by sara | Feb 4, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards include heart opening Yoga Poses
Love is in the air, and now is the time to let your heart shine. Yes, flowers and candy are a lovely thought for adu
These heart-opening exercises are especially beneficial for kids and adults who spend the majority of their day slouched in desks at school and work or with their heads bent over screens and books. These exercises take only minutes and will help improve posture and release back and neck tension as well as create an openness in your body and mind.
You can find all of the Heart Opening Yoga Poses in our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
Head over to Daily Cup of Yoga to read the read and try these amazing heart opening yoga poses.
More Heart Opening Yoga Poses:
- Cat to Cow Pose: Begin on your hands and knees. Next round your back and tuck your chin into your chest as if you are a cat. Then look up, arch your back and open your chest into Cow Pose. This is a great way to strengthen your spine and begin to feel your heart opening.
- Updog Pose: Lie on your tummy. Place the palms of your hands next to your shoulders and look up. Slowly straighten your arms and open your chest. It is okay to keep arms bent as well.
- Bridge or Wheel Pose: Kids love trying to get into Wheel Pose, but this huge heart opener is not easily accessible for all. For an easier but still effective heart opener, try Bridge Pose. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Rest your arms alongside your body, tuck your chin into your chest, and lift your back to create a bridge.
- Camel Pose: Take this pose slowly and feel your heart open. Get on your knees, lean back slowly, and place your hands on your lower back or ankles. Tilt your head back, open your chest, and breathe.
- Bow Pose: Lie on your tummy, bend your knees, and lift your chest. Reach your arms back toward your toes and hold onto your feet. Let your heart shine!
Find all of your Kids Yoga books, resources, lesson plans, games and activities in our Go Go Yoga for Kids E-Store.
Why the Go Go Yoga for Kids E-Store Matters to You:
- Now you are able to easily download your Go Go Yoga for Kids books on any device. This means your iphone, computer, tablet, kindle, ipad. Any of these places!
- You can also easily transfer your Go Go Yoga for Kids books from device to device.
- This is also extra exciting because you are able to easily print out sections that are important to you. You know how much I love writing and putting together kids yoga lesson plans. Now you can easily find which lesson plan you want to use and print it out for your personal use. This is also true for our lesson plan templates, guides and games that are found in our books!
- Another great reason to purchase your e-books directly from the author is that it does help me out. You know how kids yoga is my passion and I love being able to get resources and ideas straight to you. When you purchase directly from the author this allows a great connection and helps small businesses such as Go Go Yoga for Kids.
Thank you for checking out our Go Go Yoga for Kids E-Store .
by sara | Feb 2, 2017 | Yoga Poses
Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards
Yoga can be done with all ages and has numerous benefits for your body both inside and out. Trying these four progressive kids yoga poses and easy-to-remember mantras will give your body many physical and mental benefits.
These fun and family-friendly progressive poses only take minutes each day. By consistently pairing these poses with saying the given mantra, you will begin to feel many physical and mental benefits take place.
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Child’s Pose
This still and quiet centering pose is a perfect one to begin with. Sit back on your heels, slowly bring your forehead to the ground, and stretch your arms out overhead. Take a few deep breaths in and out of your nose.Mantra: I am calm and centered.
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Down Dog
Place your palms flat on the ground and step your feet back to create an upside down “V” shape. Keep your head loose and look between your knees. This is a great pose for building arm and leg strength. Kids love to hear how this pose lengthens their hamstring muscles and can make them seem taller.
Mantra: I am strengthening and lengthening.
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Boat Pose
Balance on your bottom, tighten your stomach, and bring your legs up to make a “V” shape while maintaining a flat back. Try to move your arms slowly from side to side as if you are rowing a boat. This is fun for kids and wonderful for building good core strength.
Mantra: I am strong and balanced.
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Plank Pose
This pose will work every muscle in your body. Hold that perfect plank position with your body while forming a straight line from head to feet. Try to hold this pose for 15 seconds. Squeeze your stomach and legs together to feel lighter. See if you can hold this pose for 30 seconds. Try to work up to a minute which is definitely an extra challenge!Mantra: My body and mind are strong.
