Yoga Games

Yoga Freeze Dance

Tween Games for Yoga and Fun

Yoga Freeze Dance
In this game when the music is playing everyone dances. When the music stops everyone freezes in a yoga pose.

The girls added a twist to it that if you didn’t get into your yoga pose within 3 seconds you sat out on the mat. You had to wait till someone did your yoga pose before you could come back in.

Some other rules to Yoga Freeze Dance:

At the beginning of the game ask the teachers to suggest some yoga poses to freeze in
Choose a different pose each time you freeze
During the freeze part ask the teachers to make yoga suggestions (eg. “put your heels down if you can”)
Limit the freeze time in case someone has chosen a hard pose

The teachers followed the structure of the class and for the yoga part we played Yoga Freeze Dance. This class was a huge hit and we ended up going five minutes overtime.

The greatest thing about it was there was no yelling, complaining or talking back! It was such a joy to see all the kids dancing freely then freezing in a yoga pose. And a greater joy to see the happiness of the two “teachers” as they led the class and knew exactly what to do.

This summer in my daycare class of tweens, we came up with a plan for yoga that all the kids are excited about. We agreed that the kids would teach the yoga class all summer long.

It started when the kids requested to play tag one day. I thought of how much they like games, and how easy it is to play them. But tag isn’t yoga. … or could it be?

Next class I suggested that because they had a lot of good ideas and they’ve been doing yoga all year, they could start teaching. Who wanted to try teaching a class?

Almost every hand went up.

We made a schedule and posted it in their classroom.

We reviewed the components of a class:

- our tuning in procedure,

- warm-ups,

- yoga poses (in a game, story, or however they wanted to present them),

relaxation.

The two classes so far have been among the most relaxing, fun, and challenging classes ever.

Two girls taught the first class and they were fantastic. They are best friends in the class and are usually together so why not let them teach the class together. The kids in the class also respect them so they had everyone’s attention from the beginning.

Let them Handle the Challenges
They also faced a challenge right off the top: Rain. We couldn’t go outside to do the game they had planned, which needed a lot of room to run around in. So I gave them the choice of postponing their teaching or changing their game to something we could do inside.

They Wanted to Teach
The girls didn’t wanted to miss out on their teaching day so we quickly brainstormed some new games and they chose: Yoga Freeze Dance.

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Dates in Toronto at this link — Our next Kids Yoga Teacher Training starts soon!

5 Sure-Fire Kids Yoga Exercises

Five Kids Favorites
Simply put, there are some yoga poses that the kids ask for and some that they don’t. Surprisingly, a lot of the favorites are warm-up poses that get the circulation going after a long day of sitting at a desk.

These are what I get the most requests for in yoga class:

Washing Machine: This is a great Kundalini Yoga warm-up that kids love because it is active and fun! In easy pose put your hands on your shoulders (fingers in front, thumbs in back). Then twist left and right like a washing machine. You can do breathing – inhaling as you go left and exhaling as you go right, but it’s also fun to say “swish, swish” as you go to each side. (Bonus Pose: Follow this one up with Dryer Pose where you rotate your hands around each other in front of your chest – said to be great for co-ordination and the brain)
Bicycle: In yoga we do bicycle lying on the back and pedaling our legs in the air (see picture). Finish by pedalling up a hill then going down the hill holding your legs stretched wide by your head and shout, “weeeeeeeeee!” (you don’t need to peddle down a hill!)
Tricky Tree: A favorite in the partner yoga genre. In tree pose, both partners face forward and balance on one foot. Instead of putting your foot on your own leg, stretch it towards your partner and let them hold it up for you. One person holds a foot in front and the other person holds the foot behind their leg. You kind of look like a capital “H” when you do it. It is very tricky for pre-schoolers so you may need to help them balance in this one.
Human Teacher Puppet: Want to get everyone’s attention in a class? Let one child sit on your lap and pretend they are teaching the class. Gently hold their wrists and move their arms around for them in a very animated way as you describe the next pose. Use different voices and accents, try hand gestures like using their hand to scratch their head or blow kisses. This is so popular the kids may start to jump on your lap the moment you sit down – so develop some kind of system to keep track of which kids have had a turn.
The Worry Tree: This is a beautiful image we use for relaxing. We have an imagination session for relaxation and go to different places in our imagination. At the beginning of the session we put all our worries on a big tree we call The Worry Tree. You put all the worries you can think of on there and when you are done then you start your imagination session. This is another one kids will ask for at the beginning of the class.

Let me know how these work for you or tell me your most requested poses.

Aruna Humphrys

www.YoungYogaMasters.com

Getting the Jar Open

How Beautiful is the Opening

“We are containers of Love and our only purpose of life is to love and pour out love.”

Tulshi Sen’s Morning Talk: A Story About the Jar of Love

Occasionally a class can feel like a struggle. In retrospect, I

see I’m like a jar closed tight that I can’t get open to enjoy the good stuff inside it. Nothing can penetrate.

My favorite way to teach is to be open with the class. When I plan my classes I have a theme in mind (my motif – see the last entry) and a few key ideas, but I don’t plan every detail. When

I am open to the suggestions and ideas that always come up we have much more fun.

Who’s Hiding Under the Blanket?

On the them

Searching & Discovering – we played a hiding game this week. I used a thin wool shawl that you cannot see through and after the yoga pose everyone rested in child pose. Then I quietly walked around the room and slipped the blanket over one person and everyone guessed who’s under the blanket.

I played it in a few of the rooms in the daycare and we had alot of fun. When I got to the pre-schooler’s (age 2 1/2 – 4 years) they delighted in taking turns going under the blanket. So before we “hid” the kids said – “Now it’s Brianna’s turn to hide.”

The Fun of Flowing
These kids were enjoying a different kind of fun. When they popped up from under the blanket, smiling and arms stretched out in joy – it was an absolute delight. The teachers and parents watching could not help but get caught up in it. A magic had been opened up and poured out into the room.

That magic always trumps any of my other themes! It is the purpose and the reason I love teaching children’s yoga.

Here’s a fun post from David in Brazil describing one of his early experiences flowing with children’s yoga:

http://www.findbalance.net/casa-de-zezinho/