Earth Day Lesson Plan for Kids Yoga

Earth Day provides a great theme for kids yoga to show our love of the planet, yoga style. Here’s an Earth Day lesson plan and free coloring page for your consideration:

Starting Your Lesson With an Opening Reflection Circle

To begin your class set an intention and reflect on Earth Day.  Use the breathing ball (as shown in photo) as an analogy to teach awareness.  The breathing ball starts out small, but expands into a larger circle. Our thinking can expand the same way the ball does. We start out seeing the small view and then expand our awareness to see the big picture.

Ask your students open question like: “What can you do to connect with the Earth?” They can share their responses when they hold the ball.

Start your Children’s Yoga Class with Playful Movement

Use the 3 R’s, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, for fun in your kids yoga class.

Reduce: Don’t Forget Your Bags!

Plastic bags make up tons of landfill that you can reduce by bringing your own bags.  Take a shopping trip on a row of mats (give children cushioning to crawl around) with these ideas:

• Select Your Groceries Wisely: Make up Yoga poses for various grocery store items. What do you get at the grocery store? Cookies (the kids can think of a cookie pose (eg: bow pose), bananas (crescent moon pose) or butternut squash (triangle pose). How can you reduce your waste when you shop?
• Check Out: Crawl under Downward Dog pose to send your groceries down the conveyor belt to the cashier
• Human Grocery Bin: Put each item in your reusable grocery bag (Boat pose) after they come off the conveyor belt, do boat pose to make a bag for the groceries to go in. If someone doesn’t do boat pose, they forget their grocery bag and can jog home to get it (jog on the spot).

Discuss items that get forgotten when it comes to recycling and composting in the home.  You’ll be surprised how the little things can reduce your impact:

• toilet paper rolls be recycled in paper
• used tissues can go in compost
• skip the clear plastic bags for produce when possible (your bananas don’t need to go in a bag!)

Reuse: Hand-Me-Down Game

This game can teach kids about passing down clothes and other reusable items that they don’t want any more.  Did you  know some people have taken a pledge of zero waste and they only shop at second hand stores?

• Kids can play Hand Me Down Ball and pass a ball like a hand me down, passing over and under the other kids as they do different poses like Warrior, Bridge, and Tree Pose

Recycle: Yoga poses

• 4 children can pick 4 yoga poses, then the rest of the class can put them in order from largest to smallest to demonstrate minimizing waste and reducing recycling. For example, flow from Warrior to Downward Dog to Camel to Child Pose. Continue till everyone has had a chance to pick a pose.

Complete Your Lesson Plan with Relaxation

For relaxation invite your students to rest on their backs and become still. Reflect on what you’ve talked about today.  Imagine you do something for Earth Day.  What will it be? Will you reduce, recycle, reuse, compost?  Who will support you in your goals?  How can you share your idea with your community, friends and family?

After the relaxation, ask if anyone would like to share any final thoughts from class.

Draw a picture of your idea to bring home if time permits. Try this Earth Day Coloring Page

Hope you love this lesson plan and look forward to April 22nd as much as we do. Have fun celebrating Earth Day!!

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