Valentine's Day

A Valentine Day Surprise In Kids Yoga Class

Show You Care on Valentine’s Day.

Last week I got a nice surprise from one of the kids at the end of yoga class that would be a great surprise for your kids for Valentine’s Day to truly show you care.

First, a bit about last week’s surprise, which came on a day that should have been a snow day. 30 centimeters (about 12″) of snow kept falling and falling, making the roads and sidewalks super slippery. Half the kids were absent. But school was on so I braved the storm and went to teach yoga.

Second, you have to know that in my toddler yoga class we finish with the toddlers coming up for a hug, it’s a little routine we all love. This study shows how Depriving Babies of Cuddles Does Long Term Harm. Hugging is an acceptable practice with this age group.

Family Yoga with parnter yoga. — Try Bicycle Legs for Valentine’s Yoga Class

Also know, two weeks ago, 7 kids moved from the toddler room (walking – 36 months) to the preschool room (3 – 5 yrs). In the preschool room hugs are not part of the routine, teachers reduce hugging as the kids get older.

The Spontaneous Hug

However, the day of the storm, with so many children away, and so many new toddlers there, spontaneous hugging broke out at the end of the preschool yoga class.

Now, here’s where I got surprised. It was something a 4 year old boy said. He kept coming back for more hugs. Every time a space opened up in front of me, there he was with a big smile and his arms out. This continued until all the kids who wanted a hug got a hug. The boy probably had five hugs and remained alone with a big smile. He said, “Can you stay all day and give me hugs?”

The reason I was surprised was because that type of big statement is usually the kind I make. He had taken my line!

A Fun Classroom Management Tip

Whenever the kids ask for something, if I can’t give them what they want for real, I give them what they ask for in a wish or a fantasy. It’s a trick I learned in this this wonderful classroom management book.

So if the kids say something like:

Kids: “No, don’t end class. Can we do one more song?”

I’ll respond: “Wouldn’t it be great if I could stay all day and we could do yoga and songs all day!”

To which they all cheer, YES!

I agree that it would be awesome and once that feeling is acknowledged by all of us, it is much easier to say, “Alas, there are other kids waiting for their yoga class.”

Granting Wishes as Classroom Management

Giving kids what they want in a Wish is an effective strategy for classroom management. Without it I don’t know how I’d deal with all the kids’ requests I receive. Here’s another common example:

Child: “Miss Yoga, can we do (kids suggestion of a pose or activity) now!”

Wish Granting Yoga Teacher: “Would you like to have a class where you got to pick all the poses?”

Child: “Yes!”

Wish Granting Yoga Teacher: “That would be fun. I’ll plan a class like that another time. Now lets do (the lesson plan).”

It’s much easier to move on when the feeling has been acknowledged. So I was surprised when the boy went straight to the big wish.

Acknowledging Feelings as Classroom Management

partner yoga — Try mini pyramids for Valentine’s Day, either kneeling or standing. Make sure you have mats or a spotter.

Usually I’m the one taking it up a notch, now here stands this 4 year old with his big wish: “Can you stay all day and give me hugs?”

Do you know what I said?

“I wish I could because I really like being with you.”

I got one more hug, and then the boy joined the line-up leaving for playtime in the gym. I didn’t need to say anything else.

On days like this, even with a miserable snow storm going on, it feels like teaching kids yoga is the greatest job on earth.

For Valentine Day this week consider surprising your kids by granting them a wish or a fantasy. Just like in yoga, acknowledging feelings helps release resistance and everyone feels good.

Announcing: Upcoming Teacher Training Specials

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

Chocolate Covered Swiss Chard – An Important Classroom Yoga Tip

A Valentine’s Yoga Mismatch

Mmmmmm, Chocolate! Oh so euphoric, bittersweet goodness that melts on the tongue.

Swiss Chard, my tender green friend. Proudly named the Valedictorian of Vegetables.

Valentine’s Day is the time of Romance and sometimes surprising coupling. Let’s follow up on my last post about the Romance between the head and the heart and the coming together of the Olympics and Valentine’s Day with this lesson learned in my three classes last Friday:

Like Chocolate and Swiss Chard, just because two things are great separately – it doesn’t mean they will make a good couple!

Kids Yoga at the Valentine’s Party

This first Valentine’s class at 9:15 am went off beautifully. We discussed everything in the last post and for thirty minutes we hit the Moguls, went down the luge, and did some ski jumping (like in the Wii Fit game – for those who have it). We finished with figure skating. Warrior and Dancer gliding across the ice. Then struck a pose to mark the end of the routine, smiling for the judges and feeling the victory of completion.

