Introduction
Hello, my name is Natasha! I am a children’s yoga teacher in Dublin with my own business that I like to call ‘Amazing Me Yoga’. I run weekly classes for different age groups as well as going around some of the local schools. When I am not teaching yoga, I am at home practicing yoga with my very own little yogis aged 1 and 6. They keep me inspired to keep doing what I’m doing as I can see the benefits first hand. If you are reading this, it is likely that you too are a yoga teacher, perhaps specializing in children's yoga or maybe you have your own little group at home that you are looking to practice yoga with. This guide is aimed at those already trained to teach children’s yoga but anyone is invited to try it out of course.
How this Schedule works
This schedule is made up of 8 parts. Now I run these classes weekly therefore one each week meaning it lasts 8 weeks but if you teach the same group more or even less regularly, it will still work the same. So, whether this is going to take 8 days, 8 weeks or 8 months – try to follow the schedule from lesson 1 all the way to lesson 8 in the order it is presented to you. The lessons are all themed and broke up into easy to follow parts. If you follow me on social media, you will see how I like to make up a poster with each step heading listed just like this.
Having this imagery in my class not only reminds me where I am going with my lesson next but also allows for the children to know what is expected of them without giving too much away.
What age is this for?
I teach these classes from aged 4 to 12 in two different age groups. I will adapt the plans to suit the group I am working with.
Can I make any changes?
Yes! Please do! These are meant for inspiration, for a guide when you’re all out of ideas or when you simply just don’t have the time to plan! If you want to add anything or replace anything, make these lessons your own! Let your beautiful personality and style shine through and please let me know how you get on!
How long are these classes?
The classes below are designed to fit classes that are between 45 minutes and an hour. Obviously, you are free to adapt each one to suit your own schedule.
Share your classes with me!
I would love to see how you get on with these ideas so please feel free to share any pictures, posters and inspiration with me on my social media by tagging me on instagram @amazing_me_yoga using the hashtag #amazingmeyoga or get me on facebook at www.facebook.com/amazingmekidsyoga
Thank you so much for all your support.
Join my Kids Yoga Teacher Support Forum to see more ideas and to share your ideas too! Lets inspire and uplift each other!
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Lesson 1: Gratitude
Welcome
This is the part where you introduce yourself, if it is a new group, and your rules. You can also talk briefly about what yoga is and why it is good for us.
Name Game
Standing in a circle, each person in turn says their name and makes a gesture (it can be a yoga pose or any other movement). After, the whole group mirrors the movement saying the individuals name. The next person in the circle needs to repeat the name and gestures of all of those who were before them, then say their own name creating a new gesture. If you have a very large group you could do a recap as a group half way through and then start fresh for the second half.
Sun Dance
We practice our sun dance. A sequence that we are going to repeat and get to know very well throughout the 8 sessions! Repeat this at least 3 times to allow the kids to get a feel for it. I like to say the names of the poses and the children repeat them back to me. Once that becomes familiar, we focus on bringing our breath to the movement.
Mountain
Namaste hands
Reach for the sun
Forward Fold
Step the right leg back, drop the back knee and look forward – Proud Horse pose
Down dog
Cobra
Down dog
Step the right foot forward, drop the back knee – proud horse pose
Step it up into a forward fold
Reach for the sun
Namaste hands
Mountain
Dancing Shiva Tunnel
Stand in a line, one behind the other, with legs apart to create a tunnel. To music, the first person in the line leads the group through different poses; whatever the leader does, the rest of the group follows. The leader remains with legs apart throughout their turn. At the same time, the last person in the line starts crawling under the tunnel that is made by everyone’s legs, and upon exiting the tunnel becomes the new leader in the front of the line. Make sure to leave enough space at the front of your human dancing tunnel, as it will keep advancing forward. In a big group the people at the back of the line can’t see the leader at the front very well; all they need to do is to follow the person in front of them. This practice can be done with Bridge, Tabletop, Down Dog, Triangle and more! Any pose that you can pass under!
Read the Book
Dr Seus – Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?
Note: We don’t always get time to read the full story so I do shorten it a fair bit! So, make sure you make yourself familiar with the story beforehand.
Reflection
What would it feel like to give thanks every day?
Gratitude Practice - Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today. This is going to be a continued practice each lesson. Assure the children that there are no right or wrong answers and they do not need to share their things with anyone else (unless they would like to). Give some examples beforehand and ask the group if they would like to share their thoughts to help inspire everyone. You as the teacher are going to keep these journals safe so that the children can have them back at the end of each class. You can also instruct the children that they could draw what they are grateful for which can be an important cue if you have someone who is not yet able to write confidently.
Lesson 2: Focus
Easy seat – What is Focus?
Being focused means that you are working on one task at a time. Your thoughts aren’t scattered and you’re shutting out any distractions. Being focused on the present moment can help us so much. We feel less stress and get things done quicker and to a higher standard. Think about your homework. If you have five pieces of homework, would it be better to do them all at the same time or focus on one at a time? Why?
