Kids love partner yoga poses! Partner yoga poses help teach children the importance of teamwork and working together plus they are fun to do and build trust and community with one another within the group. These partner poses can be done at home, school, camp, yoga class or anywhere you have kids ready to try something new and have fun.
I do try to incorporate partner or group poses in every kids yoga class as it gives everyone a common goal to work toward and builds confidence when mastered. I kept this in mind when I created the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards, I purposely incorporated partner poses for some of the yoga challenge poses. The partner poses are built on progression so gives the children a goal to work toward and it makes it so much fun to achieve together!
Tips on working with partners in a kids yoga class
Try to have kids partner up with those of similar size. All partner poses can be modified, but it is a good idea to start this way.
Have the partners get to know one another before practicing the poses. Take a moment for them to introduce themselves to one another and pose a few questions that they need to answer as something they are good at or a favorite game to play.
Have one pair of partners demonstrate the Partner Pose before everyone tries it. As the partner pair is demonstrating, this is a good time to talk about proper form and any safety concerns. Although yoga partner poses are safe and fun, it is still a good idea to remind kids to take it slow. They will naturally be excited to get right into the pose so this will help them remember.
After the partners have practiced the featured yoga pose for 1-2 minutes. Have one group demonstrate the pose one last time. Kids love to show off the poses with their partners.
Kids Yoga Partner Class Lesson Plan
I recently taught an All Partner Poses kids yoga class and the kids loved it. Here is a little taste of how I broke down the lesson plan.
First I had the students get into pairs. It is helpful to have a partner of similar size, but not necessary. Modifications can be made for any of the partner poses.
Have the partner pair get to know one another (if they don’t already) and think up a Team Name. They love doing this. Refer to their team name throughout class. They LOVE this and will absolutely motivate them.
Explain to the students that they will be working through a series of partner poses. Talk about how being safe is the number one priority and how they need to look out for their teammate.
l used the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards for this kids yoga class because these yoga cards include leveled partner poses. It is important to begin with the easier “one starred” levels and work your way up to level 5. 5.
I began with See Saw Partner Pose and showed the students an example pose card. This Partner Pose is perfect to begin with because it really warms up your legs and truly allows the children to work together. I invited a pair to come and demonstrate it to the group. I had them model how you begin nice and slow in a see-saw fashion. Legs can be made into a diamond shape or bent if you have some children that are taller or different heights.
I allowed a few moments for the children to practice this first partner pose before moving on to the next pose with the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards. Each time, have a pair model the partner pose as you explain to the students about how to safely get in and out of it. You could also use the Kids Yoga Challenge App for pose visuals, but keep in mind that they poses are randomized for fun with the app.
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It was such a pleasure to be invited to lead a Kids Yoga and Mindfulness in the Preschool Classroom workshop for early childhood educators about yoga for preschoolers in the Dallas, Texas area.
Our 2.5 hour teacher workshop included tips and resources for teachers to be able to implement right away into their classrooms this school year.
Here are just a few of the topics we covered:
Breathing and calming exercises that truly work with this young age group
How to utilize movement and yoga during classroom transition times
The best yoga poses for these young growing bodies
Incorporating yoga and mindfulness into existing preschool themes
Classroom yoga games and mindfulness exercises
The best read aloud books for this early childhood age group
How to bring about stillness and relaxation within the classroom
These teachers were engaged, enthusiastic, and ready to bring mindfulness into yoga for preschoolers.
I know that you are passionate about reaching children through yoga and you are in the right place! Creating kids yoga lesson plans is one of my favorite things to do. It must be the teacher in me, but I love putting what kids are interested in and tying in yoga poses, games and mindfulness exercises to help teach yoga to children while providing moments that they will remember.
I want to help you be successful, confident, and ready to enrich children’s lives through yoga. We can do this together! Our FREEKids Yoga Lesson Planning 101 Training begins with the heartbeat of kids yoga which is how to plan an engaging and memorable kids yoga class.
You can have all the desire in the world to teach yoga to children, but if you don’t have a plan in place then there will be opportunities missed and it will not be as impactful for your children.
Are you looking for a fun easy kids yoga game?! Yoga Shapes is easy to play and the kids LOVE it! All you need is a dry erase marker and a markerboard.
How to Play Yoga Shapes:
Begin by telling the children that they will need to make the shape with their own body on markerboard as quickly and quietly as possible. There is no right or wrong answer.
Draw one shape on the markerboard. When I turn the markerboard around the children will see a shape (examples: 0 , 1, L, S) Keep it simple at first. After the children make the shape with their body, then I erase it and draw another.
After a few rounds, then have the students pair up and make shapes such as T, and V. Remind them to do this quickly and without talking. It is amazing to see the pairs make the shapes differently. Finally, if you are up for a big challenge, have all of the students work together to make the final shape. I have done a smiley face, star or Y for yoga. This is a great team effort and because they aren’t able to talk it is neat to see the nonverbal communication.
Let’s get started with yoga games! I’m going to tell you about the Top 10 Yoga Games and we’ll also learn why games are important with kids yoga.
Kids remember the poses when they play games with them. They are also a great way to practice the poses with games. Kids love games. They’re a great way to get kids moving, practice poses, and working together. I also love taking my favorite familiar childhood games and turning them into yoga games for kids. Some of these games need materials but the majority do not.
Top 10 Yoga Games for Kids:
First is Yogi Says which is similar to Simon Says where you will have a leader. The leader will say different things such as “Yogi Says hop on one foot,” “Yogi Says jump up and down,” “Yogi Says do Tree Pose.” You can incorporate action movements as well as yoga poses.
2. Next, you can turn on some music with freeze dance. When you stop the music everyone can hold a favorite pose the best they can.
3. For Animal Pick you can fill a bag with all stuffed animals or toys and kids can take turns drawing out an animal and thinking about what yoga pose the animal might do. For example, a stuffed dog could be down dog.
4. A few more yoga games is Yoga Stories. I’ve got a lot of good books that I recommend with this. Any story that includes animals in it. You can pause as you’re reading the story and see if kids can come up with a yoga pose for the animal.
5. Musical mats is just like musical chairs. It’s another fun yoga game. Put your mats in a circle and turn on some music. When the music stops make a yoga pose right there on the mat hold it.
6. The Yoga Obstacle course is another favorite of kids. You can use anything – couch cushions, hula hoops, jump ropes. Place them all in a circular formation along with some yoga pose cards or different poses that kids can do. Then the kids can move around the room with the obstacle course, also stopping at variable points and holding their yoga pose.
7. Yoga Shapes is also a favorite one. You can write a shape down, like a triangle or square, on a piece of paper and kids can try to make that with their body.
8. Yoga Jenga I created by just taking the familiar Jenga game and writing down names of poses on the blocks. You play with normal Jenga rules with pulling out the blocks and learning each pose as you pull it out and then placing it on top.
9. Yoga Says is also fun for the kids. Have them pick 3 to 4 poses that they’ve learned and they are center stage and their job with the yoga show is to show the poses and kind of transition in between them so that it flows pretty seamlessly.
10. Another great game for younger ages is Follow the Leader where you can lead or the kids can take turns leading movements and yoga poses and everyone does what the leader is doing.
We are so excited to be heading to the Heartland Yoga Festival; June 22-24, 2018. If you will be in area, please stop by to say hello to Go Go Yoga for Kids and grab your free pair of yoga socks. It will be such a fun time!
We are so excited to be heading to the 
