Animal Yoga for Kids
Animal Yoga for Kids
Calming but Wild Yoga
This fun activity can be done indoors or outdoors. Yoga can be relaxing, build self awareness, and improve coordination. Your child will love mimicking animal poses or making up their own!
Age: pre-K to adult
Doing Yoga Enhances Many Skills:
- Coordination
- Body Awareness
- Self Regulation
- Balance
- Motor Planning
Supplies Needed:
- A yoga mat, blanket, or nice patch of grass
- Yoga flash cards or pictures of positions (lots of free printables online, see resource links below for some ideas)
- Relaxing music to add another calming element to the activity
Tips for Yoga with Kids:
- Decide whether you want the yoga session to be calming or alerting.
- Calming ideas: speak in low/ hushed tones, discourage talking among the children, soft peaceful yoga music, and low lighting (little battery tea lights work great)
- Alerting ideas: use bright lights, use partner poses so children can socialize & work together, encourage talking, acting out the poses (moo during cow pose, etc.) or singing, count out loud to see how long you can hold poses, set a visual timer, use engaging games with an animated voice, or play music with a fast pace or beat.
- Stretch before starting yoga
- Think about what the child can do independently? What level of difficulty should you start at?
- With children, emphasize that their eyes need to be focused in order for their bodies to remain balanced. Provide a visual cue for them to focus on (i.e. a little animal cutout placed on the floor).
- Repetition and continued practice will build strength.
Below are a few examples of animal poses. Feel free to be creative and make up your own.
Resources: