Kids Yoga Animal Poses

One yoga teacher in the kids yoga teacher training course asked me a question that every new teacher must ask when doing kids yoga:

Yoga animal poses are part of the basic tools for teaching kids. You’ll find them in many kids yoga books like:

The Yoga Zoo Adventure for Little Kids by Helen Purperhart

Fly Like A Butterfly: Yoga for Children by Shakta Kaur Khalsa (I’ve bought this book twice, my first one I used so much it fell apart!)

Plus many other great books and videos. There are also some great blog posts on Yoga Animals here at:

Stuffed Animals for Yoga Class Help Kids Focus from the Yoga in My School blog

Here are some scary animals like bats and Spiders in this post: Halloween Yoga for Kids from the Childlight Yoga blog.

I have to admit I haven’t included a yoga animal story in my teacher training curriculum. Yoga animals are part of other themes like in the Story of the Lion Cub who Was Raised by Goats – we do lions and even a goat pose! But in my desire to do a kids yoga training that was more than just pretending to be poses, I figured this was already available.

Yet this question helped me realize that animals and yoga go together so naturally, it is a fundamental of kids yoga. So I’m going to cover it here and include this blog post in my teacher training manual. I’m grateful for people’s questions and feedback because they also show me what can be added to improve my training course.

Here are my current top ten favorite yoga animal poses:

1. Camel Ride - a basic warm-up in Kundalini Yoga, sit in easy pose, hold your ankles, inhale lift your spine forward and up, exhale and relax your spine back – as if you were riding on a camel.
2. Elephant taking a Shower: stand up and make a trunk with your arms, keep your legs straight and dip your trunk into the imaginary watering hole in front of you, then lift your trunk up and spray the water like a shower.
3. Frog: squat and stretch your legs like a frog warming up and then jump!
   
4. Cobra Pose
5. Downward Dog
6. Butterfly Drinking Nectar: sitting, put your feet together and knees bent wide apart. Flutter your legs up and down like a butterfly. Then move your chest to your feet and drink the nectar from a flower in front of you.
7. Cheetah: move quickly on all fours like a cheetah running across the land
8. Camel Pose: See the picture above.
   
9. Unicorn: Make your hands into a magical unicorn horn over the centre of your head then gallop.
10. Donkey Kicks

Start an animal yoga class by saying, “Put your hand up if you like animals.” You’ll get so many hands you may have to limit comments from the kids, but you’ll quickly find out animals they like to do. You can also suggest that there are those who feel some of the yoga poses came from watching how animals stretch. Then ask them if they want to do some animal yoga. I’ve never had young kids say no, although the older kids (10 – 12 yrs) may lose interest in this.

Then you’ll be off to the races, or should I say the Zoo, going through all the poses, plus the ones the kids make up.

What are your favorite Animal Yoga Poses and Games to teach or do?

Get Started Teaching Yoga for Kids

Get Kids Active with Donkey Kicks

Thanks to everyone who has been sending in questions!

Here’s part one of a question that came in from a yogi in Toronto who’s just starting teaching kids:

I was teaching an age 7 – 12 age group at a daycare and I had this one boy (who will never engage with me — have taught him 3 times now), who ended up sitting on his mat the whole time through the entire class. I tried to ask him about half way through if everything was alright, and he just shrugged me off.

Anyway – I basically ignored him the rest of the time, but felt kinda bad for him. He looked like he wasn’t into it, and decided to not participate.

What would you have done?

