Yoga

Earth Day Yoga Fun

Earth Hands Rainbow

Earth Day is an opportunity to teach children that taking care of the Earth is in our hands.

Today, why not go outside or to the park to enjoy some yoga outdoors?
What a gift to be able to spend some time outside with your child/students playing, singing and celebrating our big, beautiful planet Earth!

Doing yoga outdoors helps children really identify with the Earth and all the animals, plants and creatures that share the Earth as our HOME. 

The ACTIVITY PACK includes yoga and movement you can enjoy outdoors with your child and an Earth Day and a fun Scavenger Hunt too!  After celebrating Earth Day with these fun activities, you can repeat this Earth Day poem together.

The earth is ours, Yours and mine,

Ours to live on, ours to share,

Ours to treat with gentle care —

The earth is ours, Yours and mine.

Click the BUTTON below to download a FREE EARTH DAY Activity Pack to do with your child or students.

EARTH DAY ACTIVITY PACK

For more Nature Yoga Ideas to do with your child, take a look at my 

Activity Plans for Calm, Confident Kids in my SHOP:

By: Category: Children, Creativity, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Music, Nature, Poetry, Teaching, Theme Classes, Yoga

Creating a CALM SPACE for Kids

Children, especially toddlers and preschoolers, have BIG FEELINGS.

When kids feel overstimulated or “flooded with feelings”, they don’t know what to do with them.  That is why they usually ACT on them or ACT OUT- by screaming, throwing things, hitting, biting, or some other physical way to release their feelings.   

It’s our job as parents to teach them how to regulate their feelings.  This takes patience and practice.  We can model how it’s done by remaining calm, taking a deep breath and offering them an alternative to having a meltdown or tantrum.

One way to promote mindfulness and emotional regulation is by setting up a SAFE SPACE for kids to calm down and manage their feelings in a healthy way. You can call it a Calm Space, Calm Down Spot, Cozy Corner or Tune In Nook. This offers a more gentle option than Time-OUTS by giving them a safe space to take some Time-IN and move through their feelings in a way that is free from blame or shame.

It’s never too early to make room for a Calm Space. You can introduce your baby to a quiet corner with soothing music and sensory objects like stuffies and a blanket, then continue to build on its use as your child grows by adding tools for mindfulness.

5 STEPS TO CREATING A CALM SPACE FOR KIDS

1. Choose an area in your home that is QUIET and not too busy. It could be an cozy corner or area in their bedroom, playroom or family room.

2. Delineate the space  by setting up a tent/teepee, hanging a canopy or curtain from the ceiling, using a soft comfy chair, or simply laying out a cozy blanket or rug. Make the space COZY and welcoming with pillows, a floor cushion or blankets.  Let your child make the space their own by adding their own items like a favorite blankie or stuffie.

3. Create a CALM DOWN KIT ( like the one below) for your child to use when they are feeling stressed or upset, Fill a bin or basket with mindfulness tools and items that will help calm them down.  A few favorite books (yoga and mindfulness books are a plus), play dough, affirmation cards, breathing props such as feathers or a pinwheel, an eye pillow for relaxation, some coloring sheets with crayons and a stuffed friend to hold and hug.

4. Practice using the space by having a daily routine of spending time there together. Choose a daily affirmation card, practice taking deep breaths, do a yoga pose together, color mandalas or journal together if your child is a bit older. Let them know it’s their special place where they can go when they need break or some time to calm down. You can also have some items for YOU to use in the calm space with your child, like an eye pillow or mask for relaxation.

5. When you notice your child is starting to get frustrated or upset, remind your child that it’s ok for them take a break in their Calm Space.

If you would like a MINDFUL ME KIT like the one below, click on the image below. It comes with a set of adorable animal puppets to prompt yoga poses, bubbles and feathers for breathing, pom poms to play “TOE-GA” and choice of lavender flax seed eye pillow- in yoga cats and dogs or yoga monkey pattern- all in a handy drawstring bag for kids to take their mindfulness tools on-the-go! An instruction sheet of the activities is included.

Creating a CALM SPACE for Kids
By: Category: Books, Breathing, Children, Creativity, Imagination, Kids Yoga, Meditation, Mindfulness, Parenting, Peace, Relaxation, Spirituality, Teaching, Uncategorized, Yoga

3 Creative Ways to Do Yoga with Toys

TOYS!  What child doesn’t love them?

Puppets, stuffed animals, dolls, toy trains, planes & trucks, the list goes on and on…

I’m sure your child got an assortment of toys for the holidays that they have been enjoying playing with.

