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You are here: Home / Archives for Kids Yoga / Yoga Games

Yoga Games

5 Activities for Kids Yoga Summer Camps

It’s finally summer! A perfect time for a Kids Yoga Summer Camp.

I remember the first time I offered a full day/full week kids yoga camp, it was not what I expected.

The biggest learning curve was not the yoga part. I had taught a lot of kids yoga, it wasn’t hard to think of activities.

No, it was sorting out the washroom routine!  There were no public washrooms at the playground so if one child had to go, that meant the end of the playground visit for everyone.  

If you’re planning a summer camp for kids, don’t forget to plan these details and if you also want kids yoga ideas, we’ve got that covered here too.

Mini Training Highlights: Summer Camp Activities

Here are some of the key takeaways from the topic of Kids Yoga Summer Camps from our free mini-training that happened in June 2022:

  • There are many wonderful activities that take too much time for a regular kids yoga class so camps are the perfect time for them,
  • Choosing an activity that is age-appropriate is key!  We talked a lot about the age for each activity.
  • A one week camp with 10 kids can be a good cash injection, you just have to make sure you don’t burn yourself out.

Check out my 5 Favourite Camp Activities and the discussion around them in the video replay in the June Free Mini Training because some of you might be looking for activities to do during your camp.

These 5 activities will enhance your camps. Some are of my favourites because with a camp you have a lot more time to do activities that you can’t fit into a one hour class.

Preview: Kids Yoga Summer Camps

Here’s a preview of the video with the first 3 activities from our YouTube channel:

Watch the full video in the June 2022 replay in the free course here.

5 Kids Yoga Activities to Enhance Your Camps this Summer

1. Chakras

If you’re doing chakras for children, try presenting them over a series of classes.

If I was teaching the chakras to children, I would limit this to a yoga studio. That’s because if you’re doing chakras in a school or a daycare, they may be a little too esoteric, some people might mistake it for some kind of religious teaching. You just don’t want to have any problems in that department. I really recommend this for a private camp, yoga in the park, in a yoga studio or in your home studio.

Here’s what the activity could look like if presented at a camp from Monday to Friday:

  • Monday: What are Chakras (see April 2022 Mini-Training for Lesson Plan). Introduce the concept of the chakras.
  • Tuesday: The Lower Triangle (Chakras 1, 2 + 3)
  • Wednesday: The Heart Centre (4th Chakra)
    • You can include all kinds of social-emotional learning and empathy lessons into that one lesson plan.
  • Thursday: The Upper Triangle (Chakra 5, 6 +7)
  • Friday: Your Chakras are your talents, how will you use them? For those who have the workbook from the chakras for children training, you can do use the questionnaires in those worksheets. Or the kids can reflect on which of the talents are associated with the chakras

Watch the April 2022 Free Mini Training – Chakras for Children here.

Consider getting the 4 hour Chakras for Children Certificate here.

2. Mandala Activities

These Mandala activities can take a while to complete so they are great for camps.

This activity requires some big paper, some stamps, and stamp pads.

One of my colleagues tried doing this at home but she said her mandala turned into an oblique shape. The secret to stamping a mandala is very similar to why we meditate. It about starting in the center and moving from the centre to the outside.

If you start at the outside, trying to make a circle, its will be a lot harder to make it look even the way a mandala does.

The idea is that you meditate you check in with yourself, this is what my meditation teacher used to say to us. If you want to love yourself, the way you do that is to know yourself.

We start in the center and then from there we create our vision for our life based on what we want to achieve and what we can do. Whereas if you’re always trying to create your life from what other people are telling you to be, that is a very difficult existence because it’s really hard to please everybody.

We should create a mandala just like meditation, from the inside to the outside.

Then you can move this activity into yoga by making a group yoga pose in Mandala shapes as pictured in the image above.

3. My Song

The My Song activity is where you ask the children to share a song that is meaningful to them. Each child can say their song and talk about why they like that song. Then everyone can listen to the song.

When I started doing the My Song activity, I actually had an iPod!

My Song - Kids Share Why They Like Their Favorite Songs - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

One bonus of this activity is it’s a great way to discover songs to add to your music playlists. I don’t listen to pop music very often so this is one way to find out the songs that are popular with children.

When it comes to music, I use a lot of playlists when I teach classes, to sort the music by the mood.

When I’m teaching classes I’ll have relaxing songs, warm-up songs or songs with the moves built right into them. When the time comes and we’re ready to relax, I can go to the relaxing songs playlist and find a song.

