Who doesn’t love themes? It’s fun to dress in green for St. Patrick’s Day, put out spooky decorations for Halloween, and let kids pick heart shaped affirmations on Valentine’s Day. Here are some benefits you may not have thought of when you plan a lesson around a theme.  The pictures in this article are all from our Kids Yoga Teacher Training practicum, the part of the training with real kids.

1.  Avoid Boredom and Get Inspiration for Yoga Class Plans

Themes can help get you through those 52 classes every week of the year! Whether it’s inspired by a seasonal event, special occasions, or yoga concepts, using themes gives you a starting point for what to teach. With Valentine’s Day approaching use the theme to teach about the heart, love, and friendship. These themes can last a few weeks and vary throughout the year. If you go in without a theme your classes might get boring or repetitive.

Here are some lesson plan ideas based on themes we’ve written about already:

• 5 Kids Yoga Themes for Spring
• Character Development:  Respect
• The Runaway Bunny Class Plan based on the Book

2.  Help Students Progress in Their Learning

You can use your themes to build on ideas, even if the theme is very loosely tied in. For example, the theme of meditation for children can be taught for weeks adding a different component each class. The theme of alignment lets you build up to harder poses. Themes can be used to teach difficult concepts over a period of time, they allow you to introduce concepts that would be lost when working without a class theme.

3. Delight Teachers by Integrating School Themes into Yoga

School and daycare often have a theme each week, and you can integrate them into your classes. Some themes are school wide, like character education like kindness and appreciation. Many Daycares post a monthly schedule at the door of the classroom. Ask your students what they’re learning about, they will appreciate how you’ve taken an interest and may participate more.

4. Increase Student Participation

When you have been teaching a class for a while, you can let the kids teach the class! The more they get involved, the more fun they’ll have, the more they will learn, and the more they will want to come back.

Themes give youth structure for planning their own classes. Themes help you choose poses and decide what to talk about. I’ve had tweens and teens plan a short class from start to finish around a theme of their choice. They really get excited about it. When they’re done planning, both of you have learned something new.

5. Lesson Plans Save You Time and Become Your Legacy

If you write your lesson plans down, you’ve got something to look back on for future years. Themes can be reused and added to — especially seasonal themes and yoga concepts. They come in handy when life gets busy. As a bonus, you’ve also got something to put in your blog or future book! : )

So go ahead, get creative! Use themes in your lesson plans, and you’ll add fun and excitement to learning!!

Stay tuned for our next post:  When to Throw Your Lesson Plan Out the Window!

Congratulations to the Branching Out Graduates!

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