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You are here: Home / Archives for lesson plans

lesson plans

Professional Essentials for Teaching Kids Yoga

I feel a little embarrassed that when I first started teaching yoga, I had trouble with pacing.

I would run out of time and cut the savasana to 2 minutes. Then overcompensate the next class and run out of poses and give a 15-minute relaxation!

It took me a couple of years to get really good at pacing. There were fewer standards when I took my first teacher training in 1998 and I did not learn about pacing.

When I look back on it, my lack of training also made it difficult for my students. They didn’t know what to expect.  To create a professional class, you want students to feel safe, and one way they feel safe is with predictability.

Rounding Out Your Training

Pacing falls under “Teaching Methodology” in the Professional Essentials category in a 200-Hour Teacher Training.  In a Yoga Alliance Registered Training, at least 50 of the 200 Hours go in the Professional Essentials category.

This includes pacing, sequencing, cueing, and other important “Teaching Methodology” competencies.

While Teaching Methodology is covered in the children’s yoga for 33 hours, you will cover an additional 50 hours in this topic in the adult yoga teacher training.  It is thorough.

In this video, Claire and I talk about the Ambassador Yoga Training and the Teaching Methodology competencies. 

We talk about what it is, why it’s important, and one of the fun activities we use to make the training experiential and not lecturing.

Check out what it’s all about here:

Take Your Teaching to The Next Level

In the September 2022 Monthly Mini-Training we’re going to look at the different levels of certification for children’s yoga teachers and what each one means.

Why is the 200 Hour Training Important? The bottom line is it means you have so much more training as a yoga teacher and with the Children’s Yoga Training you can qualify for the RCYT designation.
What your learn in the 96-Hour Children’s YTT and 200-Hour YTT: A Comparison Chart looking at the Yoga Alliance Core Curriculum

Every profession requires professional development and most yoga teachers, whether children or adults, take training to maintain their skills and their motivation for teaching.

Come check it out on September 20, 2022, at noon to 1 pm EST, where we will talk about the training you need to be a Kids Yoga Teacher.

Click the button below to register.

REGISTER HERE: FREE MINI TRAINING

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Teacher Training Tagged With: adult yoga teacher training, lesson plans

How to Explain Chakras to Children?

Chakras for Children

Explain the chakras to children by looking at the Sanskrit word Chakra that is translated as meaning wheel of energy. Comparing chakras to wheels helps children understand how energy is like a wheel, that can flow, go too fast, or get stuck!

Let’s look at the idea of a wheel. Where do you find a wheel? What does a wheel do? Do wheels have energy? What happens when a wheel is stuck or goes too fast? What does wheel of energy mean to you?

Then explore each chakras as a type of energy wheel.

Compare the Chakras to What Kids Already Know

Here’s the type of discussion you might have on the aspects of a wheel.

Let’s name things that have wheels. Youth will name a bicycle, a car, an airplane, a Ferris wheel, a skateboard all these things have wheels.

Let’s look at the example of a car that has wheels. The car can move forward and it can also go in reverse. The car also has a steering wheel and a gas pedal, and other parts to help it move fast or slow or to the left or right.

But without the wheels, the car can’t move very far. It is stuck.

A wheel is different when it is still or when it is spinning. Why? Because of the energy behind it.

When a wheel is moving, it does its job. But sometimes the wheel needs to be still so it can be fixed or repaired.

Wheels of Energy in Ourselves

It is the same with our bodies. Our bodies are mass. They’re solid. We have arms, we have legs, we have a torso. But without energy, for instance when we’re sleeping, the body doesn’t do much.

We use our energy when we are awake to do all the things we want to do.

When our body is filled with energy it can move in all kinds of ways.

Chakras are energy spots in the body that is moving around like a wheel.

How do you decide how to move your body? How do you decide whether you’re going to run or jump or sit at a desk and work?

We guide our energy with different tools, the same way the car has all the tools to guide the wheels. These tools are known as chakra centres in the body. We use our head, our heart, our stomach to guide us.