However for future Valentine’s Day and every other holiday that involves sugary celebration I want to be honest about what happened. The next two classes had the excitement level of an Olympic athlete competing in front of their home country. An energy that gives an extra push.

There was a table filled with the EXTRA cupcakes, cookies, and chocolates.

There were kids still sporting a chin smeared with icing,

Usually quiet children were wrestling each other on the carpet and speed skating to the door to greet me.

Be Ready to Change Your yoga Lesson Plan

We tried talking about the Olympics but these sugar filled youth could not raise their hand or wait for their turn. Nor could they imagine a ski hill or focus on balancing. After about 10 minutes of doing poses that would set records for fastest times, I dropped the lesson plan and pulled out my trusty iPod.

For the next 15 minutes we did every dance, move, shake, and wiggle song in my collection. For the last 5 minutes, the kids actually relaxed and/or meditated with me. We sweated that cupcake party out of their systems.

Even though I love both Chocolate and Swiss Chard, it doesn’t mean I’d put them together. Its the same with Yoga and sugar. Whenever you can, put the yoga first and keep the cupcakes far away.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Fellow Yoga Lovers!

Olympic Kids Yoga and Valentine’s Day

A Gold Medal Week

for Kids Yoga Lesson Plan Themes

Those who work with kids know it can be a challenge coming up with themes for kids yoga classes. Often we turn to current events for ideas and this week we’ve hit the jackpot!

Not only are the Olympics happening, but it is Valentine’s Day too.

The Olympics are pretty easy to connect with yoga poses. You can ask the kids about their favorite Olympic sports and how yoga could help them in that sport. Don’t forget all the concentration poses like archer below or tree pose. Work both the physical and the mental muscles.

Summer Olympic Kids Yoga Poses

I’ve posted in the past on the Summer Olympic Games:

Olympic Rowing for Forward Bends including some partner yoga,
a Rowing Game that builds Concentration (using a Caller like they do in the boats with a lot of rowers),
Archery and Archer Pose

Winter Olympic Kids Yoga Poses

But now it’s time for the Winter Games and a whole new look at the Olympics:

Rowing is very similar to the Luge so we could use the two ideas above again,
Snowboarders, skiers, and Ski Jumpers need to know about mountains so I include: Mountain Pose, Volcano Pose, and Avalanche Pose and these videos from Janet of Children’s Yoga Books show some great ways to do these poses.

Avalanche Pose – Kids Yoga Winter Olympics

Volcano Pose – Kids Yoga Winter Olympics

Partner yoga: There are team sports at the Olympics, so do some team building activities by making a Podium (see the picture above). Children make a small pyramid, starting with everyone doing cat/cow pose, then having one child kneel or stand on the base. If the kids can do it safely you can move onto a larger pyramid. You could also tie in the ideas of what it takes to get to the podium (see below) and the children in the base represent the head, and the heart and add more characteristics like practice, dedication, and ideas the children come up with to be the foundation for getting to the Olympics).

kids in yoga class climb on each other ot make a pyramid — Discuss the foundation it takes for an Olympian to get to the Olympics.

The Heart and the Head Come Together for Kids Yoga on Valentine’s Day

Now with the Olympics and Valentine’s Day coming together it is a perfect time to talk about the Romance between the Heart and the Head. How does the head – the logic, the mind, the calculations – come into play for an Olympic athlete training to shave a fraction of a second off their time?

How does the heart – the dream, the dedication, the quest – come into play? Why don’t those Olympic Athletes quit when it starts getting hard? How do they stay calm when the big day arrives?

Both the head and the heart are developed by a top athlete and we need to develop them too. Not only for a healthy body, but for our dreams, our aspirations, and our goals, which make a healthy life.

The heart leads the way to what we care about, whether it’s the kids we love, in our career, providing for our families, or in our hobbies. Then the head follows through on the heart’s desire to help us get to our goal.

They make a perfect pair! We marry both the head and the heart for a perfect Valentine’s Day – or a Perfect 10 in an Olympic Sport.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. Please share your ideas for Yoga Poses for the Winter Olympics or Valentine’s Day in the comments. You can also get tons of other yoga theme and game ideas in the Young Yoga Master Kids Yoga Teacher Training. A training that counts as a Registered Children’s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance.