bowling for butterflies

This is a really fun game, but it does require some space. We start by laying mats on the floor in a big square, like a carpet of yoga mats. All of the kids except for one, sit in butterfly pose (bound angle pose). The bowler is the child not sitting in butterfly, and he rolls a bouncy ball into the other kids, trying to tag them. The butterflies may roll out of the way of the ball, avoiding the tag, but they must stay in the pose, with the soles of their feet touching.

Our bowler releasing his ball...

...and the butterflies rolling out of the way. Just barely!

crab volleyball

Kids love balloons. I mean they really love them. Every single time I take out my bag of balloons, their faces light up. 

In crab volleyball they get to kick a balloon into the air, trying not to let it touch the ground. This crab crawl gets the kids in a position that strengthens their wrists, triceps and shoulders, engages their core and opens their chests. I also like to use the crab crawl when going from one obstacle to another in an obstacle course.

If the kids are doing a great job keeping the ball up and sharing turns kicking the balloon, I like to add a second balloon into the mix. The crab crawl is my favorite way to play, but sometimes it can be too much on the wrists. After we have all agreed that our wrists are tired, we gently roll our wrists and, if they want to keep playing with the balloon, we do it standing in tree pose, or maybe frog jumps. I have had them stand with hands at heart center and they need to raise their leg, keeping the leg straight, to pop the ball up with their toes. Really they can do anything to keep the ball from touching the ground. 

Just turn up some fun music and let them play!

ping pong push

After setting up goals with yoga blocks on one side of the room, I set the kids up on the opposite side of the room, giving them each a ping pong ball and a straw. They have to blow through the straw and get the ping pong balls across the room and into their goal. 

They love it.

This game is some simple pranayama practice and helps them learn how to control their breath; exhale too hard and the ball goes way far away, exhale too softly and you'll never make it to the other side of the room. Plus they are army crawling around, using their tummy and lower back muscles. 

obstacle course!

By far one of the kids' favorite games we play is the 

Yoga Obstacle Course. 

It's so great because the possibilities are endless. It can't get old. I set up mats all around the room, and each mat has it's own activity. 

Some of my favorites are:

ROPE WALK

 Lay a strap or rope on the floor and walk across it as if it were a tightrope high in the air. They can walk across regularly, or do Warrior III across.

L-HANDSTAND WALK

Standing with heels against the baseboards, come into down dog. Place hands on the floor and lift one leg at a time, pressing soles of feet into the wall. Now "walk" from one side of the mat to the other. 

RIVER WALK

Place yoga blocks on a mat, pretending the mat is a river and the blocks are the tops of rocks, and hop from stone to stone.

BLIND TREE

Kids get into tree pose and practice holding the pose with their eyes closed.

BEAN BAG TOSS

One of my students made this game up and it's brilliant! Using our bean bag eye bags that we use in Savasana, he sat in butterfly pose (baddha konasana) and placed the bean bags on one side of him and an empty basket on the other side. He put a bag on his knee/inner thigh and catapulted it into the empty basket.

HULA HOOP BOAT ROW

Have kids sit in boat pose on a mat and hold a hula hoop in front of them, so that their raised legs are through the center of the hoop. Now they can pulse back and forth from low boat to high boat, moving their legs in and out of the hoop as they do so.

FLASHCARDS ON A MAT

I placed my yoga pose flashcards face down on a mat and the kids simply have to blindly choose a card and do the pose.

TOEGA

The kids must pick up fuzzy pom pom balls using only their toes, and place them in a cup.

SUN SALUTATIONS

Let each kid lead themselves through one Sun Salutation, emphasizing moving with the breath.

PLOW BALL PASS

Here they can lay on the mat and they have a ball or block placed on the bottom of the mat near their ankles. They grab the ball (or block) with their feet and do plough pose, carrying the ball (or block) up and over, setting it down behind them near their heads.

It's also really fun to create an action that they must do to get from one mat to another. For instance they could walk in down dog to get around the room. Or they could crab walk in reverse table top. frog jump or hop around in tree pose from one mat to another.

I also love to create a DOWN DOG TUNNEL at the end of the obstacle course. The first one through the course gets into down dog and waits. As soon as another yogi gets to the end of the course, that second yogi crawls under the first doggie and gets into down dog right next to them. Then the third and the fourth, until the whole class is in a side by side down dog, with the last player in the line crawling under everyone to get to the front.

Flashcards on a mat

Hula Hoop Boat Row and Rope Walk

L-Handstand Walk

For a beautiful video on kids doing a yoga obstacle course, check out this blog by Alluem Yoga:

http://alluemkids.blogspot.com/2009/11/obstacle-course.html

peace

It's hard to get the little ones to sit still during Savasana. It doesn't seem to matter how much we moved our bodies around during class, it's still tough to get them to find stillness on their mats. They wiggle a lot. They open their eyes a lot. They talk a lot. 

I ask them to get "floppy" like a stuffed animal, and then I walk around and pick up their arms and legs to see how relaxed they can get their limbs. As I wiggle their arms and legs back and forth, they always crack a smile while trying their best to be floppy. In an attempt to get them in quiet meditation, I tell them calm stories or guide them through focusing on their breath.

Last week I asked them to think about what brings them peace. I asked them to see it in their minds. Maybe it's someone they love or somewhere they go. Maybe it's a taste or a smell or a sound. I let them think on this image for a bit, and when we got out of our resting poses and said "Namaste" we colored. I asked them to please color what they focused on that brings them peace. 

Here is what the sweet little ones drew for me:

Here is a girl with her mom at the beach.

This girl imagined a rainbow.

This little boy said "It's a toast machine!" I said "A toaster brings you peace?" He replied "Yes. It's so warm."

The planets from Star Wars.

Here is a drawing of a little girl laying in her bed at home.

The white, squiggly line is "a bee buzzing to get nectuh."

This is what my daughter drew. The yellow is the sun's warmth touching the ground and that lovely lady there is me.

This little girl said she thought about a fairy in a field of flowers and that made her feel peaceful.

I like to get them coloring after Savasana. It helps me understand what their brains were thinking of while laying down. And really, it just makes me smile to see their imaginations on paper.

yoga jenga

I bought a regular Jenga set, and then, with a sharpie, wrote a yoga pose on each block. I wrote it in English on one side and in Sanskrit on the other. This is great for the older kids who can read well. They like to try and pronounce Sanskrit and usually laugh at the funny sounding words. For my non-readers, I also drew a picture next to the English word, so they could figure it out.

Then, it's just like Jenga. We draw a block, trying not to knock the tower over, read the pose and do it all together. When they do knock the tower over, we have to hold plank for 30 seconds! 

They love this game and it's an amazing way to get them familiar with the names of each pose. We can do over 30 poses in a short time.

musical mats

This game is similar to musical chairs, only I do not take a mat away after the music stops. I think there is enough competition in the world, and in yoga class they shouldn't have to scurry around anxiously trying to find a mat. Plus, the whole point of a kids yoga class is to get the kids doing yoga, not having them "out" and sitting on the side.

So, I set up mats all over the room, each mat with a different yoga pose flashcard. I play loud, fun music and we dance/run/skip/hop around the room, until I pause the music. Then everyone must find a mat and do the pose on that mat. We continue until everyone has done every pose at least once.

They really do enjoy this game. It's a great way to get their wiggles and sillies out, and still get them doing yoga. Plus, they hold the poses for a bit, as I walk around, making small adjustments and praising each kid individually.