But, did you know that toys are a perfect prop for teaching children yoga, focus, and relaxation?

Yoga with Toys

As a yoga teacher, I have experimented with different kinds of props and have found that some of my most popular lessons have been using simple toys to spark a child’s imagination.  I have my very own collection of stuffed animals and puppets which I love using in my classes.

Here are three ways to use what’s in your child’s toy chest or play room to teach your children positive, healthy yoga and movement activities while having FUN!

1) Toys are great for exploring Yoga Poses and Movement.  

Grab your child’s favorite stuffed animals, dolls, trucks or puppets and go on a yoga adventure with them.   A toy can be a wonderful prompt to MOVE and BE like the animal or object which the toy represents.  Bark in Downward Dog Pose, Fly in Airplane Pose, Arch your Back in Cat Pose, Squat in Frog Pose…You don’t even need to be familiar with the yoga poses to enjoy this play time with your child. Just ask your child how a snake, a butterfly, or a car or truck moves and then stretch your body this way or that.  Recently, a parent shared with me that once a week her 2 year who is in one of my preschool yoga enrichment classes would lay out a blanket and her stuffed animals and pretend to be the ‘yoga teacher’!

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2) Toys are wonderful props for developing focus and concentration.

Whenever I bring out my bag of finger puppets, all my students get excited and are ready to explore our yoga poses together.  They all watch and listen in anticipation as each child chooses a puppet from the bag and leads the class in a yoga pose!  Doing yoga with a toy helps children focus while trying some of the more challenging poses.  For example, ask your child to hold the puppet or toy out in front of them or place it on their head when doing a Tree Pose, which helps keep their attention on standing still and steady in the pose.

You can buy a set of adorable plush animal finger puppets for your child on my shop by following this link HERE or clicking on the image below.
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3) Stuffed animals or beanie babies are a fun breathing or relaxation ‘buddy’.

Your child’s favorite stuffie is the perfect companion for breathing exercises or relaxation time.  Place the beanie baby or stuffie on your child’s belly as they are lying on the ground or snuggled up in bed.  Have your child close his or her eyes and breathe in and out, slowly as they give their stuffed animal friend a gentle ride on their belly.  The kids love this!   This breathing exercise can be done right before bedtime so children can enjoy a restful night’s sleep.

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For more creative ideas on using props for yoga, look at some of my other posts:

Fun Finger Puppets as Yoga Props

Imagination Kids Yoga Props

Kids Yoga Props on a Budget

 

 

 

 

 

By: Category: Breathing, Children, Creativity, Family, Fun, Imagination, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Meditation, Partner Yoga, Props, Relaxation, Teaching, Theme Classes, Yoga

Kids Yoga Props on a Budget

Yoga Props and Books are essential teaching tools for kids yoga teachers.

I have written several posts about my favorite yoga props, books and music, but I realize that many teachers who are just starting out may have a limited budget, so I wanted to share with you some of the awesome props I found at my local Dollar Tree and Amazing Savings discount stores.  Yoga props do not need to be expensive to be FUN!

I’ve tried out all these props in my classes over the past few weeks and the children LOVE THEM!!

Of course, Books are my favorite yoga prop!

Books keep children engaged and eager to turn the page to find out what yoga poses they will meet in the story.  The 3 books pictured here worked with different ages.
The board book Hello Lion with the LION puppet attached was a big hit with my younger preschoolers (ages 2 to 3).  I pretended to make a deep lion voice as I read the book and they had fun doing the poses ELEPHANT, MONKEY, TREE, BUTTERFLY, SNAKE and of course the “King of the Jungle” LION!
Mommy, Where are You is also a fun book for preschoolers. It’s about a little MOUSE who wakes up and can’t find his mother.  Each page shows an illustration that appears to be the mouse’s mommy, but is actually another animal. We did the yoga poses of each animal or nature element in the book and the children really enjoyed the idea of guessing which character they would meet on the next page.
The last book was a fun, double-sided book! One side is called You are a Gift to the World and the other side, The World is a Gift to You.  The book is perfect for elementary school age children to reinforce the concept of our connection to the earth and being part of it all.  There are so many poses in the book and it is such a positive message for children to realize their own unique gift  and that the Earth provides so many gifts to us.
Stickers are a favorite prop because what child does not like stickers?
There are a wide variety of stickers available at the Dollar Store in the education aisle.   Children love being able to choose a sticker and lead the class in the yoga pose represented by the animal or object on the sticker.  Stickers are great for animal, nature or transportation theme classes!
Animal Picture Cards are a wonderful visual prompt for yoga.
The cards are an excellent way to teach yoga poses once the kids are familiar with animal and sea creature yoga poses.  Children can each get a turn to come pick a card and then the whole class does the pose together!
Stuffed Animals are another popular yoga prop for kids!
They are plentiful at the Dollar store and the kids love visuals, so they make a great prompt for yoga! You can have each child choose a stuffed animal or create an interactive  yoga story with the stuffies. Stuffed animal are great for relaxation too.  Place the toy on the child’s belly and pretend to give them a ride with your breath!
All these props cost me less than $16!
So, when you are on a budget, make a trip to your local dollar store and use your imagination to find some really awesome props for your classes!

By: Category: Books, Breathing, Children, Creativity, Family, Fun, Imagination, Kids Yoga, Props, Teaching, Yoga

Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

Spring is in the air and as Nature starts to show signs of new life, it is the perfect time for children to discover their connection to the natural world through yoga! Yoga allows kids to appreciate how things grow and the beauty all around them.
Instead of tossing those Easter baskets aside, why not use them to explore some fun Nature yoga and breathing exercises?  You can recycle those plastic Easter Eggs and plan a yoga egg hunt indoors or outdoors that your kids will love! It makes a great rainy day activity too!
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Prep and hide your plastic Easter Eggs with animal stickers or use this sheet of cute Easter Clip Art you can cut out.

DOWNLOAD EASTER CLIPART HERE

In honor of the Easter Bunny, start with a BUNNY BREATH.  
Wriggle your nose like a bunny, and start taking quick, short breaths out through your nose.
Are you hungry?  Let’s sniff around for some carrots!
Tell your child you will be going on an YOGA EASTER EGG HUNT!
Take turns opening the eggs and doing the yoga poses or movements of the animals or objects on the stickers or printed clipart.

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Some of the Poses you can do are:
Easter Bunny-Hop like a Bunny and do Rabbit Pose.
Butterfly-Bring soles of your feet together and put your hands on shoulders, as you flutter your ‘wings’-arms and legs.
Bee-Bumblebee Breath- take a deep breath in and breathe out making a BUZZZZZZZZING sound)
Bird-Stretch out your arms and flap your ‘wings” as you fly around.
Frog-Squat in Frog Pose
Egg and Chick- Come into Child’s Pose for Egg and pretend you are a little CHICK coming out of your egg.
Turtle-Sit with legs bent and arms tucked under legs, hiding your head in your turtle shell and then peek your head out.

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More ACTIVITY PLANS for CALM, CONFIDENT KIDS are available in my SHOP by clicking the images below.
Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

HERE COME THE CREEPY CRAWLIES

Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

BREATHING FUN FOR EVERYONE!

Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

PLANTING SEEDS OF MY YOGA GARDEN

Yoga Easter Egg Hunt

A CAMPING WE WILL GO!

By: Category: Children, Creativity, Fun, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Nature, Props, Teaching, Theme Classes, Yoga

Books Make Yoga Come Alive!

 

Books Make Yoga Come Alive!

Do you remember those childhood days of reading your favorite book or bedtime story? 

I love books… I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember.
Every Saturday morning, my mother would take me to the library to pick out some books for the week.
I would get lost in each and every page…becoming part of the story.
I think that’s the reason I felt a calling to become an Author.
As both an author and a children’s yoga instructor, I love that I am able to use storytelling to engage children’s imagination.
It allows me to combine my passions for both books AND yoga!

Like reading, yoga allows us to go a magical journey using our imaginations.

That is why books are the perfect complement to kid’s yoga.  Storytime yoga is a favorite activity in my classes because the children get to experience and integrate the story on a holistic level through their senses and their bodies. They are not only listening to the story, they are actually IN IT!

Every book is an opportunity to take your students on a new whimsical yoga adventure.

Using books in your yoga classes is an effective way to engage all learning styles:  visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Since all children learn differently, the multi-sensory experience of reading and doing yoga together gives each child a way to process what they are learning and understand it in their own unique way.
Another important benefit of reading is that it improves focus and concentration. Children bring their awareness to the words, images and feelings evoked in the story.  One of the challenges of teaching yoga and mindfulness to young children is that they have limited attention spans.  A book is the perfect focal point for yoga because it allows children to place their attention on themselves with each turn of the page.  They are fully immersed in the moment as they respond to the story.
While there are a few story books available, including my own book Lucinda’s Magical Yoga Adventure, that actually have yoga poses in them, almost any children’s book with animals and nature elements can be used. Once you discover the many amazing books out there to use in your yoga classes, you will you will rediscover the magic that reading provides for a child and for yourself!