Game – Beat the clock
Poses – Easy seat and Mountain
Everyone starts in their easy seat. You start your stop watch, jump up to mountain and call someone’s name. They then have to stand in mountain as quickly as they can and call somebody else's name. This repeats until everyone is standing in mountain and the stop watch can then be stopped. Check the time it took. Now reset the clock and see if the activity can be reversed with now going from mountain to easy seat. Stop the clock once everyone is seated. Which way was quicker? Can everyone bring focus to the game and react quickly? The students love this game and often want to give it a couple of goes to get quicker each time.
Sun dance
As in lesson one. Repeat to refresh everyone's memory.
Game – Yoga Detective
Now everyone is familiar with the sun dance let's see if they can really pay attention. You are going to repeat the sun dance but purposely leave out one posture. It is then their jobs as yoga detectives to work out which pose was missing. I like to ask them to show me the posture rather than everyone calling out.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today.
I usually like to leave this until the very end but in this lesson, I think it is a great transition from doing a quite active game into a more relaxing task and then we can move on to our relaxation.
Ladybird Relaxation
Ask everybody to lay down comfortably on their mat. You can use blankets here too if you have them available. Ask the children to bring their arms to their side, palms facing up. I have a little painted ladybird stone I like to show the children first but you could use a toy, picture or just imagination. Then use this script.
I have with me my ladybird friend. He travelled such a long way to be here and is feeling very tired. If you lay still enough, my ladybird friend may come and land gently on you to rest. So, close your eyes gently and now in your mind, see the ladybird flying around the room above you. He looks down and sees you lying so still and calm. He thinks you look very kind so he flies down and lands gently on your big toe. He stays there for a moment enjoying your stillness. He then flaps his wings; flies back up to the ceiling and then comes gently down and lands on your knee. He stays for another moment.
Ladybird flaps his wings again and flies into the air. When he comes back down, he decides to take a little break on your thumb. You are so relaxed, so still and quiet. Ladybird flies back into the air and then comes down to land softly on your shoulder. He is happy to stay here for a moment. Ladybird flaps his wings going up and up and lands next on the tip of your nose. He stays here, enjoying your stillness.
Ladybird flaps his wings and flies into the air before coming back down to land on your other shoulder. He is so comfortable as he sits here, feeling your breath move in and out in a soothing pattern. You take another big breath in and as you breath out ladybird flies back into the air and lands carefully on your other thumb. He is so happy to share your calmness. He stays for another few moments before flying up and then coming back down to land on your other knee. Ladybird feels your leg relaxing under him. He stays still, just like you. Ladybird then makes a move to your other big toe. He settles down quietly, calmly and happily.
Allow the children to rest here for another 1 to 2 minutes and then end with ladybird flying up into the air and away to his home in the trees, feeling refreshed, relaxed and calm.
Lesson 3: Balance
Easy seat
Notice how you feel today. What are your energy levels today? What emotions are you feeling? How does your body feel? Listen to yourself.
Alternate nostril breathing
1. Sit up tall. Make a fist keeping your thumb and little finger extended. Using your right thumb, block your right nostril. Inhale slowly and deeply through your left nostril.
2. Release your right nostril while moving your hand across so that the little finger comes to close the left nostril and the exhale out through your right nostril.
3. Keep your hand placement the same and breath in deeply through the right nostril.
4. Move your hand across to block the right nostril and exhale slowly and fully out through the left nostril.
5. Then keeping your hands in that placement, take a big inhale through the left nostril (the one you just exhaled from). Repeat this pattern for 3 to 5 rounds to feel more balanced.
Sun Dance
Warm up / recap
Game - Yoga detective 2
By this point the children are getting fairly confident with the sun dance. In this game the yoga detective leaves the room and another child is selected to lead the class in a sun dance. Instruct them that if they cannot remember the sun dance completely or if they feel like adding their own flair to it, it is perfectly fine to create their very own version of the sun dance. The yoga detective is called back in and the leader starts their sun dance. Everyone else follows the leader, copying their movements. It is the yoga detective’s job to work out who is leading the sun dance. This means if everyone is looking at the leader it is going to be very obvious! The children have to use their perpendicular vision and cunning to make it harder to guess. Once the yoga detective has guessed correctly, they get to choose someone else to be the yoga detective. Once that person is out of the room, a new leader can be chosen.
Tree Pose Practice
A standing balancing posture that strengthens the ankles, knees, calves and quads, gently opens the hips, aligns the spine, and improves balance, coordination and concentration.
Game – 1,2,3 Yoga Tree
A volunteer stands at one edge of the room, they are ‘it’, while the rest of the group starts at the opposite wall standing on one leg in the Tree Pose. If you are playing this game in a bigger space, just make a line to define the starting and finishing points. The person who is ‘it’ turns their back to the group and counts aloud “1, 2, 3 yoga tree” and then quickly turns back to look at the group. When ‘it’ isn’t watching, the other children can move forward, but when ‘it’ turns around they have to stand on one leg in the Tree Pose. If ‘it’ sees you standing on two legs or moving forward, they can call on you to go back to the wall (or starting point). Whoever gently touches ‘it’ first, becomes the next ‘it’.
Partner and Group Work
I like to use Yoga cards here showing partner poses but you could always just demonstrate them with someone in the group. The theme being balance, it is good to explore ways we can find a balance together. You can play with some partner poses you already know or have the yoga cards for or just pair regular poses together.