Lesson Plan on Wheels and Chakras

Here is a lesson plan that you can fill in depending on the age group that you are teaching to help you introduce the chakras to children.

For a Chakra warm up, you can ask the children to name things that have wheels.

Then you can do poses or movements that go with these things.

  • If children name a bicycle, the children can lie on their backs and pedal their legs as if they were riding a bicycle in the air.
  • If children name a car, they could come on to hands and knees as in tabletop pose and lift alternate arm and leg, pretending their car is moving forward.
  • If they name a skateboard then they can pretend to skateboard in warrior two pose.
  • They can jump in the air and do tricks on their skateboard, squatting down or coming into back bends as in dancer pose.
a group sits in a circle in yoga class making a wheel with their legs and arms pointing inwards and exploring the Chakras as wheels of energy through group yoga poses.
Exploring the Chakras by Creating Wheels of Energy in group yoga poses in Kids Yoga Classes

Chakra Lesson Plan Make Up a Story

For the body of your Chakra lesson plan, ask what happens when a wheel gets stuck.

  • Imagine a bicycle with a flat tire, do moves to pump the tire full of air.
  • Bow pose can be a spare tire to change the wheel on a bus.
  • Sun salutation and make up a silly story about pulling parts off a shelf and fixing a car. Kids love making up stories.

Spinning Your Wheels in the Chakra Lesson Plan

Have you ever heard someone say they are “spinning their wheels” as another way of saying they are thinking?

Even thinking about something is moving your energy.

Sometimes we think about something too much. For instance when we’re worrying. We need to adjust that thinking energy to be able to relax.

Sometimes not thinking enough can cause problems if you can’t focus on what you need to think about. You may need to spend more time thinking about how to organize the things we need or our routine for going to school or doing homework.

Relaxation and Reflection on Chakras for Children

For the relaxation part of the lesson plan, consider using soft music and invite the class to let their mind slow down during this time.

Let the wheels in their mind stop turning for a while as they relax.

For many youth, relaxation is difficult. So I also offer them the option to draw a picture, maybe something with wheels to connect to chakra theme, or how to take care of energy, or whatever they want to draw.

  • You could draw a bicycle, and equipment to check the air in the tires and the chain.
  • Or draw a skateboard with tools to check that the wheels are well lubricated.
  • Then add themselves and the things that help to balance their energy.

Download the Chakra Wheels Lesson Plan Template Here

download the PDF Here

Help Children Make Connections to Teach the Chakras

Connecting Chakras to Wheels is a very simple way to explain the Chakras to children. It helps children to understand a concept by connecting it to something they already know and helps you explore how wheels can be in balance and also unbalanced.

The same way our energy can be balanced and unbalanced.

Just like the Chakras.

Once you explain the concept of the Chakra, you can go onto focusing on each individual Chakra in your next classes.

Activity Pages from the Chakras for Children Manual from the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Traiuning
Activity Pages from the Chakras for Children Manual in the Young Yoga Masters Certificate

Chakras for Children Certificate

Find out more about the Chakras for Children 4 Hour Certificate here.

Chakras for Children 4 Hour Certificate

Filed Under: Free Print and Play, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans Tagged With: chakras, lesson plans, printables

Easter Basket Kid’s Yoga Lesson Plan for Spring Theme

When Spring is in the air, a lesson plan with a spring theme is a must!

There are so many opportunities to tie in movement, breath, and nature themes with this time of renewal and rebirth.

Here is a fun idea to teach a spring yoga lesson plan for school age children or younger.

Warm Up: Seed to Flower

Warm up by pretending to be a seed that grows to become a flower.

Warm up by pretending you are seeds growing into flowers or trees.

Start child’s pose, hands together like a little sprout. Then they sit on your heels in rock pose. Kneel up as you grow. Eventually stand up.

Once standing you can hang forward in rag doll pose, pretending that the rain is drenching your plant.