A little back story about the My Song activity, I did this for the first time when I was in high school and one of my teachers did it with our class. I still remember people’s songs to this day. It was a nice way for us to get to know each other in the class.

People chose all types of songs so not only did it expose us to different genres of music that we might not listen to, it also gave everyone a way to talk about something that was meaningful to them without it being too risky.

4. Eye Pillows

This is a very simple activity that can be done a number of ways.

When I have a lot of time we sew eye pillows in class with a needle and thread and rectangles of material. We sewed an outer pillowcase that we can wash and an inner pillow that we filled with rice.

The class of students, mostly over six years old, really enjoyed it. They were amazed that they can just make their own thing.

I remember one camp we did sewing, and I helped a student sew up a hole in their sock. They were both amazed and happy that the sock was fixed.

When I have the time, I like to sew with kids, but if I don’t there is another option. You can buy socks from the store and use fabric markers to draw on them to make a colourful pillow case. You have to set the drawings by putting the sock in the dryer or pressing with an iron.

Kids Making Eye Pillows using socks filled with rice and Pillow Cases coloured with fabric markers. - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Then you fill the inner sock with rice and tie the end with an elastic.

You can incorporate scents if it is appropriate, like lavender or other herbs, or essential oils, to add to the eye pillows. Make sure to check first if that’s okay with the kids because not everyone likes scents. I would advertise the use of scents in the class description so there are no surprises. ikm

You can use the eye pillows for the rest of the week. There are more activities with the eye pillows in the Inclusive Yoga Certificate.

5. Yoga Names + Names

We developed the Frog Yoga Alphabet especially to help keep kids busy during kid’s yoga and yoga camps.  You can print and play all kinds of games with them.

Sometimes people think a Yoga Alphabet is just for children learning the alphabet, but with a little imagination, those letters become words and the words become games and stories! 

In this activity, we used the Frog Yoga Alphabet to spell children’s names. Every letter has its corresponding pose and children can colour different letters each day.

We also do yoga for the letters.

In the picture above, we had an afternoon camp that was about three hours. Lauren finished colouring her letters and we also did the yoga poses. Then we came back to colouring and do another person’s name.

Lauren stapled her letters in the corners after she coloured in the pictures. She got to take home a name banner that day to put on her wall.

I like Lauren’s idea for a banner. I had been stapling the poses like a book.

If you were in a studio where you could hang up all the names and leave them up throughout the week, you could inspire others with the activity.

Then, when kids arrive they could to their own name, or a friend’s name, and do all their poses as a warm-up.

Kids Yoga Summer Camp

Yoga and fun go hand in hand. So when you’ve got the extra time in a Yoga Camp let these activities inspire you to enhance your camps.

Watch the full June 2022 Free Mini Training here or click the button below.

watch the Kids Yoga Summer Camp – jUNE 2022 free mini training

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Teacher Training, Yoga Games, Yoga Songs Tagged With: kids yoga activites, Summer Camp, Yoga Games

4 Keys to Teaching Literacy and Language with the Yoga Alphabet

Yog Literacy graphic Young Yoga Masters

When I introduce the Frog Yoga Alphabet resources to participants Yoga Literacy Certificate of the kids yoga teacher training, I emphasize that the alphabet letters make words, words make sentences and sentences make stories. It’s good thing to remember because it reveals the importance of letter learning but also reminds us that the yoga alphabet can be used in so many more ways than just learning letters.

Since we offer a Yoga Literacy Certificate and I looked into the latest research around teaching literacy. With that in mind here are some interesting findings which speak to the idea that letters make words and words make stories.   Here are 4 keys to teaching literacy to young learners:

1. A Letter a Day is Better than a Letter a Week

When introducing the alphabet, rather than presenting a letter a week, Ray Reutzel  in his paper Early Literacy Research: Findings Primary‐Grade Teachers Will Want to Know points out it is more effective to introduce a letter every day and then cycle through the alphabet after that. When cycling back, give more attention to more difficult letters:

…this protocol calls for teachers to introduce a new letter or set of letters each day in multiple cycles of repeated practice.  Over time, as the easier letters are mastered, teachers adjust the instruction through pacing and frequency of exposure. All letters are taught explicitly at least once. However, those letters that are harder for children to learn receive more attention and practice.