Here are a few examples you could try:
Sail Boat: Partners sit facing each other, holding hands. Legs are in between the arms, and knees are bent. Bring the feet to touch the partner’s, and slowly, one foot at a time, push foot to foot to lift one sail up off of the floor. Straighten the leg if possible. Then, slowly lift the other sail. Try to stay afloat as long as you can!
Airplane: Stand and hold both of your partner’s hands. Keep enough distance between you so that you can slowly lean forward towards each other, lifting one leg back and up. Keep your balance and fly!
Double Tree: Stand one beside the other putting your inner arms around each other’s waists, keeping your feet apart. When you’re ready, lift your outside foot and place it on your inner thigh or calf muscle. Bring your outer arms together into namaste hands. Then slowly release the pose and practice it with the other leg, turning around to do so. Tree pose is also a great one to practice with the whole group joining together, see how one tree becomes a whole forest!
Cool Down – Calming Sequence
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 4: Decision Making
Easy Seat
In your easy seat, sit up nice and tall and just take this time to breath in nice big conscious breaths. Knowing that we can change our whole mood by just bringing this awareness to our breath. Notice how you feel. Let go of the day so far and just be here now to enjoy some fun yoga.
Game – Intuition
I use yoga cards for this game but you could use a print out or even just a blank card. A volunteer is selected to leave the room. We then hide between 1 and 3 cards (depending on the group size) underneath somebodies mat. Everyone, including yourself, must sit up nice and tall in their easy seat. The volunteer is called back into the room and must use his/her intuition and body reading skills to guess where the cards are hidden. The others work hard on trying not to give it away. Once they have found the cards, someone else can be the one to go out of the room. I always end with me being the one who has to guess as they love trying to fool me.
Create a new Sun Dance
We are all quite confident with the sun dance by now so let's have a go at creating our own. We start of in our circle and then each have a turn at deciding which pose should come next. So, you as teacher starts in any pose and everyone copies. You then ask the person next to you ‘where would feel good from here?’. They get to decide what pose or movement should come next and everyone moves into the same position. Then the next person in the circles goes and so on. When you have got all the way round, see if you can remember the sequence but do the poses on the opposite side where applicable. For example, if somebody was to decide on a tree pose with their left leg lifted, the second time round you would all lift the right leg. Now you have your sun dance, see if you can bring the breath to the movement when repeating it another time, on both sides.
Game – Rock, paper, scissors
Start by seeing who is familiar with the game rock, paper, scissors. They usually all are. Now explain that you are going to turn this into a yoga game. Ask the children what they think ‘rock’ would look like. Praise their efforts as no one is wrong here, it is their own interpretation. Choose someone's pose to be the ‘rock’ posture that the group will use during this game. Then do the same for paper and scissors.
Ask the children to partner up by finding someone with the same size foot as them or another fun way to actively pair them up. Once in a partnership they stand back to back with one another. As you count 1, they take 1 step forward. 2, they take another. 3, and another. Draw they quickly get into their pose, either rock, paper or scissors.
As we don’t have winners and losers in our classes instead, we focus on how we can join these poses together. We sometimes stack the rocks, scissor massage the rocks, join the scissors together by coming into a double boat kind of posture and so on. The possibilities are limited only to the imagination. Then we go again.
Calming Flow
The game can get quite active especially if we end up doing some trickier partner poses at the end so it is good to get a nice calming, cool down flow in before the relaxation part of our class.
Magic Massage
This magic massage encourages self-care, a great practice to learn early on. Be sure to move slowly through this script, remembering it rather than reading it if possible so you can be the example when needed.
Start in your easy seat, rest your hands comfortably in your lap. Keep a soft gaze or if it feels good you might close your eyes. Take a nice big inhale in through the nose and release the breath out slowly. Using your fingertips in small, firm, circular movements, massage the top of your head, move to your temples, forehead and over and around your eyebrows. Spend extra time on any areas that you think need it. Good, now move your fingers to your ears, press and massage your earlobes. Gently tugging the ears open as you massage the earlobe between your fingers. Now move your fingers to the back of your neck and shoulders, massaging any areas that you feel are holding tension. Now find your collarbone. Bring your fingers down about one inch or so to find the soft spots on either side. Massage gently, giving it at least 10 seconds. Cross your arms over your chest and give yourself a big hug. Relax your shoulders down and using your hand, squeeze your shoulders. Then move down your arms, squeezing as you go. Clasp your hands and move them side to side making a figure of 8. Any pops you may hear are air pockets releasing that have built up between the joints. Give some attention to massaging the hands now. Keep breathing nice and deep and sitting up tall as you do so. Once finished, rest your hands in your lap once more. Keeping that soft gaze or allowing the eyes to close if they aren’t already, breath evenly and deeply. What sensations do you notice? How do you feel?
Take a few moments here before slowly bringing their awareness back to the room and on to the next practice.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 5: Team Work
Discuss
What does it mean to be part of a team?
Team Sun Dance
How can we flow through the sun dance while all connected eg holding hands, touching feet, touch elbows etc
Let them get creative and work through their ideas as a team.
Partner Poses
I find having some yoga cards or print outs of some partner poses here very handy. For this class I like to introduce a bit of acro so instead of partnering up, I put children in groups of 3 or 4. I explain the role of a spotter in these poses and how it is just as important part of the pose than actually doing the pose. Of course, we switch round though too so everyone has a turn.
