I love how yoga is something that you can actually dowith your child as opposed to being a spectator to. Sports and activities such as soccer games, dance competitions, piano recitals are all fun to be an audience to, but I love how easy it is to do a few yoga children poses with your kids.
Yoga can be done anywhere. Take it outside, try it on the trampoline, or in the rain! Just use your imagination. Laugh and have fun. Enthusiasm is contagious. This is something that they will definitely remember doing together with you.
8 Ways to Do Yoga At Home With Your Kids
1. Use Props
No need for formal yoga mats. Grab some beach towels to lay out and sit on. Kids love having their own space and gives them a great nonverbal boundary. Include your child’s favorite stuffed animal and have it participate in balance exercises and to snuggle with during savasana. We love playing Toega with pom pom balls.
Using the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards at home gives your kids the opportunity to choose poses they want to practice and provides a good visual. Let them pick 5-10 yoga pose cards and then practice them with games and challenges.
4. Use a Story:
This is one of my favorite ways to practice yoga with kids. I love reading aloud to my kids anyway so this is two birds with one stone; the benefits of reading aloud AND practicing yoga. Animal stories work well. When you get to a part about a particular animal such as snake, cat, horse, or bug then pause to do the corresponding yoga children poses. This is so much fun! See some of our favorite read-aloud books.
5. Just Breathe:
Doing yoga at home doesn’t need to be a full-blown class with all yoga poses and balance. During a stressful or frustrating time, remind your child to use their breath. Children become more aware of their breath as they practice. Do not expect them to breathe deeply with focus during the first few times. This will come with practice and time. Here are some favorite breathing and exercises that really work with kids.
6. Keep it Simple:
It can be fun to use a theme and choose poses that correspond but it is not required. You can choose a certain skill to practice such as balance or mindfulness. A few moments a day can go a long way in making a difference. Find out more Secrets to Teaching Yoga to Children.
Have Fun:
Your child should feel like yoga is play and not work. Get down on the floor with them and be playful. Be in the moment! They will love it! Kids yoga is very different from adult yoga so understand they will not have the same attention span.
Spring is here and with that comes the beautiful power of a rainstorm. I love a good rainstorm as it washes away the dirt, and leaves behind beauty, green, and a fresh start.
I love to create a thunderstorm with my students in my yoga class toward the end of class. The perfect time to do this is during the Community Building portion of the class which is right before settling into Savasana. If you are unsure of the correct sequence and important parts of a kids yoga lesson plan, then please check out our bestselling book, Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Yoga with Kids. It breaks down the complete step by step to put together an engaging and memorable kids yoga class.
Creating a thunderstorm with kids completely quiets the class, mesmerizes them and they feel empowered as they are the ones that created it. This activity also utilizes many of your five senses which is wonderful in helping you feel aware and present.
How to Create a Thunderstorm:
Sit in a close circle with the lights off. Start with step one and the child on your right does what you are doing. Continue around the circle with each student adding to it. After the sound has made it around, continue onto step 2. I like this progression as it shows how the storm ebbs and flows.
Snap your fingers (the sound of light rain falling)
Clap your hands together
Slap your hands on your legs (at this time a student can flick a light switch on and off to represent lightning). They love this part!
Stomp your feet
Slap your hands on your legs and stomp your feet (this represents the strength of the storm lessening)
Stomp your feet
Slap your hands on your legs
Clap your hands together
Snap your fingers
Rub your hands together (the wind)
Open your palms (all is quiet)
This is definitely a fun activity to do with a Kids Yoga Springtime or a Jungle Adventure Theme. Have fun with it. This is something that your kids yoga classes can do over and over again and still be amazed by it.
I just love this little cartoon. Check out the poor donut’s expression. Panic? Worry? Self-Consciousness? Yoga looks differently for everybody and that is just one of the many different things I love about yoga.
Walk into any group of kids practicing yoga and most often you will find kids that are uninhibited to try new things, taking risks and being a little different.
Let’s all embrace our inner child when it comes to yoga and to life. Smile. Be Free. Be the first to try something new and step out of your comfort zone. Try it out. See how freeing it feels!
Take Yoga on the Go with the Kids Yoga Challenge App
The Kids Yoga Challenge App Includes:
40 progressive yoga poses including partner poses
Empowering pose mantras for beginners and meditation
Perfect for all levels
Poses rated from 1-5 stars based on difficulty
Easy to follow illustrated and colorful yoga poses
Tested and proven yoga poses to achieve mental and physical benefits
Takes only minutes each day to gain lifelong skills and health benefits
As a Yoga Kids teacher, I am always looking for fun ways to help my students focus on their yoga breathing and being aware of themselves and others. This breath work game works well with younger ages that know each other. This will definitely help kids remember the power of breath which is so important in yoga!