2. Six Ways Kids Learn Letters More Easily and Quickly

In the same paper above, Reutzel also identified six learning orders in which children learn the alphabet letters and sounds:

  1. Own-name effect – Young children most easily and quickly learn the letters found in their given or first names.
  2. Alphabetic-order effect– Letters at the beginning or end of the alphabet are learned more quickly and easily than those letters ordered in the middle of the alphabet
  3. Letter-frequency effect – The more frequently exposed letters are in printed materials, the more quickly and easily they are learned
  4. Letter-name pronunciation effect – Occurs when a letter’s sound is heard as the letter’s name is pronounced.
  5. Consonant phoneme acquisition order effect – That young children learn consonant letters’ names and sounds easier when they are mastered earlier in children’s oral language development
  6. Distinctive visual features letter-writing effect – The letters of the alphabet are recognized through detection of a smaller set of distinctive visual features. Teaching students to fluently produce this smaller set of distinctive visual features before teaching them how to write all of the alphabet letters has been found to lead to quicker mastery of letter transcription.

3. Self Regulation Helps Literacy

We know that one of the aims of yoga and meditation is improving self-regulation.  A recent study from Michigan State University found that literacy learning improves when combined with activities that improve self regulation. Lead researcher Lori Skibbe says :

Parents need to be aware of how their children can regulate their own behavior based on what’s going on around them. Parents can structure their home environment and routines in ways that support children,” Skibbe said. A full night of sleep, playing games with children and having time without distractions in the background are things you might not think help language and literacy development, but they do.”

4. Kindergarten Language Skills Are Good Predictors of Future Proficiency in Other Subjects

We know that teaching literacy is the foundation of building language skills in children but research from University of Washington found that a child’s language skills in kindergarten predict his or her performance in other areas, including math, reading and social and emotional learning later into their education. Amy Pace, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and member of the team that conducting the study found:

Researchers found that of the skills and milestones evaluated – social/emotional, attention, health, reading, math and language – only language skills, when a child entered school, predicted his or her performance both within that subject area and most others (math, reading and social skills) from first through fifth grade. Reading ability in kindergarten predicted reading, math and language skills later on; and math proficiency correlated with math and reading performance over time.

Yoga Literacy Certificate

If you’re interested in yoga tools that help teach literacy and language to kids, the Yoga Literacy Certificate is for you. It includes a lot more than just teaching kids yoga how to use the letters of the alphabet. It also includes partner poses, games and activities for early readers to teens and we take a look at ways of doing yoga with kids while having fun and staying safe. Plus, participants of the kids yoga training learn effective relaxation techniques that help calm kids.

Filed Under: Classroom Management, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans, Teacher Training, Yoga Games Tagged With: Research

Easy Breathing Activities for Kids Yoga

Children's Yoga Teacher Blows Bubbles and Kids try to pop them with their feet in the kids yoga teacher trainer certification

An Amazing Way to Get Kids’ Attention

It’s amazing how much use you can get out of a 99c bottle of dish detergent.

Picture a classroom full of young students, some eager to move and learn while others remain nervous or disinterested. A kids yoga teacher asks the kids to sit still and close their eyes, and when they are ready, the teacher reveals a bubble wand and soap.

The excitement is audible.

Students are directed to lie down beside each other, and the instructor blows bubbles above them encouraging them to pop as many as they can – with their feet. There isn’t an apathetic student in the room when they learn they’ll all get a try.

This method of getting kids engaged is shown towards the end of this video from the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Certification:

While this simple prop introduction may sound insignificant, it promotes a safe and engaging environment while teaching incredibly relevant lessons. When kids pop bubbles by kicking the air, they get moving. More importantly, it prevents them from getting lost in the excitement, chasing after bubbles with minimal regard for their own safety, let alone that of the other kids.

Incorporating Bubbles into Kids Meditation

This activity is also a fantastic prompt for discussion. Think of the associations or lessons which could be learned by analyzing the use of bubbles:

  •  Blowing bubbles requires a relaxed and smooth breath which requires practice and patience.
  • Students may notice how delicate and short-lived the bubbles are. They are present for a brief time, and we appreciate them while they last rather than focusing on the loss. The fragile and temporary nature of bubbles is an easy connection to detachment and the idea of letting go. This makes for an excellent meditation prompt, as students can be encouraged to slow down their thoughts and imagine themselves dismissing a negative idea with each bursting bubble.
  • Students may also be encouraged to visualize themselves filling each bubble with a positive thought and letting these go, too. This is an important practice for avoiding fixation on things, and finding contentment.
  • The simplicity of bubbles permits nearly anyone to easily sketch them, and thought-bubbles or charts are an excellent way to visually keep track of discussion points and ideas.

The opportunities are truly endless.

“I remember teaching at a retreat and giving children a choice of activities, they chose the bubbles. We went outside and spent a half hour blowing bubbles, without any other activity necessary. The adults were in a three hour workshop and so for the last half hour of our time with the kids we blew bubbles. I considered it thirty minutes of deep breathing, and we all felt incredibly relaxed by the end. It was an added bonus that after this activity the children returned to their parents super calm.” 

– Aruna Kathy Humphrys, Lead Trainer, Young Yoga Masters

Nowadays, it is easy to forget that kids enjoy uncomplicated activities too, especially with the accessibility of video games and wide array of complex entertainment; simplicity can be refreshing.

Keeping kids safe and engaged can often be challenging for parents and teachers, yet it benefits all to stay creative with lesson plans and remember that even a small grocery store purchase can have an incredible impact.Young Yoga Masters Teacher Showing Kids Breathing Exercise

Share your fun kids yoga breathing activities in the comments section below.

Upcoming Events

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School
Click this link for all the upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Certification courses

Kids Yoga Teacher Training is always a welcome adventure you’ll be glad you explored!

Filed Under: Classroom Management, Inspiration, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans, Meditation with Children, Videos, Yoga Games Tagged With: benefits, breathing, Kids Yoga, kids yoga teacher training, meditation for kids, Yoga Games

5 Kids Yoga Activities to Enhance Your Camps this Summer

It’s summer!  Which means kids yoga camps and time to try fresh ideas that you just don’t have time to try in a regular class.

I’m planning a summer camp right now.  It’s 18 hours over 5 days in our Kids Yoga Teacher Certification.  So I’m going through my resources and picking my favorite activities.  This camp during the Kids Yoga Training is so much fun and adds a dimension to the training you get teaching actual kids. 

You can get your 95 Hour Certificate from our Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School. Email me if you have any questions or are interested:  info @ youngyogamasters.com.

So while I’m prepping for camp I’ll share some of my plans.  Here are 5 Kids Yoga Summer Camp Ideas from our Kids Yoga Teacher Training that are sure to enhance your camps.

5 Kids Yoga Activities to Enhance Your Camps this Summer

1. Chakras for Children

Explore the Chakras Each Day of Camp:  When I teach kids yoga at a school or daycare, I steer away from the Chakras.  The topic is too esoteric for the public domain.  But when I teach a kids yoga camp in a studio, the Chakras are perfect for yoga studio territory.  I explore this topic from angles that kids can relate to:  favourite colours, elements of nature, and super-powers that each chakra hold.  Learn more on Chakras for Children in our Kids Yoga Teacher Training and get this free printable Chakra System PDF on this Blog Post here.

2. Mandala Activities for Kids

This includes both drawing Mandalas and making them with your body as these pictures show:

kids mandala workshop - during yoga class the group is seated in a circle and makes shapes with their arms and legs that look like a giant mandala. this is part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training
Part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training
Kids Mandala Workshop Meditation and Yoga Presentation, kids hold up the mandalas they created with coloured ink and stampers Kids Make Mandalas - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Techer Training
Kids Make Mandalas with large paper and stamp pads. – part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

3.  My Song

It can be hard for some kids to open up in class but you you will find that most children have a favorite song.  During an 8 hour a day, week long yoga camp I taught, we had a lot of time for extra activities.

One of the big hits was talking about our favorite songs and why they are meaningful to us.  Give kids time to contemplate what “My Song” will be.  Once they choose, it might surprise you how they open up in class.  Plus its very relaxing to listen to songs and hear their meaning.

My Song - Kids Share Why They Like Their Favorite Songs - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

 4.  Eye Pillows (and Washable Pillow Cases)

Eye Pillows are a fun one or two day craft and activity that comes straight from our Inclusive Yoga Certificate of Kids Yoga Teacher Training.  We use eye pillows as weighted objects to help kids get into their body.

First Part:  Fill the first sock with rice or grains. Then pass around some dried herbs or essential oils to smell.  The kids can create a custom fragrance in their pillow.

Second Part: Draw on the second sock to make your pillow case.  Just follow the directions on the fabric markers.  We put the socks over a can of club soda to make it easier to draw on the material.

Marker Tip:  The Crayola Brand Fabric Markers boast “Great for dark fabrics” but I was disappointed in the lack of colour on my black socks. So all my dark socks became the inner pillow, and the white socks were for marking on.

I think these eye pillows are better than stuffed animals or Beanie Babies, because you can pull off the pillow case and wash them!