Game – Don't wake the Dragon
A volunteer goes in the middle. They will be the sleeping dragon. They have their eyes closed with a bell (or a rattle) next to them. It is everyone else's job to as a team retrieve this bell as quietly as possibly. If the ‘dragon’ hears anything he/she can open their eyes and let out a roar and everyone has to step back to where they started and try again.
Positivity Tunnel
Make two lines and have everyone reach up to join hands to form a tunnel. The people at the back go through one at a time and as they go through the tunnel, everyone says something nice and positive to them. It could be something they love about them, something they admire, a compliment of some kind. I always make it clear even if it’s someone they have had a falling out with to put that aside and say something nice even if it’s something as simple as ‘you are really good at yoga’ or ‘I like your shoes’. This is important in bigger groups at school etc because one negative comment can throw the whole thing off. When everyone is positive, it’s an amazing, uplifting experience and a beautiful part of the lesson. One the ones at the back go through they rejoin at the front of the tunnel and the next two make their way through and so on. Be sure to go through yourself!
Relaxation - Legs up the wall
Demonstrate as you explain this pose. Begin by sitting on the floor with a wall next to your side. Your legs should be stretched out straight in front of you. Move your body so the backs of your legs are now touching the wall. Relax your neck and place your hands on your belly or to your sides with palms facing up. Take some deep breaths here and move the legs down into a butterfly position anytime you need to take a break. Guide the children to take some deep breaths here, inviting them to close their eyes if it feels good. Stay here for 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly come out of this pose and finish with some journaling.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 6: Perseverance
Breath: Check in with the breath. A few deep breaths to settle in.
Sun Dance to Music
Choose some uplifting music, maybe something that the kids already know and love. Repeat the sun dance to the Music. I then usually move around the circle getting them all to add in a yoga posture of their choice and we all copy. It is a great warm up.
Mountain
Namaste hands
Reach for the sun
Forward Fold
Step the right leg back, drop the back knee and look forward – Proud Horse pose
Down dog
Cobra
Down dog
Step the right foot forward, drop the back knee – proud horse pose
Step it up into a forward fold
Reach for the sun
Namaste hands
Mountain
Game – Brilliant Balancers
Like musical statues, everyone moves/dances around the room. When the music stops, I call out a pose and everyone has to do that pose on the same mat, all facing the same direction. For a bigger group, I will put two mats together, side by side. There are no winners, as with most games in yoga, it is their job to make sure everyone can fit on the mat. They have to work as a team to make sure everyone is included. I call out a range of balancing poses. Here are the ones I use
Warrior III Benefits
Start in a mountain pose and the step it back to a high lunge position. Stretch your arms forward, palms facing each other. Start straightening the front leg as you lift the back leg. Stay active in the feet, pointing the back toes down to the ground. Exhale back to a high lunge to come out of the pose and step it back to mountain before trying again on the other side.
Try Practicing against a wall, back of a chair or with a friend for added support.
Crow
The older class love playing around with crow. I make it clear that the pose is not the goal here. We are just playing with something new; it doesn’t matter if we manage the pose today or get into for a second or maybe longer. It is just a practice. The more we practice our yoga, build our strength and our focus, the more we will improve on this pose.
Benefits
Instruction
To come into Crow Pose from standing, squat down and place your hands flat on your mat about shoulder-width apart with the fingers spread wide. Bring your gaze to a point in front of you, between your hands. I sometimes place a little sticker here to help the child maintain focus. Now, keep the hands and feet where they are but lift the hips way up toward the sky, bend the knees and lift the heels off the floor so just the balls of the feet are down. Gently press the knees in to the backs of the triceps and begin to shift your weight into the fingertips. Shift your eight forward and back and then keeping it forward. Then play around with picking up one foot and then maybe the other. You can also use blocks here to help find that lift. Draw the navel towards the spine. If you fall, that’s okay. Play around with it, keep your focus and take your time.
Cool Down Sequence
Mindful Moment
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 7: Awareness
Bunny Breath
Take three quick breaths in through your nose and one long breath out. Remember to wiggle your nose like a bunny!
Sun Dance – Slow
Go through the sun dance sequence that they have learned but nice and slowly. Really bringing focus to the breath and how each pose feels in their body today.
Game – Three Step Mountain
Poses: Mountain, Frog
Choose one child to be ‘it’. Whoever is ‘it’ is blindfolded and must carefully move around in search of someone they can tag to make them ‘it’. The other children must stand in their strong mountain pose. They are each allowed to take a total of 3 steps to avoid being tagged. They can take these in one go or one at a time. They are also allowed to go into frog pose at any time. Being lower down may make the person that is ‘it’ miss them.
Once someone is caught, the game starts over with the tagged person as the new ‘it’.
It is a great game for the children to work on being honest and following the rules, building up self-control and also bringing in that awareness aspect.
Animal Poses
Cat - Look down towards your belly button, rounding your back like a spooky Halloween cat
Cow - Do you know what yogic cows say instead of Moo? OM of course!
Happy Hedgehog (Happy baby pose) - soothing, reclining pose that opens the hips, stretches the inner thighs, extends the spine and massages the lower back.
