Summer is here! Get ready to play a favorite Summer Yoga Game!.
One of my favorite things about teaching yoga for kids is that there are so many fun and creative ways to introduce poses. I love creating a yoga game for kids and Beach Ball Yoga is one of my favorite summer games to play wiht kids. This yoga game can be played with any size group of any ages. Family-friendly and fun! All you need is a beach ball to get started!
Looking for a little beach ball challenge? Have everyone sit in the circle and pass it around the circle again, but not with their hands – with their feet!
I like to explain how this is similar to a group Boat Pose. It is a good core workout as well especially with holding that pose and all the laughter.
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I love creating new games to use in my kids yoga classes. Kids naturally love to play games and they are a good way to get them moving. Games also lead to laughter and fun which helps build community and friendships. Yoga Games such as the Kids Yoga Obstacle Course are also the perfect way to practice all of the fun yoga poses that the kids have been learning.
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.
Get Ready to Go!
First, I demonstrate how to go through the obstacle course. I make a big show out of hopping through the “rings of fire,” (hula hoops) or carefully crossing over the “icy river on blocks of ice” (yoga blocks).
Kids are completely mesmorized as they watch you carefully navigate through the obstacle course. Be sure to pause after each obstacle to hold the pose on the yoga pose card.
Next, I put on some fun music and it is the kids turn to move around the obstacle course and perform the yoga poses that are shown on cards. They love this and would do it forever if allowed. I recommend not letting the obstacle course go on “forever” as you want to keep things fresh and fun. Learn more Secrets to Teaching Yoga to Children here.
Kids love to go camping! Try our free Let’s Go Camping Yoga lesson plan with kids. It has everything you need minus the bugs! It will be an adventure for sure!
Included in our Let’s Go Camping Kids Yoga Lesson Plan:
Practice Smore Breath
Sunrise to Sunset Salutations
Go on a Bear Hunt
Learn Yoga Poses such as Tent, Canoe, Fire, and Compass
Play the fun Bears in the Forest Yoga Game
“Create a Campground” group challenge pose
Make a Campfire with yoga mats
Rest and restore on your yoga mat sleeping bag
Included are step by step directions on what to do and how to play. Enjoy your yoga camping adventure with your friends and family!
Get things hopping with Go Go Yoga for Kids and these Spring yoga themes, poses, games and lesson plans below!
Get your FREE complete Easter Egg Kids Yoga Lesson Plan with all of the Spring yoga poses, games and activities.
Begin with Bunny Breath: Kids love this calming and fun breathing exercise. Pretend to be a bunny as you take short quick sniffs through your nose.
Pretend to Be a Flower: Next get kids moving while pretending to be a seed in the ground ready to bloom into a flower. Does your flower grow quickly or slowly?
Learn some Easter and Spring Yoga Poses: Select 3-5 yoga poses for each yoga session. I like my yoga poses to correspond with our yoga theme. Your Spring Theme Yoga Poses are included in the lesson plan.
Play a Yoga Game: After learning and practicing the Spring Yoga Poses, it is time to practice the poses and work on some balance exercises that are given in the lesson plan. If the children are up for a challenge, try Raindrop Partner Pose. You can find this partner pose and 40 additional poses with the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
Circle Showcase: Bring your kids yoga class to a close by having a Spring Yoga Show with the children showing off their favorite yoga pose.
Time for Rest: After the Spring Yoga Show it is time for Stillness and Savasana. Have the children gently curl up as if they are a bunny in their nest or hold. See if they can notice the rise and fall of their breath. It is so very relaxing and calming.
We sense it as we step outdoors. Animals and plants all around us are beginning to transform and change. Celebrate with kids this wonderful season of spring with some transformation yoga!
Caterpillar to Butterfly
Begin in cobra yoga pose. Pretend to be a hungry caterpillar, lifting your head to munch on a leaf as you raise in cobra yoga pose.
Move into plank pose. This is the caterpillar on a branch, getting ready to form a cocoon.
Lower into child’s pose and become a safe little cocoon. Be still. Breathe deeply and get ready for an exciting change to happen!
Finally become butterflies! Practice butterfly pose and flutter your wings. Talk with the children about what color of wings their butterflies have and where they would fly to. How fast or slow can they flap their wings?
Begin in child’s pose as that represents the tiny egg.
Slowly inch onto your stomach and “swim” while moving your arms and leg up and down to be the tadpole.
Then take frog pose (malasana), with your feet on the floor and your legs in a deep squat. See if you can try out your new frog legs with frog hops on your mat.
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Seed to Flower
Begin in child’s pose and pretend to be a tiny seed in the ground.
Lift one arm as you imagine a tiny stem beginning to poke through the Earth.
Sit up straight and tall in lotus (flower) pose with your legs crossed. Raise your arms up into a flower shape toward the sun. Can you sway in the breeze?
Have fun with these spring yoga kid ideas. See if your children can come up with any other changes that happen in the spring such as weather, animals or plants. The possibilities are endless and putting these springtime changes into yoga postures makes them all the more memorable.
We sense it as we step outdoors. Animals and plants all around us are beginning to transform and change. Celebrate with kids this wonderful season of spring with some transformation yoga!