Kids Making Eye Pillows using socks filled with rice and Pillow Cases coloured with fabric markers. - part of the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training

5. Word Games

We developed the Frog Yoga Alphabet especially to help keep kids busy during kids yoga and Yoga Camps.  You can print and play all kinds of games with them.

Sometimes people think a Yoga Alphabet is just for children learning the alphabet, but with a little imagination, those letters become words and the words become games and stories!  The next thing you know, you are playing charades, hangman, or discussing your “Word of the Day,” coloring it, and putting it up on your wall.

We recommend you keep it “yoga” by doing the yoga pose each time a letter is used.

A tween holds up her name spelled out in Yoga Letters from the Frog Yoga alphabet, part of the kids yoga teacher training of Young Yoga Masters

Enhance Your Camps

Yoga and fun go hand in hand. So when you’ve got the extra time in a Yoga Camp let these activities inspire you to enhance your camps.

What is your favorite activity for a kids yoga camp?

Upcoming Events:

Get Your Kids Yoga Teacher 96 Hour Certificate this Summer!

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School
Click Here for Upcoming Dates

Contact Info @ YoungYogaMasters.com for more information or visit the Registration Page for dates and registration info.

Make Your Kids Yoga Training One to Remember!

Get More Details on Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Meditation with Children, Yoga Games, Yoga Songs Tagged With: eye pillows, Kids Yoga, mandala, songs, summer camps, yoga alphabet, yoga camps

3 Kids Yoga Ideas for a Healthy Halloween – Including Free Printables

Free Kids Yoga Activities for Halloween

Young Yoga Masters is celebrating this October with free treats!  Our Four Year Blog-iversary passed and Halloween is just around the corner.  To thank you for staying connected we’ve got a free treat and Halloween fun for you and the children celebrating with you. Lets make this Halloween a little more fun and healthy.

free yoga activty page
Consider adding these healthy coloring pages to your treats for Halloween

We’ve got three delights for our blog party:

  1. A Healthy Treat so you can shell-out a little yoga.
  2. A Fear Filled Story for Introducing your Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
  3. A Halloween Song that will get children stretching and breathing.

A Healthy Halloween Treat You Can Shell-Out

At my house we get about 100 kids on Halloween that I’m going to experiment on this year.

Get your free printable coloring pages.

I’m giving out edible treats (I don’t want my house egged)  AND I’m slipping in a Yoga Coloring page to each unsuspecting costumed visitor.  I’ll post their reactions on Facebook and Twitter next week (#healthyhalloween).

Now you can also print these yoga coloring pages – as many as you want.  The two pictures you see in this blog post are yours by clicking below. You’re invited to share this link with anyone who also wants a healthy treat to give kids.

FREE PRINTABLE COLORING PAGES CLICK HERE:

Healthy Halloween Yoga Pages PDF

.

A Halloween Story for Yoga with Kids

Try introducing your Halloween lesson plan to add some real yoga to your fun:

Once upon a time a man traveled home at night by the light of the moon.  He walked nimbly almost holding his breath because everyone said a deadly cobra lived beside the road.  Just as he approached the final bend he felt something brush against the front of his ankle.  Panicking he ran the last block screaming and shaking his leg.

Throwing himself beneath the light of his front porch he expected to see a snake wrapped around his ankle.  What he in fact saw was a child’s skipping rope.

This old yoga story shows us how we don’t see clearly when fear takes over.  Remember it when you trick or treat and come upon a scary house with spiders and witches. If you relax and breath you shed some light on the situation.

When you drop the fear you’ll see those spiders aren’t moving because they’re made of plastic.

And the person wearing that big black hat looks a lot like your friends mom and she’s holding a bowl of candy.

Today who wants to do some yoga to dispel fear so we can get lots of candy on Halloween?

.

A Halloween Song with Yoga Movements

Then you can launch into a warm up with this song:

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
(Chair pose)

The first one said, “Oh my its getting late.”
(stay in chair pose and point to your watch)

The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
(come upright and stretch arms in the air)

The third one said, “Oh we don’t care.”
(swoop arms down near the floor bending your knees)

The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.”
(run on the spot)

The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun!”
(squat down slowly then jump up on “fun”)

OOOOOOOOOHHH went the wind
(stand with hands on waist and bend forward from left to right blowing like wind)

and OUT went the lights
(stretch arms to sides then clap hands on “out”)

and the five little pumpkins rolled out of site.
(rolly polly hands)

When the kids exclaim AGAIN, AGAIN you will be warmed up after one or two reps of this Halloween favorite.