Then the sun comes out and you straighten and grow into a flower or tree.

Children can tell you what colour or type of flower or tree they are.

Yoga Poses for Spring Theme

There are so many opportunities for yoga poses with a spring theme, because spring is the time everything comes out of hibernation, including people!

This Basket activity page has a number of little critters that can become yoga poses.

Spring Basket Activity for Kids Yoga

Easter or Spring Basket Activities

Can you spot these animals on the basket activity page?

  • bees (buzzing breath)
  • butterflies (cobbler pose)
  • birds (squatting or flapping arms)
  • bats (warrior one – bat hanging from the ceiling)
  • trees growing leaves again (tree pose)
  • lizards (plank pose)
  • snakes (cobra pose)
  • beavers (bow pose)
  • crickets (locust pose)
  • snails (child pose)
  • make sure to finish with a relaxation before you look inside the basket!

How to Fill the Basket

Bring the basket to class, the children can colour their own at the end of class. The add your own special message inside the egg to finish the class.

I filled the basket with a large plastic egg that contained a message.

Ending Your Kids Yoga Class

Inside your plastic egg, put a closing message. Here are some examples:

  • Choose the next activity: good for doing more yoga poses,
  • Play your favourite game: when you have a longer class and time for a game, you can pay it after the poses are done.
  • Affirmation: You are beautiful inside and out! or add another message to bring a smile to a child’s face.

Using the Basket in a Series

If you are teaching a regular class series, or as a school teacher, or daycare provider, you can make this an extended activity.

  • Class One: Give them the activity sheet to colour in. They add their name and favourite pose to the bottom of the basket. Then hand them back to you.
  • Class Two: The next class the children cut out the baskets and tape or glue them into shape.
  • Class Three and Beyond: Filling each basket with an item, like a plastic egg with a personal message, or a chocolate kiss to use for a mindful eating activity, a feather or foam ball for a breathing activity, or another treat appropriate for your environment.

Each day, the children can find a new activity in their basket, until Easter is over.

Get the PDF of the Spring Easter Basket Yoga Activity

a spring activity card page pdf that children can colour and cut out along the dotted line.  The four cards include frogs doing activities.  The four position are tree pose, bow pose, plank pose, and warrior one pose.
a spring basket activity page pdf that children can colour and cut out.  Each side of the basket had frogs doing activities.  The four position are tree pose, bow pose, plank pose, and warrior one pose.
Get the PDF of the Easter yoga basket and activity cards

A Kids Yoga Class you’ll teach over and over!

Spring comes every year for many regions. Test out this class this year, you just may have found a yoga lesson plan you can use over and over again for years to come.

Filed Under: Free Print and Play, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans Tagged With: Easter, lesson plans, Spring, themes

Lesson Planning for Kids Yoga Class

Do you use a lesson plan for your kids’ yoga sessions?

We do! There are a number of ways you can structure your lesson plan to help children succeed in yoga class. We cover lesson planning more thoroughly in the Themes and Dreams 16-hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training.

This Free Mini-Training gives you some very valuable tips around lesson planning, especially the most useful things you can do when planning for a series of Kids’ Yoga Classes.

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro
01:20 – The Dish with one spoon
03:20 – Timeline of this Free Mini-Training
04:08 – Why Learn from Aruna?
05:22 – Most useful things you can do when planning for a series of Kids’ yoga classes?
07:40 – Establishing a Routine
10:56 – 3 Routines in each Kids Yoga Class in a series
11:25 – Opening Routines
15:40 – Why Games at the End?
19:15 – Closing Routine
29:45 – Memorize lesson plan or use written notes?
34:20 – Do you use a lesson plan for your kids’ yoga sessions?
37:04 – Waiver for students
39:19 – Your Options for earning your Kids Yoga Teacher Certificate
42:25 – Themes and Dreams
43:19 – Free Mini-Training in April

Get the PDF of the Presentation

You can download the PDF of the presentation in our Free resources here:

Get the PDF HERE

Get more Free Mini Training for Teaching Kids Yoga at the Monthly live-zoom events.

