hands at heart center. As you become more steady, bring your foot to your thigh and move your hands overhead for tree branches. A tip for holding tree pose is to focus on a spot on the ground that is not moving.
Butterfly Pose: Sit on your bottom with a tall spine, bend your legs, and place the soles of your feet together. Flap your legs like the wings of a butterfly. How fast can your butterfly fly? Then try to go as slowly as possible.
Frog Pose: Come down to a squat position and bring your arms to heart center. Can you hop like a frog?
Take turns being the lead groundhog so everyone can practice several Winter and Spring yoga poses. Finally for the final resting position or Savasana have the kids roll up in a yoga mat or blanket as if they are quiet slumbering groundhog.
Check out some of our favorite yoga poses and games!
Kids and adults both love this relaxing yoga pose! Scooch up close to a wall and lie flat on your back. Slowly raise your legs straight up against the wall which makes an L shape with your body. Keeping your legs together, flex your feet. Relax your arms to the side and keep your neck in a neutral and relaxed position. Close your eyes, and take a few moments and rest in this incredible restorative pose! This can also be done as Partner Legs Up the Wall Pose.
Find your FREE 
bent. Try jumping and switching directions while landing in Warrior 2. Try to get a little hang time in your 180 degree jumps as if you are a star snowboarder!