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Practice these five poses every day and notice the changes you feel in your body and mind. These brand new pose cards will challenge you and your family with balance, flexibility, mindfulness, and more. It will only take minutes each day to gain lifelong skills and health benefits. This yoga card deck includes thirty poses including partner poses, confidence building pose mantras, and fun games to play together using our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards include:
- 40 progressive kids yoga poses with colorful illustrations
- Empowering pose mantras for beginners and also for meditation
- 15 Bonus Yoga Games to play with pose cards
- Poses rated from 1-5 stars based on difficulty
- Easy to flow poses for your own yoga routine
- Tested and proven kids yoga poses to bring the most mental and physical benefits
Looking for more kids yoga lesson plans and games? Get your copy of Go Go Yoga for Kids books here.
by sara | Jan 26, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
Help celebrate teamwork and friendship by practicing some of these partner yoga poses for kids.
SeeSaw:
Have each partner sit facing one another on the mat wit
h their feet touching. They will grasp hands. One partner will lean backward while the other one leans forward over their straight legs. Continue to slowly seesaw back and forth. This exercise is great for working the core and stretching the hamstrings.
Open Heart: Each child should stand behind a partner with one foot back, one foot forward, and knees slightly bent while holding their partner’s wrists. The partner in front leans forward and shines his or her heart forward while the other partner helps support them.
Raindrop: Each partner lies on their back with their heads touching. With their arms at their sides, they raise their feet above their heads to touch to make a giant raindrop.
Double Boat: Have each partner sit facing each other with knees bent and toes touching. While holding hands, they lift their legs. To help with balance, the bottoms of their feet should be touching. Then the partners, if able, straighten their legs and lean back slightly as if in a “V” shape.
Partner poses involve working together to accomplish a goal and that is fun and rewarding. It builds trust and confidence. These partner yoga poses for kids can be done in school, or in a home setting. My own family enjoys trying them together and can be modified for different ages and sizes.
For more yoga partner poses please check out Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Using Yoga with Kids or our popular Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
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by sara | Jan 26, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
I was honored to be interviewed by Backyard Yoga on the inspiration behind Go Go Yoga Kids and why kids need yoga! Read on and enter to win your book giveaway of Go Go Yoga for Kids.
“I am excited to share all of the benefits and fun you can have with yoga and kids!”
-Sara Weis
I had the pleasure of meeting Sara last year at the National Kids’ Yoga Conference in Washington, DC. She had recently self-published Go Go Yoga for Kids, and her energy and spirit definitely impressed me. We have a shared passion for creating tools to help teachers, studios, and parents introduce yoga through play-filled movement, meditation, and mindfulness. Follow along as Backyard Yoga takes the time to get to know a little more about Sara and her book:
Read the full interview below:
BYY: Hi, Sara. Please tell the BYY community a little bit about yourself.
Sara: Kids, teaching, and yoga are definitely my passions. I am currently in my 17th year of being an elementary school teacher, as well as a kids’ yoga instructor and a busy mom of three.
I was able to put all of that into place with my recently-released book, Go Go Yoga for Kids. It is a complete and creative guide to using yoga with kids. This book was designed for parents, teachers, yoga instructors, counselors, and anyone who wants to introduce yoga through movement, mindfulness, and fun. It includes yoga games, pose illustrations, lesson plans, and many resources.
I have worked with kids the majority of my life, and I get a lot of my inspiration from my classroom students, my kids’ yoga students, and my own children.
BYY: When did yoga enter into your life?
Sara: I fell in love with yoga several years ago as a way to supplement my workout routine. At the time, I was training quite a bit for triathlons and half marathons. The hard training definitely took a toll on my body, and my weekly yoga class soon turned into my favorite workout of the week and the one I looked forward to most of all.
BYY: How did your focus on kids’ yoga evolve?
Sara: I became certified in teaching kids’ yoga because I wanted to have the knowledge for my school classroom, as recess and PE times were being reduced. I also loved all of the benefits that yoga brought on mentally and physically.
I loved my kids’ yoga training classes and knew at that moment that this was exactly what I was supposed to do. The one thing I found lacking from my training were the resources to make yoga really fun and engaging for kids, as well as lesson plans for those that wanted to use yoga with kids. At the time there was not much for kids’ yoga on the market for exactly what I wanted kids to experience and gain.
Kids are busy. They need to be moving. I wanted kids to have the benefit of the yoga poses, but also be actively engaged, getting their hearts pumping and having fun. I began to create kid-friendly lesson plans and themes to use with my students, such as Superhero Yoga, Lego Yoga, and trips to the ocean and jungle. They loved it and I was inspired to continue creating more and more fun yoga themes and challenges for kids.
BYY: I’m guessing this was the catalyst behind Go Go Yoga for Kids?
Sara: Yes, Go Go Yoga for Kids was developed as a way to share these lesson plans and resources so others could benefit. It didn’t happen overnight; it was months and months of planning, writing, and culminating all of my resources into an easy-to-follow guide.
BYY: What was your biggest hurdle in making this happen?
Sara: I definitely had “Mom guilt” with my own kids, as I felt like this was taking a lot of my limited extra time and energy. I don’t think my kids saw it that way, though. They are so proud of me for taking something from scratch and developing my passion. My entire family has supported me throughout this entire process.
BYY: As an entrepreneur myself, I also feel the “Mom guilt”. I find getting them involved helps. Did you find this?
Sara: Definitely. Each of my three kids has helped with Go Go Yoga for Kids. Either through being a guinea pig for my ideas, modeling poses, and even having my older daughters help with design and marketing. I know they have learned a lot along the way, and I have even seen them begin to develop their own ideas and products.
BYY: What is your vision for Go Go Yoga for Kids moving forward in 2017?
Sara: I am excited for 2017 and am in the final stages of developing my new Kids’ Yoga Challenge Pose Cards. They will be a great companion to the Go Go Yoga for Kids book. I will also continue to build partnerships with like-minded others such as Backyard Yoga. I am excited about the things that they have coming up as well. We are all better together and it is so much more fun!
BYY: How do you find time to play?
Sara: I love Backyard Yoga’s belief that you should make time to play every day, and I definitely practice that in my day-to-day life. It comes naturally from working with younger kids. My own family loves to be active and we often take our “play” outside with anything from hiking, a game of touch football, or jumping on our trampoline. Kids love it when adults get right in there with them.
BYY: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Sara. Now for the final question: If you could only teach your children 3 lessons, what would they be?
Sara: Compassion, mindfulness, and entrepreneurship. This pretty much sums up what I try to teach my kids in all that I do.
BYY: Thank you, Sara, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us here at our Backyard Yoga community. Wishing you the best in your business endeavors, your family ventures, and your personal undertakings. Namaste.
by sara | Jan 23, 2017 | Free, Free, Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
Once in a while I like to use mandalas in my kids yoga classes. Kids just love coloring these circular and symmetrical designs. They find them calming and relaxing.
I play quiet background music and have sit everyone in a circle when we get ready to work on our Mandalas. I also like to have the option to use markers or colored pencils. It is important to stress to the children that it is supposed to take a long time to color a heart Mandala and to not rush. I love how this also naturally opens up a conversation in my upper elementary, tweens, and teen kids yoga classes. They tend to be less self-conscious in a group while they are actively doing something with their hands such as coloring.
When I do this with children as part of a regular 45-minute class, I only allow about 10 minutes for it at the end of the class (before or after Savsana). I encourage the children to take it home and finish it or bring it back the next class. If I am leading a kids yoga camp or club where I seeing the children often, then I will hang on to the Mandalas and we will pull them out to work on as we have time. A great time is at the beginning of class while waiting for everyone to arrive.
There is something special about working thoughtfully, mindfully, and bringing the mandala to completion. It is a meditative process for many children and adults.
If the students are older, it is fun to try to create our own mandalas by using their bodies.
I love how they also naturally open up conversation in my upper elementary, tweens, and teen kids yoga classes. They tend to be less self-conscious in a group while they are actively doing something with their hands such as coloring.
Click here for your FREE downloadable Heart Mandala
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