Here are 5 simple ways to incorporate books into your yoga classes or at home:

  • Choose a book that enhances your class THEME or teaches your child a POSITIVE MESSAGE 
  • Use each page as a PROMPT for a YOGA POSE or activity that reinforces your theme
  • Make it an INTERACTIVE STORY where the children become the characters they meet along the way
  • Play a GAME by asking your students/child to find the yoga poses in the book
  • Encourage children to MAKE UP yoga poses or movements for characters or objects in the story

Here is a list of my favorite of my all-time favorite books to use when doing yoga with children:

How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Bauer
Mindful Movemements by Thich Nhat Hanh 
I’m Thankful Each Day by P.K. Hallinan
Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry MacLean
What Does it Mean to Be Present? by Rana DiOrio

They are all available on AMAZON by clicking the title or the links below.

 

By: Category: Blogging, Books, Children, Creativity, Family, Imagination, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Teaching, Theme Classes, Writing, Yoga

Must Have Kid’s Yoga Playlist and Resources

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Image Credit http://dapinographics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/kinder-yoga-landscape-preview.jpg

I have been connecting with so many children’s yoga teachers and parents who enjoy doing yoga with their children. As a children’s yoga teacher, I have found that creativity is key when introducing yoga poses or concepts to children at any age.
Children LOVE to pretend and use their imagination!
They can “be” an animal (dog, cat, lion, frog, etc.), a tree, mountain, train, rocket ship, you name it!  There are so many wonderful songs and books out there to introduce children to yoga.  
Here are some of my favorite music & resources that I use in my classes:
music Kid’s Yoga Playlist  
Dance for the Sun– to teach Sun Salutation and Namaste Song  Kira Willey-Dance for the Sun
Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)- to teach Lion Pose, Laurie Berkner-Whaddaya Think of That?
Long Time Sun– Snatam Kaur-Feeling Good Today!
Superhero to teach Hero-Warrior Pose- Patty Shukla- Play with Me! Sing Along!
Yoga Child by Bingo Kids-Yoga Child: A Peaceful Place Inside has lots of fun yoga breath and movement songs
https://i0.wp.com/www.alytus.rvb.lt/wp-content/uploads/Books-for-Kids-150x150.jpg?resize=73%2C73 Yoga Books and Resources
My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste
Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Tara McLean
Yoga Pretzels Card Deck by Tara Guber
Once children are familiar with the yoga poses, almost any book that contains animals, elements in nature or objects that move can be used as a prompt for yoga.  While there are so many animals that are actual yoga poses, there are also many other animals that children can make up yoga poses for, stretching and moving as they develop body awareness.  The best part is that YOU get to be creative and have fun while the children show you how to move like a truck or a panda bear.

By: Category: Children, Creativity, Music, Teaching, Yoga

Best Music for Kids Yoga Playlists

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,  flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” ~ Plato
Music is such a wonderful way to teach yoga to children!
Kids love to dance, move and sing. Music provides fun, playful cues for teaching yoga poses, especially for preschoolers.  Music can set the tone for certain movements, as well as guide them through a yoga sequence. The children in my classes have their favorite songs which they ask me to play every class and they love to sing along!  I like mixing up lively songs for stretching and fluid yoga poses with some soothing songs for relaxation.  I’ve compiled my favorite kids yoga songs on several fun itunes playlists for many themed classes.
The Kids Yoga Essential Playlist includes  the absolute MUST HAVE Yoga Songs for your kids classes.
These playlists are kid-tested and my little yogis ask me to play them in my classes all the time!
I am an iTunes and Amazon Affiliate and would really appreciate it if you use the links and Playlist links below to order your music.
CLICK this LINK  KIDS MUSIC PLAYLISTS to find some more ready made playlists of songs you can download from itunes for your classes or to use at home!

KIDS MUSIC PLAYLISTS 

All songs can be found on Amazon or iTunes by following the links below.

Enjoy!! 

Kira Willey’s Dance for the Sun includes my favorite kids yoga songs:

Dance for the Sun (perfect for teaching Sun Salutations)

Namaste Song (great for closing class and bowing Namaste)

Colors (a sweet lullaby for Relaxation time or closing circle)

Dance for the Sun also contains bonus yoga tracks with guided yoga sequences for the kids to follow along.