Game – Electric Circle
Holding hands in a circle, pass squeezes by gently closing your hand around your neighbors' hand. An electric current you receive in one hand must come out of the other. When you feel a squeeze, you must pass it to your neighbor through your other hand.
Try these
• Passing more than one current at a time
• Passing currents in opposite directions
• Selecting different students to start the game.
• Guide students to act “electrocuted” if they get currents from both sides exactly at the same time.
Lighting a Candle Breath
Sit with your arms beside your body. To light the candle, breathe in and raise your arms out to the side and high up until your palms meet at the top. To blow out the candle, exhale and lower your hands down the middle of your body until they return to rest by your sides. Repeat a few times
Experience Silence - Savasana
Spend some time in silence. "Silence is one of the best ways of cultivating self-awareness," Boccio says. "When you're talking, you don't realize how noisy your mind is. When you're practicing silence, you're trying to step back from your reactivity to your mind. That alone is a profound insight."
Take a few moments to enjoy quietness before guiding the children to return back into an alert yet calm state.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 8: Calmness
Prep
I like to set my essential oil diffuser up special for this class. I use a mix of lavender and orange oil but you could use a calming mix of your choice. Alternatively, you can make up a calming spray if you don’t have a diffuser. I also set up chairs beforehand in a circle as I usually would the mats.
Breath
The children enter and after taking off shoes/socks they find a chair to sit in. I then ask them to sit up tall, relax their hands in their laps, place their feet on the ground and then tuck their chin ever so slightly. I then ask them to close their eyes if that feels good, otherwise just soften their gaze down in front.
Then all together we are going to breath in for a count of 4 and breath out for a count of 6. I avoid retaining the breath in between for this age as you would teach it teenagers or adults. It is important to try and get the children to breath with their abdomen. Younger children will often do this naturally but as we get older, we sometimes start breathing more into our chest. Switching to abdomen breathing will allow our relaxed chilled nervous system to switch on (the parasympathetic nervous system).
Guide the children for a few cycles of breath. Ask them if they can notice any smells as they take a deep breath in through the nose. Ask them to guess what fragrance it may be.
Chair Yoga Sequence
Here are just a few ideas. Feel free to create your own sequences and add in some songs that the children like. I like to spend 15 to 20 minutes on this part of the class. We move through a sequence and then see if the children have any ideas about other poses we do on our mat that we can try with the chair.
Start in a Forward fold sitting on the chair.
On an inhale stretch your arms up high. Exhale bringing your arms back down.
Bring the Shoulders up on the inhale, down on exhale. Repeat 3 more times.
Neck rolls.
Namaste hands.
Take legs wider in your seat.
Side bend – each side.
Twist. Bring your right hand to your left thigh, left hand to the back of the chair and look past your left shoulder. Repeat on the other side.
Forward fold.
Forward fold, walk your hands over to your right foot. Switch sides.
Forward fold twist. With wide legs, one hand to center on the ground other hand reaches up to the sky.
Stand up, use a chair to help balance in tree pose on each side.
Stand back to chair, hands holding on behind and look up for a mini back bend.
Standing facing back of chair, hands on chair and fold forward for a half lift.
Using seat part of the chair for your hands in Pidgeon pose. Repeat both sides.
Holding chair leg for a bridge pose.
Side twists both sides. Holding on to chair legs, bring your knees to the chest then let them fall one way and then the other. Take a few cycles of breath in each direction.
Sitting on the ground facing the chair, fold over seat.
Finish in easy seat on the chair.
Game - Winked Out
The children sit in a circle in their chairs. Everyone needs to close their eyes. The teacher walks around the circle tapping each person on the head once. There is one special person that will be tapped on the head twice, that person is the winker, they now have the magical power to send their friends to sleep.
The game begins; it is a silent game, no talking. The winker winks discreetly at his friends without being seen by the others. Once you are winked at you must count to ten and then lay down and fall asleep in a sleeping pose.
Players get a chance to guess who the winker is by raising their hand if they think they know. If they are wrong, they have to sleep too. But if they guess correctly, they get to tap the heads of the next circle of friends and choose who is the next winker.
Make your own Lavender Eye Pillow
When kids get involved in creating something, they are much more likely to want to use it! This is a real quick way to make an eye pillow that they can use at the end of class and also take home with them.
Here is what you will need: Clean socks (one each for everyone), dry rice or another grain or legumes, dry lavender or something else that smells good.
Here is what we do:
1. Mix the dry rice and lavender in a bowl.
2. Have the children stuff their sock with the filling, being careful as to not over fill it.
3. Make a knot at the end of the sock – it’s done!
Sometimes if we have a bit longer, we will decorate our socks with fabric pens. In this case I would choose out plain white socks.
Relaxation - Becoming a Rainbow
Lay down on your mat, use your eye pillow over your closed eyes and start to relax. Slow down your breath and follow it… allow yourself to sigh a few times. Feel yourself melt towards the mat with every exhale.
Imagine that you are walking down a beautiful path. The sky is clearing up and you see a beautiful big rainbow. Maybe you choose to stand underneath it and let its warm and bright colorful rays fill you with joy. You are connected to the whole of nature… you are the rainbow now.