Continuing Education with Yoga Alliance

This training qualifies for Continuing Education (CE) for Yoga Alliance registered Yoga Teachers. A CE Certificate is available here. You can also earn Continuing Education credits by watching the replays of the other Kids Yoga Mini-Trainings.

Earn your Full Certification Here

Get your Kids Yoga Teacher Certificate to teach yoga and mindfulness to children by enrolling in the Themes and Dreams training or taking the full 96 Hour Training for the highest level of Certification.

Filed Under: Kids Yoga Tagged With: lesson plans

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before my First Kids Yoga Class

If only my first kid’s yoga book, the only one I could find in 1998, had taught me exactly what a kids yoga class would be like from start to finish. It seems easy enough from the outside looking in. Doesn’t it always, though? 

My First Kids Yoga Class

I remember the first time I tried teaching yoga to children. I thought I knew enough until I got in front of the kids, and they didn’t want to participate. I was the captain of the ship, and I had a mutiny in the first class! All of a sudden, I realized I knew very little.

And so it goes with teaching kids in real life, compared to how it goes in books and polished videos and even some trainings where you don’t see actual children.

Here are some things I wish someone had told me before my first class

  1.  It’s not like teaching adults so you need a lesson plan with fewer poses, a shorter duration, and it’s definitely going to be noisier than adult yoga.  Plus, kids will let you know (mutiny) if they don’t like a pose, adults may give you the stink-eye but they usually go along with it in some way. You need an appropriate lesson plan for the children you are teaching.
  2. A whole class of children is different then 1 or 2 children. Obvious, yes, but if you have cared for children, you need to learn the tools that engage a whole group. Which leads me to…
  3. Plan so each child can learn in their way. Each class has a variety of activities that connects with many different learning styles. A successful lesson plan is sprinkled with music, visuals, puzzles/games, movement, mindfulness, and relaxation.
  4.  Share your lesson plan with the kids so they know what is expected and how they can successfully participate. 
  5. Be flexible with your lesson plan, move on when something is not working and have a back-up activity in case you have extra time.

The Best Tools for Teaching Kids Yoga that I’ve Learned

The Young Yoga Masters training is where I share what I learned as a full-time kids yoga teacher and a Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School Trainer. You will feel much more confident as a teacher after completing the program. 

Sound good?

Awesome, if you’re ready to get your Certification to teach yoga and mindfulness to children, just click here and reserve your seat in the live-zoom training.

Click here to Get Your certificate to teach kids yoga

Really hope to see you there!

Email us if you have any questions.

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Filed Under: Kids Yoga Tagged With: first kids yoga class, kids yoga teacher training, lesson plans

Lesson Plan for Kids Yoga at a Festival

Cyndi from Young Yogis Toronto is on the stage teaching a Warrior Sequence in the Kids Yoga Class

Our 30 Minute Kids Yoga Lesson Plan

Last weekend was the 6th year I’ve rented a booth at the Toronto Yoga Show. This is one of the few trade shows I participate in each year. It’s a good one for our business because it is busy and it is geared to Yoga.

We promote our Kids Yoga Teacher Training, the 12 Day Immersion and sell a few kids yoga products that are easy to use and explain.

Plus we get to showcase our Kids Yoga in the Yoga Garden for a 30 minute Class.

Objectives for the 30 min Kids Yoga Class

If you ever get the opportunity to teach a demo class at a conference or festival I hope you take the opportunity.  I have taught this class for a few years now and it has helped build my confidence teaching larger groups.