Yoga Child: A Peaceful Place Inside by Bingo Kids has lots of fun songs, movement, breathing and relaxation exercises to choose from.

Paint the Sky (A cool warm up exercise for stretching arms up and “painting” to the music)

The Butterfly and the Seagull (for Butterfly pose and flapping their “wings” in the air)

Savasana Song (prompts kids to lie down-“bellies, up, eyes closed, backs on the ground…”)

Snatam Kaur’s Feeling Good Today is a beautiful album which contains both lively and peaceful kids yoga music.

Two of my favorite songs are Longtime Sun and Make the Love Grow

By: Category: Children, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Meditation, Music, Spirituality, Yoga

Fun Finger Puppets for Kids Yoga!

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My favorite yoga props are these animal finger puppets.

When I first bought these adorable finger puppets, I never knew how much mileage I would get from them! I thought they would be a cute prompt for the kids to practice their animal poses.  I purchased two sets of 10: farm animals and sea creatures! I have since  expanded my puppet collection to include jungle animals, a butterfly and I’m always keeping my eye out for new puppet friends.

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These puppets are popular with kids of all ages!  

I keep all the finger puppets in a bag and whenever my students see the bag, they are a bundle of excitement! Each child reaches into the bag to pick a puppet and lead the class in doing the pose together. They enjoy making up poses too, like stretching their arms and neck up high and standing on their tip toes for giraffe and stomping like a bear.  You can even have the children make up a yoga story using the puppets.  Once upon a time, there was a LION and then the next child chooses their puppet and continues the story!

Puppets are a great way to keep children focused for relaxation time.

After we’ve finished with the poses, tell the children they are now going to give their puppets a ride with their breath during Savasana.  I place the puppets gently on their bellies, as the children close their eyes.  At the end of class, the children hold the puppet in their hands or put them on their finger during our closing song.

Finger puppet yoga is a sure-to-please lesson. I am sure your kids and students will love them as much as mine do!

These finger puppets are available in my store or by clicking the link below:

For more fun prop ideas, take a look at my other posts

Imagination Kids Yoga Props

Kids Yoga Props on a Budget

By: Category: Children, Creativity, Fun, Kids Yoga, Props, Yoga

Let’s Go on a Winter Yoga Adventure

kids snowman

In keeping with the Winter theme, this week my preschoolers and I went on a Winter Yoga Adventure! 

After our first major snow storm of the year, my students were eager to share their favorite winter activities and how they PLAYed in the snow while they were home from school! When I asked the children what they love to do in winter, there was so much excitement and so many great answers.  I wanted them to have the opportunity to enjoy these activities together as a class (indoors, of course)!  As a Warmup, we did the WINTER POKEY from Mr. Jones Sing Along! They loved it!! We all had a blast singing, laughing and twirling around. After all that spinning, we were a little dizzy, so we all took a rest lying on the floor with our eyes closed.  I had the children breathe in and feel the energy they had created in our warm up, and calm their bodies with the breath. 

We were now ready to go on our Winter Yoga Adventure.  We got on our imaginary sleds (our YOGA MATS) and went up and down hills through the snow…WHEEEEE!!!!

Then, one by one, the children picked one WINTER ACTIVITY or YOGA POSE to do with the class.

They all worked together to build and dress a SNOWMAN and then we held hands and circled around him singing Frosty the Snow Man.  We had a blast having a snowball fight, ice skating, decorating the Christmas Tree (TREE POSE) and stretching to put the STAR on top, playing Leap Frog (FROG POSE) in the snow, doing some of our favorite YOGA POSES, warming up with VOLCANO BREATH and drinking our hot chocolate by the fire while singing some Christmas songs!

For SAVASANA, we made SNOW ANGELS. at first flapping our “angel wings” and then slowly becoming STILL.  I guided them on a winter visualization where they were lying in bed watching the glistening snow falling outside their window and the stars twinkling in the sky, as they drifted off…then slowing bringing them out of relaxation by turning over to the side and  hugging their knees into their chest, as they snuggled under their cozy covers, resting in that peaceful place where there minds and bodies were completely still.  

Some of my favorite theme classes are the simplest…where all you need is a child’s imagination to have a whole lot of FUN!

By: Category: Children, Creativity, Fun, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Meditation, Music, Nature, Teaching, Theme Classes, Yoga
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