Red: you are strong and safe
Orange: you are happy and playful
Yellow: you are proud and full with self-confident
Green: you are kind and generous
Blue: you are sincere and truthful
Indigo: you are wise and creative
Purple: you are a good friend
Enjoy a couple of minutes of quiet relaxation for a few minutes more before instructing the children to gently bring their attention back to the room.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today.
As this is the end of the 8 weeks, I like to give the journals to the children to take home and continue their practice. You can suggest they do this daily if they can. This is a wonderful practice to have at the end of the day before bed.
Hello, my name is Natasha! I am a children’s yoga teacher in Dublin with my own business that I like to call ‘Amazing Me Yoga’. I run weekly classes for different age groups as well as going around some of the local schools. When I am not teaching yoga, I am at home practicing yoga with my very own little yogis aged 1 and 6. They keep me inspired to keep doing what I’m doing as I can see the benefits first hand. If you are reading this, it is likely that you too are a yoga teacher, perhaps specializing in children's yoga or maybe you have your own little group at home that you are looking to practice yoga with. This guide is aimed at those already trained to teach children’s yoga but anyone is invited to try it out of course.
How this Schedule works
This schedule is made up of 8 parts. Now I run these classes weekly therefore one each week meaning it lasts 8 weeks but if you teach the same group more or even less regularly, it will still work the same. So, whether this is going to take 8 days, 8 weeks or 8 months – try to follow the schedule from lesson 1 all the way to lesson 8 in the order it is presented to you. The lessons are all themed and broke up into easy to follow parts. If you follow me on social media, you will see how I like to make up a poster with each step heading listed just like this.
Having this imagery in my class not only reminds me where I am going with my lesson next but also allows for the children to know what is expected of them without giving too much away.
What age is this for?
I teach these classes from aged 4 to 12 in two different age groups. I will adapt the plans to suit the group I am working with.
Can I make any changes?
Yes! Please do! These are meant for inspiration, for a guide when you’re all out of ideas or when you simply just don’t have the time to plan! If you want to add anything or replace anything, make these lessons your own! Let your beautiful personality and style shine through and please let me know how you get on!
How long are these classes?
The classes below are designed to fit classes that are between 45 minutes and an hour. Obviously, you are free to adapt each one to suit your own schedule.
Share your classes with me!
I would love to see how you get on with these ideas so please feel free to share any pictures, posters and inspiration with me on my social media by tagging me on instagram @amazing_me_yoga using the hashtag #amazingmeyoga or get me on facebook at www.facebook.com/amazingmekidsyoga
Thank you so much for all your support.
Join my Kids Yoga Teacher Support Forum to see more ideas and to share your ideas too! Lets inspire and uplift each other!
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Lesson 1: Gratitude
Welcome
This is the part where you introduce yourself, if it is a new group, and your rules. You can also talk briefly about what yoga is and why it is good for us.
Name Game
Standing in a circle, each person in turn says their name and makes a gesture (it can be a yoga pose or any other movement). After, the whole group mirrors the movement saying the individuals name. The next person in the circle needs to repeat the name and gestures of all of those who were before them, then say their own name creating a new gesture. If you have a very large group you could do a recap as a group half way through and then start fresh for the second half.
Sun Dance
We practice our sun dance. A sequence that we are going to repeat and get to know very well throughout the 8 sessions! Repeat this at least 3 times to allow the kids to get a feel for it. I like to say the names of the poses and the children repeat them back to me. Once that becomes familiar, we focus on bringing our breath to the movement.
Mountain
Namaste hands
Reach for the sun
Forward Fold
Step the right leg back, drop the back knee and look forward – Proud Horse pose
Down dog
Cobra
Down dog
Step the right foot forward, drop the back knee – proud horse pose
Step it up into a forward fold
Reach for the sun
Namaste hands
Mountain
Dancing Shiva Tunnel
Stand in a line, one behind the other, with legs apart to create a tunnel. To music, the first person in the line leads the group through different poses; whatever the leader does, the rest of the group follows. The leader remains with legs apart throughout their turn. At the same time, the last person in the line starts crawling under the tunnel that is made by everyone’s legs, and upon exiting the tunnel becomes the new leader in the front of the line. Make sure to leave enough space at the front of your human dancing tunnel, as it will keep advancing forward. In a big group the people at the back of the line can’t see the leader at the front very well; all they need to do is to follow the person in front of them. This practice can be done with Bridge, Tabletop, Down Dog, Triangle and more! Any pose that you can pass under!
Read the Book
Dr Seus – Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?
Note: We don’t always get time to read the full story so I do shorten it a fair bit! So, make sure you make yourself familiar with the story beforehand.
Reflection
What would it feel like to give thanks every day?
Gratitude Practice - Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today. This is going to be a continued practice each lesson. Assure the children that there are no right or wrong answers and they do not need to share their things with anyone else (unless they would like to). Give some examples beforehand and ask the group if they would like to share their thoughts to help inspire everyone. You as the teacher are going to keep these journals safe so that the children can have them back at the end of each class. You can also instruct the children that they could draw what they are grateful for which can be an important cue if you have someone who is not yet able to write confidently.
Lesson 2: Focus
Easy seat – What is Focus?