Thanks to Lisa for the question. You are not alone in this situation especially teaching in a setting where not all the kids have chosen to be there. So here’s some things that I would consider:

• What would I do? I too would ignore the behavior as much as possible in class as long as it is not disrupting the class. I try to give energy to the behavior I want. If I wanted to find out what was up with this boy I would talk to him after the class was over, discreetly and quietly to see if he would open up a little more. It could be a number of things going on: stress, lack of confidence, a learning/developmental issue, or maybe just introversion. Since it’s been going on 3 weeks, I would probably ask the teacher(s) for advice or feedback too. The teacher’s are a great resource.
• The age group you are teaching is broad. The younger kids will still enjoy pretending, yet the twelve year old kids may not want to do “childish” things. This is tricky for a teacher. I teach to the higher end of the age range rather than the lower. I’ve found kids will act older when they are around big kids, but it doesn’t work as well the other way around. I would do a little less pretending with the group and talk about more mature themes in class.
• Pull out my Favorites: there are a few poses that kids just can’t seem to resist. One is Donkey kicks. Donkey kicks are great for getting rid of pent up energy and this kid may have some! Every class is a bit of a puzzle to figure out how all the different pieces fit together. When I have a situation like this, I privately make a goal to see if I can figure it out and get the child participating. It keeps it interesting for me as a teacher.

Here’s the simple steps for Donkey Kicks:

1. Come into downward dog pose then move your weight into your hands.
2. Kick one leg up high and then the other up, then land them on the ground.
3. Then switch which leg goes up first and repeat.
4. Continue for a minute or more.

1. Set up the room so no one is going to kick someone behind them. Get everyone on their own mat or take turns doing Donkey kicks so you can space kids out.
2. Do this exercise on padding for safety.
3. Before you start, remind kids not to kick too high or they may flip over and land on their back, hard. I’ve seen the situation in the picture above happen, by accident and sometimes on purpose, more than once. Don’t do this in a large group unless you have other teachers there to watch and help the kids.

Even with a few mistakes, I’ve never seen any kids harmed doing Donkey Kicks, but do take the precautions. When I mention Donkey Kicks, the kids eyes light up! But I’m sure there are other Sure Fire Yoga poses.

In the end, you can try all these things and still not get a child to participate. The ultimate power in yoga and in life is always the power to choose. We have to let others choose for themselves and even respect their right to choose even if we don’t like it. That will bring us closer to connecting with kids. Try not to feel bad or sorry for any kid who chooses not to participate. You will mostly end up bringing yourself down!

Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions on this question to help out a new teacher!

Aruna Humphrys

P.S. There are a few spots left in this weekend’s Kids Yoga Teacher Training course. Come to Toronto and join the growing number of kids yoga teachers. I’d love to see you there! Full details here.

Kids and Relaxation – a Trouble Shooting Guide

Times for Kids Yoga Classes

The times for yoga classes is one of the most common questions I get asked about kids yoga. Recently asked by Anna, another yogini in Singapore:

Dear Aruna,

After completing my yoga therapy course I stayed in Bangalore for a couple of days and I went to teach kids yoga at my friends daughters kindergarten. 4-5 year olds, we did a “yoga safari” letting the kids imagine what animals we ran into. It was really fantastic, they loved it! The total time was around 30 minutes.

What is the ultimate time frame for small kids verses older kids? 4-5 year olds 30min? 7 year olds 1 hr? The relaxation part was the most difficult, I tried doing simple Yoga Nidra but it was not very successful.

Anna Bervander, Singapore
www.theforeststudio.com

There are two questions here and I’ll start with the Ultimate Time Frame for classes. Then next post I’ll answer the part about relaxation.

The Ultimate Time Frame for Kids Yoga
There are really two factors that are involved in choosing a length of time that may be a little surprising:

1. The age of the kids.
2. The experience, confidence, desire of the teacher.

1. The Age of the Kids
It is generally true that the younger the age of the children, the shorter their attention span. But just like all generalities, there are exceptions to the rule. Generally speaking though, there is a guideline that some teachers like to use:

The Child’s age X 5 minutes = Attention Span

That means a 2 year old will have a 2 X 5 minute attention span of 10 minutes. A 4 year old will have a 4 x 5 minute attention span of 20 minutes. This rule is usually applied to kids who are sitting in a circle and discussing a topic together as a group, you can often stretch it out longer when it comes to doing something physical like yoga or a yoga game.

