Now you are ready for Part 7 of the Kids Yoga Lesson Planning 101 Training:
The Kids Yoga Challenge!
Congratulations! Now you are well over halfway through with your yoga class. Your students have moved, breathed, learned a lot and had fun! Now it’s time for Part 7 of your Kids Yoga Class with The Yoga Challenge!
The Kids Yoga Challenge: Yoga Lesson Planning 101 Part 6
With the Yoga Challenge portion of your kids yoga class, your students will have the opportunity to work on a challenge by themselves or together with the group. Select one of the options below and spend 7-9 minutes having fun with the Yoga Challenge.
The Yoga Challenge Options:
1. Balance Poses:
Select a single balance yoga pose for the children to work on. This could be Airplane Pose, Dancer Pose, Tree Pose or may others. We like to use The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards to help provide a visual. When placed on the floor, they also provide a wonderful focal point.
Kids love to work on balance in yoga class because it is fun and challenging. They often don’t realize that they are acquiring a skill that improves each time they practice. This is good news because studies have shown that our balance decreases as we age beginning at age 7. With practice, we can maintain this balance.
2. Inversions:
I understand that Inversions can sound scary to try…especially with kids. The great news is that Inversions do not need to be difficult to do and the benefits are enormous. Find out how to practice our favorite Kids Yoga Inversions here.
3. Partner Yoga Poses:
Kids love partner yoga poses! Partner yoga poses help teach children the importance of teamwork and working together plus they are fun to do and build trust and community with one another. Check out our all-time favorite Kids Yoga Partner Poses here.
4. Group Yoga Challenge:
This type of yoga challenges are some of my favorites. Do not overthink this, it can be anything from standing in a circle and passing a hula hoop without letting go of hands. It can also be a Group Tree Pose or a Down Dog Tunnel. The point is to get the children working together to achieve a goal while having fun!
Down Dog Tunnels are always a hit for The Yoga Challenge.
The Yoga Challenge is an important part of your kids yoga class for differentiation and meeting the varying needs of your students. Everything can be modified.
This challenge allows the children the opportunity to work on more difficult poses by themselves or within the group. This builds trust and community.
Although the official Opposite Day has been declared on January 25, kids love to celebrate Opposite Day anytime. A fun way to do that is with The Opposite Yoga Pose Game and dog pose.
Kids love this yoga game and it really stretches their minds as they think creatively and move their bodies in different ways. Kids don’t necessarily need to have an understanding of all the yoga poses to be able to play. Use The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards to help this game be even more successful and fun for kids.
Have the child think of an opposite yoga pose for it. For example; Down Dog Pose could be Boat Pose. Or Frog Pose would become Happy Baby Pose and the opposite of Mountain Pose is a Headstand.
The next child then selects a card and everyone demonstrates the opposite of.
Continue around the circle until everyone has had a turn.
**If the child cannot think of what an opposite yoga pose, he or she can make one up or the group can help them think of one.
How many more opposite yoga poses can you think of? It is okay if the children (or you) do not know the name of the poses they are making. Just make them up and have fun!
A helpful tip is to look at the pose card and see what they can come up with. This is a fun game that allows collaboration and teamwork within the group. It is the simple act of moving their bodies in creative and different ways that will produce many benefits.
Congratulations! You have made it to the main part of your yoga class where you can introduce and teach poses to your students. Kids enjoy learning new yoga poses and often get excited about adding new ones to their repertoire.
Boat Pose at the Park: Yoga is a Great Exercise for All Ages
How to Teach Yoga Poses to Kids
When teaching yoga poses to kids, I have found it helpful to group the yoga poses together by a theme. It is also helpful to only introduce 4-6 yoga poses per class. This really gives children the opportunity to practice the yoga poses and remember them outside of class.
I have found that concentrating on fewer poses in class allows the children to truly focus, pay more attention to correct form and achieve success. They will feel themselves getting stronger, longer and more flexible as they become more comfortable with the poses. Your theme-related yoga poses are also a great way to differentiate and accommodate for the varying needs of your class.
How to Introduce the Yoga Poses
When introducing the yoga poses, it is important to be excited about the poses and build anticipation. This is a great technique and you will have the kids in the palm of your hand and so excited to learn what the next pose will be.
Gather the children in a circle
Have some sort of seasonal bag or prop (colorful gift bag, basket, stocking cap, sand pail) that you have placed the 4-5 pose card visuals. I use The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
Call on a child to come and “draw out” the next pose.
Everyone practices the pose. Discuss what parts of your body you feel working and getting stronger.
Call on another child to draw out the next pose and practice.
Continue in this format until all of the poses have been drawn.
I like to give the students a “test.” Since I am a teacher they find this highly interesting and engaging. I call out a pose that we have learned and the students must get into it as quickly as they can. For younger ages, it is fine to show the Kids Yoga Pose Card to help them find success.
The Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards include 40 yoga pose cards. Partner yoga poses, yoga games, and mantras for mindfulness are included.
How to Teach Yoga Poses to School-Aged, Tweens, and Teens
After learning and practicing the yoga poses with older students, we will flow the poses together. Our yoga mats are already placed in a circle and I then place the yoga pose cards (that we just learned) in the center in the center in the circle and also order that we will flow. The children really enjoy this and they feel very grown-up.
They are definitely not too grown-up, however, when the Yoga Flow ends and it is time to practice the poses with a Yoga Game! Kids never ever want to pass up a yoga game!
Stay tuned for our favorite Kids Yoga Games in our Kids Yoga Lesson Planning 101 coming up next!
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Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Yoga with Kids
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There are lots of fun Spring yoga poses and games that can be done at any time. Today we are going to take you through some of the Spring themed Easter Poses. You can find an entire list of Spring and Easter Yoga Poses and Games at https://www.gogoyogakids.com/spring/
This kids yoga class is geared toward children ages 3-10. I do have my helpers here with me today, I know that they are little older, but they still love to have fun with yoga. You do not need to have any props, but I am using some plastic eggs and our Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards.
We are going to have fun with this Spring Family Yoga class!. Let’s learn and practice our Spring Easter Poses!
Join Go Go Yoga for Kids for a fun-filled partner yoga class at Athleta.
First the children warmed up their bodies with some sun salutations and exercises. Then they got into pairs to determine a team name which they loved!
I used the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards to unveil the 5 different leveled partner poses. We started off easy with See Saw Partner Pose. First I showed the partner pose card example and then had a partner pair demonstrate the pose. We also talked about being safe and careful with our partners.
Next we were ready to move into the Level 2 Partner Pose which is Raindrop, followed by Double Boat and Double Down Dog. To celebrate our success we played a fun group yoga game with Down Dog Tunnels which was so much fun. No kids yoga class is complete with Stillness and Savasana and the children settled right into it.
A Partner Pose themed yoga class is a lot of fun for kids as they love working together and teamwork. Find out more about the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards we used during class: http://www.gogoyogakids.com/store/
As a teacher and a parent myself, I understand that more than anything that we want to help set our children up for success. We want our children to be prepared and confident at school, sports, activities, and at home.
We desire for our children to be in a collaborative, creative, calm and supported classroom environment. That is the kind of classroom I strive to provide for my students and you can be sure that is the kind of environment I want my own children in.
The good news is that we can help our own children and students be successful in their experiences. By incorporating easy breathing exercises, mindfulness, and simple stress-reducing yoga poses into brain breaks, kids will become more focused and attentive. That will then help our children to develop greater empathy toward one another and feel more confident and successful themselves.
Kids Need Brain Breaks
Yoga for kids is becoming more common throughout schools, clubs,and activities. With only a few moments each day, you can help kids achieve the benefits that yoga provides. These can be done at home, school, camps, or clubs.
I am a firm believer that children need active brain breaks throughout the day to learn best. Research has shown that students learn best by taking a break or moving their bodies every 15 minutes. Sadly, recess and physical education times are already being reduced in schools, which takes away the active movement that children need.
When using yoga with children, it does not need to be in a structured class with objectives and benchmarks. You are simply allowing the children to move their bodies in good and healthy ways. It doesn’t need to take long and can subtly be incorporated into what you are already doing.
Favorite Kids Yoga Brain Breaks:
Pick a Card Any Card:
When children are waiting for the next activity or standing in line, fan out the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards and select one child to pick a card. Everyone then practices the pose. This is perfect to use during a transition time when you only have a few moments.
Practice fun breathing exercises. These techniques reduce stress and improve focus before tests, transition times, or during an activity that you know will require concentration and focus.
Waiting quietly in line for the next activity can definitely be a challenge for children. Make the time pass quickly by selecting a balance pose from the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards. The children will then hold that balance pose while counting by 5’s or 10’s. I also like to have them count to 10 in another language.