Being focused means that you are working on one task at a time. Your thoughts aren’t scattered and you’re shutting out any distractions. Being focused on the present moment can help us so much. We feel less stress and get things done quicker and to a higher standard. Think about your homework. If you have five pieces of homework, would it be better to do them all at the same time or focus on one at a time? Why?
Game – Beat the clock
Poses – Easy seat and Mountain
Everyone starts in their easy seat. You start your stop watch, jump up to mountain and call someone’s name. They then have to stand in mountain as quickly as they can and call somebody else's name. This repeats until everyone is standing in mountain and the stop watch can then be stopped. Check the time it took. Now reset the clock and see if the activity can be reversed with now going from mountain to easy seat. Stop the clock once everyone is seated. Which way was quicker? Can everyone bring focus to the game and react quickly? The students love this game and often want to give it a couple of goes to get quicker each time.
Sun dance
As in lesson one. Repeat to refresh everyone's memory.
Game – Yoga Detective
Now everyone is familiar with the sun dance let's see if they can really pay attention. You are going to repeat the sun dance but purposely leave out one posture. It is then their jobs as yoga detectives to work out which pose was missing. I like to ask them to show me the posture rather than everyone calling out.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today.
I usually like to leave this until the very end but in this lesson, I think it is a great transition from doing a quite active game into a more relaxing task and then we can move on to our relaxation.
Ladybird Relaxation
Ask everybody to lay down comfortably on their mat. You can use blankets here too if you have them available. Ask the children to bring their arms to their side, palms facing up. I have a little painted ladybird stone I like to show the children first but you could use a toy, picture or just imagination. Then use this script.
I have with me my ladybird friend. He travelled such a long way to be here and is feeling very tired. If you lay still enough, my ladybird friend may come and land gently on you to rest. So, close your eyes gently and now in your mind, see the ladybird flying around the room above you. He looks down and sees you lying so still and calm. He thinks you look very kind so he flies down and lands gently on your big toe. He stays there for a moment enjoying your stillness. He then flaps his wings; flies back up to the ceiling and then comes gently down and lands on your knee. He stays for another moment.
Ladybird flaps his wings again and flies into the air. When he comes back down, he decides to take a little break on your thumb. You are so relaxed, so still and quiet. Ladybird flies back into the air and then comes down to land softly on your shoulder. He is happy to stay here for a moment. Ladybird flaps his wings going up and up and lands next on the tip of your nose. He stays here, enjoying your stillness.
Ladybird flaps his wings and flies into the air before coming back down to land on your other shoulder. He is so comfortable as he sits here, feeling your breath move in and out in a soothing pattern. You take another big breath in and as you breath out ladybird flies back into the air and lands carefully on your other thumb. He is so happy to share your calmness. He stays for another few moments before flying up and then coming back down to land on your other knee. Ladybird feels your leg relaxing under him. He stays still, just like you. Ladybird then makes a move to your other big toe. He settles down quietly, calmly and happily.
Allow the children to rest here for another 1 to 2 minutes and then end with ladybird flying up into the air and away to his home in the trees, feeling refreshed, relaxed and calm.
Lesson 3: Balance
Easy seat
Notice how you feel today. What are your energy levels today? What emotions are you feeling? How does your body feel? Listen to yourself.
Alternate nostril breathing
1. Sit up tall. Make a fist keeping your thumb and little finger extended. Using your right thumb, block your right nostril. Inhale slowly and deeply through your left nostril.
2. Release your right nostril while moving your hand across so that the little finger comes to close the left nostril and the exhale out through your right nostril.
3. Keep your hand placement the same and breath in deeply through the right nostril.
4. Move your hand across to block the right nostril and exhale slowly and fully out through the left nostril.
5. Then keeping your hands in that placement, take a big inhale through the left nostril (the one you just exhaled from). Repeat this pattern for 3 to 5 rounds to feel more balanced.
Sun Dance
Warm up / recap
Game - Yoga detective 2
By this point the children are getting fairly confident with the sun dance. In this game the yoga detective leaves the room and another child is selected to lead the class in a sun dance. Instruct them that if they cannot remember the sun dance completely or if they feel like adding their own flair to it, it is perfectly fine to create their very own version of the sun dance. The yoga detective is called back in and the leader starts their sun dance. Everyone else follows the leader, copying their movements. It is the yoga detective’s job to work out who is leading the sun dance. This means if everyone is looking at the leader it is going to be very obvious! The children have to use their perpendicular vision and cunning to make it harder to guess. Once the yoga detective has guessed correctly, they get to choose someone else to be the yoga detective. Once that person is out of the room, a new leader can be chosen.
Tree Pose Practice
A standing balancing posture that strengthens the ankles, knees, calves and quads, gently opens the hips, aligns the spine, and improves balance, coordination and concentration.
Game – 1,2,3 Yoga Tree
A volunteer stands at one edge of the room, they are ‘it’, while the rest of the group starts at the opposite wall standing on one leg in the Tree Pose. If you are playing this game in a bigger space, just make a line to define the starting and finishing points. The person who is ‘it’ turns their back to the group and counts aloud “1, 2, 3 yoga tree” and then quickly turns back to look at the group. When ‘it’ isn’t watching, the other children can move forward, but when ‘it’ turns around they have to stand on one leg in the Tree Pose. If ‘it’ sees you standing on two legs or moving forward, they can call on you to go back to the wall (or starting point). Whoever gently touches ‘it’ first, becomes the next ‘it’.