The key is to come prepared.  For this class I had 3 main objectives:

  1. Engage everyone in the class: Go with your favourite poses to teach and ones that you know people like! I chose:
    – a warm up song and breathing activity
    – 2 partner poses,
    – and a relaxation
    In past years we invited children onto the stage, and some kids come back because they really like this part. So we divided our class into a warm up with kids on stage and then partner poses after they return to their families.
  2. Promote some products at the booth: our second objective was to showcase our resources in action. This year we featured the Breathing Ball and an audio from Meditations for Growing Minds at the end.  Then we gave out Yoga Stickers to the kids who participated.
  3. Promote the Kids Yoga Teacher Training:  3 grads of our training volunteered to teach the class.  This gave them a unique opportunity to teach a large group and also let me brag about how wonderful and confident our grads are at teaching!

 

Partner Boat Pose with Maggie teaching and Cyndi assisting.
Partner Boat Pose with Maggie teaching and Cyndi assisting.

The Lesson Plan

We chose the theme Intuition for our class and how yoga can help you get to know your inner teacher to figure out what to do when you are not sure. Here was what we planned for our 30 minutes:

  • 3 min: Aruna Welcomes and Introduce our high quality Kids Yoga Teacher Training and the Grads,
  • 8 min: Marcia leads a Warm Up using the Weaving song by Wah! from the Child’s Play album and does some yoga breathing using the Breathing Ball,
  • 7 min: Maggie leads partner boat pose. leaning back on hands, then joining hands, and singing row, row, row your boat,
  • 7 min: Cyndi leads a Warrior 1, 2, and 3 sequence on each side and Warrior 3 touching hands with partner singing a song with the poses,
  • 5 min: Aruna plays the “Castle of Clouds” track from Nicole’s Meditations for Growing Minds Album (3 min). Then thanks everyone for attending and invites people to come get our literature and talk to us at the booth.

What Actually Happened

If you’ve taught kids yoga classes, you probably know that 30 minutes can fly by!  Our plan felt good and we all knew to try to stick within our allotted time. We were ready.

But the classes before us was not.

Somewhere, someone, somehow, went over time on their class. The time snowballed and we didn’t get to take the stage until 10 minutes into our allotted time.

Then we were on our own to figure out the mic equipment.

It wasn’t until 5 minutes into the class that I found the volume on the mic so people could hear the teacher.

After losing 10 of 30 minutes to the class before us, Marcia has invited the children on stage and getting ready to start the warm up song.

So each of our teachers ended up losing almost half their time. Yet everyone handled it so gracefully.  They cut back on their activities rather than trying to squish everything in and we had a jolly good time with the families.

We only went over 5 minutes.

Fortunately the teacher after us was so very gracious about it.

Lessons Learned from the 2019 Show

What are my 3 take-aways from the 2019 Festival Class?

  1. Support your local festivals and they will support you back.  I’ve been part of this yoga show since its inception. Six years ago I took the plunge with registered for a booth for the Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Doing local festivals is a great way to get to know your community.
  2. Prepare for loose timing and fun: Starting and finishing classes on time is a challenge in studio and festivals alike.  Be ready to change your lesson plan on the fly and figure out equipment on your own.  But most important, have a good time!
  3. Surround Yourself with Talented People: At the show, someone asked me how I have manged to have a yoga business for 20 years. One big part is that I surround myself with people who are smart and talented. I stopped trying to do it all myself.  I could teach a 30 minute class on my own but seeing our grads get this opportunity I felt so proud of their confidence, talent, and grace to go with the flow.

No matter what your lesson plan, when you bring your heart and soul to the event you are in for wonderful results.

Festival are an important step to creating a strong supportive community.

 

Our Lesson Plan has 4 grads of the training leading the class (one remotely – see their details and Nicole’s audio below)

Special Thanks to Teachers:

  • Maggie of Yoga with Maggie Toronto
  • Cyndi of Young Yogis Toronto
  • Nicole of New Age Teacher (TM)  (Meditations for Growing Minds creator)
  • Marcia of Yogi Frogz Kids
  • (not shown) Claire of Ambassador Yoga Fast Track Program for Yoga Teachers to offer Teacher Training

 

Filed Under: Business Development, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans Tagged With: lesson plans, the Toronto Yoga Show

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