Happy Halloween to everyone and thanks again for reading.  If you decide to give out the yoga coloring pages or have any ideas to share for a healthier Halloween leave a comment.

[divider]

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Dates in Toronto at this link

Become a Kids Yoga Teacher!

Discover Real Yoga and Real Fun in the Young Yoga Masters kids yoga teacher training weekend. Come join us and give yourself a weekend to refresh and renew your practice.

Participants get inspired in a play based learning training at the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification course.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

Filed Under: Free Print and Play, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans, Resources, Yoga Games, Yoga Songs Tagged With: Halloween, lesson plans, stress management

Be Clear on What You Want in Kids Yoga Training

This guest post is by Bekah Starr of Sproutin’ Yoga.  She explains why she registered for our training this weekend even though she’s been teaching kids for five years.  She also gives you two new classroom management tips and shares the challenges she still experiences as a teacher (and she’s not alone!).

It’s not as easy as it seems to get kids on their yoga mats.

Be Clear on What You Want in Kids Yoga Training

by Bekah Starr, Kids Yoga Teacher

Even though I’m trained as a Hatha/ Vinyasa yoga teacher for adults, I’ve been teaching kids yoga for about 5 years now instead.  Why? I find it to be lighter, less serious, more fun!

The joy and excitement that kids bring to everything lights me up everyday and I feel truly blessed to offer the teachings of yoga to kids in “kid sized” portions.

I also have to admit; I understand yoga and the philosophies of yoga much more since I’ve been teaching kids. Somehow breaking down the concepts for kids makes it easier for me to understand too. Maybe it doesn’t have to be so complicated after all…

Challenge: Kids Off their Mats and Running Around

Don’t get me wrong; teaching kids also has its challenges. Children can be much less forgiving than adults.  If I don’t plan well and keep them interested they get bored VERY easily.  And once they’re gone, they’re gone. They’re off running around the studio, playing tag and such, even though there is a rule to “stay on your mat.”

While it is nice to keep it simple, less complicated, and less serious then you might with adults, the rules can get lost with all the innovation and creativity.

So this weekend I’m excited to be traveling from Buffalo, USA to Toronto, Canada for the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training.

I want Training for New Games and Classroom Management Tips

I’m making the weekend investment because I gotta find lots of creative ways to impart new ideas and concepts.  My hope is that at the Young Yoga Masters weekend I’ll learn some new ways to share yoga with kids, new games and fun ways to teach. And to discover how to keep the children on their mats!  Is that possible? J

One thing I use now that works well is breath.  Doesn’t that work for you too? Take a deep breath.  It’s universal, it really is.  I use breathing a lot in my classes and it seem to work well, especially when I have the kids make wind with their breath.  Sometimes I use books to illustrate a theme in class and I have them stay focused by making wind with their breath and blowing the next page open.

A Handy Tool I Use Now for Classroom Management

Let’s take for example my 3-4 year old classes, I teach 3 of these a week.  This past week particularly has been a hard week to follow the “stay on your mat” rule.  It’s warm and sunny out, I get it, they want to run outside, like little wild animals.  Which can be really cute, if they would just stay on their mats for a few minutes so I can teach a few poses.

I have one little boy in particular who likes to lead the others around.  He happens to be the oldest, so the others follow quite readily.  He also happens to be the most rambunctious.

Responsible Kids Make a Calm Kids Yoga Class

In the beginning, these two qualities added up to a lot of frustration for me.  Now, I’ve given him an important job.  I’ve made him responsible for leading us in a deep breath between each pose.

We learn a new pose, move around in it and feel how our bodies can make lots of shapes.  Then when it’s time to focus again I ask this little boy to lead us in a deep breath.

It’s hard to move around and lead a deep focused breath at the same time for a 4 1/2 year old. He’s got to stand still to do it, so the other children follow him and stand still as well.  It’s centering and calming for everyone and I can teach whatever I need to.

I invite you to try this too.  When your feeling a bit out of sorts refocus yourself with a deep breath.  Teach it to others too, it’ll change your world!

Watch for my follow-up blog, coming after the training where I share my experience of the course and how the tools worked with my rambunctious kids.

Bekah Starr
Sproutin’ Yoga
.
P.S.  What do you look for in professional development or training that you take?  Please leave a comment.

Filed Under: Co-Operation, Kids Yoga, Teacher Training, Yoga Games Tagged With: breath, classroom management, kids yoga teacher training, yoga for boys

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