Each person places their head on another person’s stomach so that everyone is connected. Then I encourage the kids to get their laughs and giggles out as it really is a pretty funny position to be in. Once we get that out of our system, it is time to become aware of our yoga breathing.
Then the first person says “Ha” while really exaggerating their breath, next the second person says “Ha-ha”, The third person responds with, “Ha ha ha.” Continue on while each person adds a “ha”. The goal is to get all the way through the group without anyone laughing.
They will laugh! It is almost impossible not to! It is such a unique set-up and just by saying the word “Ha!” will bring out the laughter. If they do happen to make it through, let everyone get their giggles out that they have been holding in. Then challenge the class to be completely quiet and attentive to just the rising and falling breath for 30 seconds. Now that is pretty powerful!
I love creating new games to use in my Yoga Kids classes. Kids naturally love to play games, it gets them moving and leads to laughter and fun which helps build community. Games are also the perfect way to practice all of the fun yoga poses that the kids have been learning.
Yoga Obstacle Course: Kids LOVE this game and is one of my favorite ways to get kids moving! Use whatever objects you have available to make an obstacle course.
How to Create a Kids Yoga Obstacle Course:
Kids LOVE obstacle courses and this is one of my favorite ways to get kids moving in healthy and good ways. This is exactly what kids need as their school days involve a lot of sitting as well as the national increase of video games and screens.
Every kids yoga class that I teach follows the Go Go Yoga for Kids Lesson Plan Format. This lesson plan framework ensures that kids are getting exactly what they need with breathing exercises, poses, movement, teamwork, mindfulness and more.
Select 4-5 poses that you want to introduce to children. I use the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards as visuals for the poses. I will place the selected cards into a colorful gift bag and allow the students one at a time to draw out a pose to learn. After the yoga poses have been introduced and practiced, it is the perfect time to begin The Yoga Obstacle Course!
Be creative with this! Please do not go out and buy anything. Use whatever objects you have available to make an obstacle course.
Obstacle Course Prop Examples
Hula hoops laid on the ground to do high knees through
Jump ropes laid parallel so kids can jump across them like a river
Cones to jump over or hop to
Yoga blocks for stepping stones
Yoga mats placed end to end for bear walks, log rolls, frog hops, etc.
The ideas are endless for using creating different obstacles and I do like to change it up to keep things fresh and fun.
Place the objects in a large circle. Between each obstacle I place a yoga mat and a Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Card.
The ideas are endless for using creating different obstacles. Place the objects in a large circle with a yoga mat and pose cards after each obstacle. The kids move around the obstacle course and perform the yoga poses that are shown on cards and hold for 5 breaths or 30 seconds. This is also fun to do to music.
Inversions are the act of putting your heart above your head or going upside down. Children find inversions like headstands exciting and thrilling but often their teachers are a little hesitant to include them into their yoga class lesson plans.
I really like this simple order to teach and show kids how to do a headstand. I have also helped many kids achieve a tripod or headstand with the simple tip of placing your hands in front of your head to gain more leverage and balance.
Place mat against the wall.
Place the very top flat part of your head on your mat. The back of the head should be against the wall.
Place your hands in front of your head so you are able to see all 10 fingers. This gives more space for balancing.
Go into a Tripod pose first. Lift your legs slowly.
Flex your feet so they are flat as if stamping the wall.
Pull core tight and utilize the wall for support if needed.
Use the wall when teaching handstands as well. Many people don’t think about using a wall but knowing it is there if needed and having the extra support can build confidence. My own kids, who are not gymnastically inclined, loved kicking up into a handstand against the wall in our living room.
Remember that safety is crucial when teaching inversions. There will always be some students that will try to whip right into a headstand as soon as you say the word but you must be ready for that and have them watch first. Take the students through the pose step by step and allow them to see the proper technique so they can practice correctly and safely.
frustrating time, remind your child to use their breath. Children become more aware of their breath as they practice. Do not expect them to breathe deeply with focus during the first few times. This will come with practice and time. Here are some favorite breathing and exercises that really work with kids.
moment! They will love it! Kids yoga is very different from adult yoga so understand they will not have the same attention span.
Spring is here and with that comes the beautiful power of a rainstorm. I love a good rainstorm as it washes away the dirt, and leaves behind beauty, green, and a fresh start.
help kids remember the power of breath which is so important in yoga!
hesitant to include them into their yoga class lesson plans.
