In kids yoga teacher training there are two questions I get asked a lot.

The first is, “What do I do to keep the kids attention?”

And the second is, “What should I charge?”

Neither question is easy to answer because there are so many factors involved.  Let’s spend some time on the second question today.

We devote about 4 hours on effective tools to grow your yoga business in the Level 2: Mastermind Certificate of our kids yoga teacher training. You’ll get a more in depth look at different teaching options and price ranges for teaching in a yoga studio, daycare, for a yoga birthday party, a mom’s and tot’s class or a family yoga class.

After starting my yoga teaching career in 1998, here are a few tips I’ve learned for setting your prices if you are wondering what to charge.

6 Factors For Deciding What to Charge to Teach a Kids Yoga Class

ONE: Years of Teaching Experience

When I first started teaching I was just eager to get experience and was happy to get paid anything to start earning income.  So what I accepted as pay in my first year of teaching was lower than what I was willing to accept after the first couple of years. Once you’ve taught a lot of classes and you know you can deliver a great class, you will probably feel more confident charging more. If you are just starting out and no so sure of your skills, consider charging less so that you get experience.  Based on experience, kids yoga teacher usually start their careers charging between $40 – $75 per hour.

TWO:  Time

How much time will you spend on the class?  How close is the venue is to you?  How busy is your schedule?  How easy is it for you to fit the class into your schedule?  If someone wants to book me for a class that is far from my home or starts during rush hour, I quote the higher price.  Remember that once you quote a lower price, you can’t raise it for a while.  If they can’t afford my rate and I don’t get the job, I don’t mind not getting it because it would take me a lot of travel time.  If I do get offered the teaching gig at the higher price, I can let go of one of my lower paying jobs.

THREE:  Leg Work

How much leg work did you do for the class?  Did you plan a special theme, special materials, or buy any extra materials for a birthday party? Did you advertise to fill the class or just show up and teach?  You can charge more for doing more leg work.  If you find yourself doing a lot of leg work, you may want to consider maximizing your profits by renting a room/studio and charging per child.  That way you can get paid more for teaching a large class. One experienced kids yoga teacher I know offers classes at her children’s school. She charges $5/class per student and cuts off registration at 20 students. She runs an 8 or 10 week series and makes $100 per class because she doesn’t have to pay any room rental.  She does the leg work of doing registration and advertising, but it is worth it.

FOUR: Frequency and Duration

How many classes are you getting booked to teach?  I charge more for a one time class and give a better rate for a weekly class or series.  Try giving a special rate for locations, like daycares, that books you to teach a few classes in a row on the same day so you can bill for 2 hours at a time.  This will save you time running around for one hour here and one hour there. You can negotiate a rate that the daycare can afford, to keep you coming back on a regular basis. I’ve taught at one Montessori School for over 15 years and I keep my price reasonable and have a wonderful booking for 2.5 hours/week, which saves me a lot of extra leg work finding new classes.

FIVE: Their Budget

Sometimes in the end it comes down to how much they can afford.  One of my favorite questions is “What is your budget?”  Otherwise said, “My usual rate for this type of situation is (give your higher end rate).  How does that work with your budget?”  It gives you an idea of what they can afford and if you can work within their financial constraints given the other factors above.

SIX: Your Budget

Then sometimes in the end it comes down to what you can afford.  You can do a lot of running around when you become a kids yoga teacher.  Do the math: if you bill 10 hours a week at $50 /hour that equals $500 per week.  Work 48 weeks a year, you will make about $24,000 per year.

You are not getting rich as a yoga teacher even though it may seem like $50 per hour is a lot. Remember, you won’t be working a 40 hour work week, you’ll be spending a lot of time traveling, marketing, and planning.  All things you don’t get paid for directly.  You’ll be able to keep this up for a while, but eventually raising your prices will be the only way to continue if you want to have a car, a home, children, health care, or savings.

Personally I have been paid, over the years, anywhere from $25 – $250 per hour to teach kids yoga. I’ve also volunteered to teach classes to get my foot in a door or because it is a good promotional opportunity.  Recently a local fitness organization contacted me looking for teachers for an after school program.  They start their teachers at $40 per hour.

My Recommendation of What to Charge for those who can Deliver:

Considering all these factors on the financial side of teaching kids yoga, I recommend a new Kids Yoga teacher set their rate at a minimum of $50/hour for a weekly class and $150 for a one time class.

Here’s the caveat:  this rate means you can walk into the class, with your bag of effective tools, and deliver a great class. If you are worried you are going to stumble through the class, then lower your rate till you get enough experience with real kids to feel confident.

Your price can go up from there.

More Qualifications = Higher Charge

If you have other skills or training (like academic degrees, ECE or adult yoga teacher training) you can justify charging more for your services by highlighting your extra qualifications.

If you’ve taken a Weekend Training with a Practicum like Young Yoga Masters offers then you will already have some effective tools and techniques you can use in a kids yoga class. And you’ll have experienced what it’s like to teach kids and won’t be surprised or intimidated in your first class.

If you have a 95 Hour Certificate and Yoga Alliance Certification then you put yourself in a higher tier of training and can justify charging more. And you’ll be worth it to the school or classroom because you’ll have a boatload of tools at your disposal to deliver a great class.

Next Steps

For those looking to work on their kids yoga business, consider taking the Level 2 Mastermind Course with new material on building your Kids Yoga Business.  If you have already taken the 95 Hour Training, this can qualify as Continuing Education Credits for RYT Yoga Teachers.

Find out when the next course is scheduled and full details here.

 Register Now to Reserve Your Place and Build Your Kids Yoga Teaching Business