A Yoga Class Can Combines Many Activities
In yoga, you can use the Age X 5 Minute guideline to help decide how long the activity occurs, then put together a number of activities to create a longer class. For instance:

• Activity one: Discussion of the yoga topic or theme. For instance “What is yoga?” The length of the talk will increase with the age of the children – but the time you spend on your theme will be related to how much time you have for the class. Sometime my theme talks are 2 – 15 minutes if there is a story.

• Activity two: Yoga poses – like what Anna did with the yoga safari. You’ll want this to be the maximum time possible since it is a yoga class. Use the Age X 5 Minute guideline here but let it go longer if the kids are still interested.

• Activity three: Relaxation/meditation/songs – while adults may like to rest using the Age X 5 Minute guideline, kids times are shorter! I generally allow about 5 minutes for relaxation and meditation together.

• Activity four: Game – again use the Age X 5 Minute guideline. If you have time you can play a game for up to 15 minutes or longer with older kids. The game time is usually cut down because the class is ending. That’s why I do games at the end – the kids don’t want to stop playing!
  
• Activity Five: A closing and/or opening routine/song/mantra that you do every class.

To sum up: A younger class needs a shorter time class or a longer class with more activities. An older class can have a longer class time or less activities in the class.

2. The Experience, Confidence, Desire of the Teacher
When I first started teaching, I held shorter classes because I didn’t have the experience to teach a longer class. I was still learning different games, themes, ideas for kids yoga. I planned every class on paper and thought of what activities I would do, timing and planning it out.

Experience Helps in a Longer Class
When you’ve been teaching yoga for a number of years you become a bit of a walking encyclopedia of kids yoga. You’ve got the experience that you can plan a class quickly, often in your head. Pick a theme for the class and go, because you’ve probably taught the class 100 times already. Plus you have yoga tools, music, and props in your collection. If something isn’t working – you know a whole bunch of other ideas, songs, or games instantly.

Confidence Grows with Experience
Experience gives you more confidence to teach longer classes. For example, this summer at one daycare I teach three classes that are an hour long each. The first group is an hour long class with pre-schoolers aged 2 -3 years old! The second two groups are a mix of JK and SK kids, 4 – 5 year olds, also one hour long each.

I would have never attempted these times when I first started out! But now, the time goes by with lots of yoga, meditation, and activities. When we’re coming to the end of 60 minutes I usually have to end a game and promise we will finish it the next week.

I also have a 30 minute school age (8 – 10 years) class in a daycare because the daycare budgets for a 30 minute class only. So I work within that time with these kids – usually cutting back on the games.

One summer I did a kids yoga camp using an Anatomy theme. The kids were older and I taught 3 1/2 hours each day for five days. We drew life-size pictures of the body and filled in the body parts.

How long a Class do you Want to Teach?
What I find now, is the only thing holding me back from doing more long classes is my own desire. I don’t want to do too many of these because they take a lot of energy, your voice gets used a lot, and it’s often loud. After doing long classes, I plan time to sit quietly for a few minutes and re-energize.

Anna, I hope this helps you as you start teaching kids. It sounds like Singapore has a very vibrant yoga community.

I’ll answer the question about Kids relaxation next post.
Yours truly,

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

How to Start to Teach Kids Yoga – Part 2

CONFESSIONS OF A NEWBIE KIDS’ YOGA TEACHER
In my last post, Ling from Singapore asked about how to get started teaching kids yoga. This account of her first class really gives a clear picture of what it can be like to teach real kids, as opposed to adults pretending to be kids in a training course.

Here are the ups and downs of her very first yoga class. Thanks to Ling for her honesty and courage as she strives to become a powerful teacher of yoga for kids.

Hello Aruna,

It’s so nice to hear from you, and interesting to see how you got into kids yoga.

I myself am from Singapore and finished my teacher training in India (although not in kid’s yoga). A students’ mother actually saw my advertisement on Yogafinder and asked if I could teach her kids and her friend’s kids yoga, so that is how I have started on this path.

I personally do not have any restrictions as to what age I should be teaching. I enjoy being around kids and feel like I can really connect with them – and often I just feel like a big kid. Right now I am teaching kids who range from ages 4-7.

My first lesson was yesterday. I had planned a list of things to do, but we ended up skipping a whole chunk of it because I realized that time was running short and that the kids were getting restless. I found that they were open to what I taught at certain points, but at other times they drifted off to Pluto, so I had to change a lot of things around to keep them happy.

I started the class with introductions of each other (to all the kids) and then began with basic things, like getting them to do the Yoga poses.

I was teaching in the living room of one of the kids’ homes, which I thought would be spacious. But, I actually found this location to be quite undesirable because the mothers were hanging around and chatting since they didn’t want to leave their kids.

I believe that kids can make noise if they want, or you know just drift off for a little while into their own world; I’m fine with that and still keep my attention on them (basically, just observing them). However, the mothers were not at all happy when they were not paying attention and halfway through the class, a mother interrupted the routines to get her child to drink water and so the kids started moving around and having packet drinks.

I felt lost at that moment because firstly, I didn’t want to offend the mothers by saying that we are in the middle of the class, and secondly, the kids were perhaps thirsty, I guess.

Overall, the kids seemed to be having a great time, until we came to the relaxation at the end. One of the kids asked me what was I doing at this point, and I guess she did not understand why I wanted them to lie on their backs, relax their bodies, and tell them stories. Also, music. I did not have any music and so the only music was the chatter of the mothers.

So basically, I learned a lot from my first day. The location of the class and the fact that the mothers were there is important to consider and plan for. Also, the fact that I did not have music with me and did not explain the intentions behind my choice of activities, are some things I have to consider for next time.

So anyway, the class is gonna proceed next week, and I thought of introducing the kids to the different parts of the body and fostering a love for themselves.

So dear Aruna, I really love them, but was really afraid I couldn’t handle them so the whole time I was telling myself not to have expectations from anybody… I don’t know, I really hope to hear from you

Ling

Thanks to Ling for sharing your experience of your first kids class with us. Actually teaching kids is much different than what we imagine it may be like. It brings up a lot of issues that we have to constantly contemplate on what happened and think of how to improve.

Teaching does get easier!
You will develop your way of explaining things and find the words that connect with kids. Soon it will become a habit that you don’t even realize you are doing. Like explaining the relaxation. Plus you will build your collection of yoga tools like music that kids like. Click here for some of my favorite music.

I also think you made a good decision to move on when the kids were drifting off. There really is no point doing something with the kids if it feels like you are trying to force them to pay attention. You did really well by having a lot of activities planned, that way if something isn’t working you can just go on to the next thing. Kid’s attention spans are much shorter than in adults yoga.

The problem of the mothers being in the background talking and popping in and out is something I suggest you address when they are booking the class. You can give them the choice of participating or watching quietly. Or they can llet you teach in one room if they want to have a social time and you can call them if there is a problem.

Some other rules I suggest are to ask all the kids to use the bathroom before class. This saves on interruptions too. Plus I ask the mom’s to give two compliments for every time they correct something. This is a challenge to parents who are always correcting to come up with some nice things to say – even if its “good effort” or “what strong arms you have!”

Please keep reading the blog as I will give many more ideas and tips here. I will even use some of your experiences to write some blogs posts.

One day I would love to come to Singapore to do a training! Till then, keep your “big kid” spirit. That’s the best tool that you have.

All the best,
Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

How to Start to Teach Kids Yoga – Part 1

This question came to the Teaching Kids Yoga blog from a yoga teacher in Singapore who is new to teaching kids yoga . In this post I answer her question with advice for a “newbie to teaching kids yoga.” In the next post you’ll hear Ling’s account of her first yoga class.

Thanks to Ling for her honesty and courage in her desire to be a powerful teacher of yoga for kids.

Question:

Hello Aruna,

Just thought of asking you whether you had a kids yoga teaching certification when you first started teaching yoga to kids at your friend’s kid’s school? Do you have any advice for a newbie who is teaching kids yoga?

Ling,
Singapore

Answer – Advice for a Newbie:

This is a great question. The short answer to the question is that I began as a certified yoga teacher but had no certification in childrens yoga. This was around 1998 – so the truth is there weren’t very many kids yoga training courses available. If you want to read more about Kids Yoga Certification – click this past post.

Get a Lot of Training if You Have Access to It
So when I started teaching, I just started figuring it out for myself. I read all the books I could find and also took as many workshops as I could find when ever I could.

One of the pioneers in kids yoga that I had the priviledge of learning from was Shakta Kaur Khalsa. Her book “Fly Like a Butterfly” is a classic I would recommend it for any teacher. I still use The Yoga Mountain Story from this book. Shakta Kaur and I are both trained in Kundalini Yoga so we have that connection. She gave workshops at the 3HO Solstice Celebrations every year and I always took them. Eventually, I helped bring Shakta to my city, Toronto, for a training and it was a very helpful training.

Toronto is a pretty big city so there were often shorter workshops being held by other teachers who were venturing out into the Kids Yoga world.

If you aren’t sure what to do, take live training if possible. Otherwise look on-line for blogs and teaching resources. A couple of my favorite kids yoga blogs are:

Karma Spot Blog

Earthy Yoga Mom

Chris Biffle’s You Tube Videos of Whole Brain Teaching. (Watch this video for one of the techniques I use in my kid’s Yoga classes – I’ll tell you more about that later or this post will get too long!)

Getting the Skills to Manage a Classroom
I thought my experience babysitting kids would help me, but I found it wasn’t enough.

For me, the hardest part about teaching kids yoga was the classroom management, caring for three kids was not the same as teaching twenty kids.

To get skilled, I worked part-time in a daycare and observed how my favorite teachers interacted with children. The tone in their voice that made things sound interesting. I saw how they drew the kids into their topic and it was an invaluable training.

I also like to read articles, books, and research studies about yoga, health, and child development. Here are some of the books I own. For me it is a passion I love to learn about. I also still get books, music, and DVD’s on kids yoga for new ideas and techniques. I consider them the tools of my trade.

Get Inspired by the World We Live In
When I met my meditation teacher, Tulshi Sen, I began to learn about how to create the life I want using meditation as a foundation. This really excited me, and the thought of being able to teach children about this was equally exciting.

Kids are bombarded with so much negativity. They are worried about what their friends and parents think, they are afraid they will destroy the planet, fail in school, or catch swine flu …. it’s overwhelming!

I want to inspire kids to see the other side as well. The possibilities, the imagination, and the inventiveness that is our world.

If we focus on what we can do and not get sucked into all the doom and gloom we have a chance to be truly happy. It is through creativity and innovation that problems get solved, but if kids are scared, they can’t be creative. This was the inspiration for my Kids Yoga Teacher Training based on the concepts of yoga and meditation and also found in the teachings of Tulshi Sen.

Become a Great Teacher
My advice for a newbie is to start by taking as many courses, trainings, and read as many books as you can. Find experienced teachers of any subject, teachers whose style you like and respect and study their technique.

But at some point you must begin to think of what kind of teacher you want to be. Vision yourself as a Great Teacher! Don’t be average or you will have an average class. Imagine being a teacher that truly touches lives. Hold this vision dearly and you will find you are what you imagine. When you add your own style, using what excites you as a foundation, your authenticity will be contagious to others. Kids’ will love to learn from you.

Thanks for writing Ling.

Yours truly,

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. Next post – Ling’s writes back about her first kids yoga class!

Class Size: What’s a good size for Yoga Class?

Great Games for a New Kids Yoga Class

Feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments.

Aruna Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

P.S. Today is the last day for early registration for the Kids Yoga Teacher Training course in Toronto. It is filled with games, yoga activities, themes, and ideas for teaching kids yoga. Click here to register early to save $40.

Are You Ready to Teach Kids?

Next Page »