Partner and Group Work
I like to use Yoga cards here showing partner poses but you could always just demonstrate them with someone in the group. The theme being balance, it is good to explore ways we can find a balance together. You can play with some partner poses you already know or have the yoga cards for or just pair regular poses together.
Here are a few examples you could try:
Sail Boat: Partners sit facing each other, holding hands. Legs are in between the arms, and knees are bent. Bring the feet to touch the partner’s, and slowly, one foot at a time, push foot to foot to lift one sail up off of the floor. Straighten the leg if possible. Then, slowly lift the other sail. Try to stay afloat as long as you can!
Airplane: Stand and hold both of your partner’s hands. Keep enough distance between you so that you can slowly lean forward towards each other, lifting one leg back and up. Keep your balance and fly!
Double Tree: Stand one beside the other putting your inner arms around each other’s waists, keeping your feet apart. When you’re ready, lift your outside foot and place it on your inner thigh or calf muscle. Bring your outer arms together into namaste hands. Then slowly release the pose and practice it with the other leg, turning around to do so. Tree pose is also a great one to practice with the whole group joining together, see how one tree becomes a whole forest!
Cool Down – Calming Sequence
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 4: Decision Making
Easy Seat
In your easy seat, sit up nice and tall and just take this time to breath in nice big conscious breaths. Knowing that we can change our whole mood by just bringing this awareness to our breath. Notice how you feel. Let go of the day so far and just be here now to enjoy some fun yoga.
Game – Intuition
I use yoga cards for this game but you could use a print out or even just a blank card. A volunteer is selected to leave the room. We then hide between 1 and 3 cards (depending on the group size) underneath somebodies mat. Everyone, including yourself, must sit up nice and tall in their easy seat. The volunteer is called back into the room and must use his/her intuition and body reading skills to guess where the cards are hidden. The others work hard on trying not to give it away. Once they have found the cards, someone else can be the one to go out of the room. I always end with me being the one who has to guess as they love trying to fool me.
Create a new Sun Dance
We are all quite confident with the sun dance by now so let's have a go at creating our own. We start of in our circle and then each have a turn at deciding which pose should come next. So, you as teacher starts in any pose and everyone copies. You then ask the person next to you ‘where would feel good from here?’. They get to decide what pose or movement should come next and everyone moves into the same position. Then the next person in the circles goes and so on. When you have got all the way round, see if you can remember the sequence but do the poses on the opposite side where applicable. For example, if somebody was to decide on a tree pose with their left leg lifted, the second time round you would all lift the right leg. Now you have your sun dance, see if you can bring the breath to the movement when repeating it another time, on both sides.
Game – Rock, paper, scissors
Start by seeing who is familiar with the game rock, paper, scissors. They usually all are. Now explain that you are going to turn this into a yoga game. Ask the children what they think ‘rock’ would look like. Praise their efforts as no one is wrong here, it is their own interpretation. Choose someone's pose to be the ‘rock’ posture that the group will use during this game. Then do the same for paper and scissors.
Ask the children to partner up by finding someone with the same size foot as them or another fun way to actively pair them up. Once in a partnership they stand back to back with one another. As you count 1, they take 1 step forward. 2, they take another. 3, and another. Draw they quickly get into their pose, either rock, paper or scissors.
As we don’t have winners and losers in our classes instead, we focus on how we can join these poses together. We sometimes stack the rocks, scissor massage the rocks, join the scissors together by coming into a double boat kind of posture and so on. The possibilities are limited only to the imagination. Then we go again.
Calming Flow
The game can get quite active especially if we end up doing some trickier partner poses at the end so it is good to get a nice calming, cool down flow in before the relaxation part of our class.
Magic Massage
This magic massage encourages self-care, a great practice to learn early on. Be sure to move slowly through this script, remembering it rather than reading it if possible so you can be the example when needed.
Start in your easy seat, rest your hands comfortably in your lap. Keep a soft gaze or if it feels good you might close your eyes. Take a nice big inhale in through the nose and release the breath out slowly. Using your fingertips in small, firm, circular movements, massage the top of your head, move to your temples, forehead and over and around your eyebrows. Spend extra time on any areas that you think need it. Good, now move your fingers to your ears, press and massage your earlobes. Gently tugging the ears open as you massage the earlobe between your fingers. Now move your fingers to the back of your neck and shoulders, massaging any areas that you feel are holding tension. Now find your collarbone. Bring your fingers down about one inch or so to find the soft spots on either side. Massage gently, giving it at least 10 seconds. Cross your arms over your chest and give yourself a big hug. Relax your shoulders down and using your hand, squeeze your shoulders. Then move down your arms, squeezing as you go. Clasp your hands and move them side to side making a figure of 8. Any pops you may hear are air pockets releasing that have built up between the joints. Give some attention to massaging the hands now. Keep breathing nice and deep and sitting up tall as you do so. Once finished, rest your hands in your lap once more. Keeping that soft gaze or allowing the eyes to close if they aren’t already, breath evenly and deeply. What sensations do you notice? How do you feel?
Take a few moments here before slowly bringing their awareness back to the room and on to the next practice.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 5: Team Work
Discuss
What does it mean to be part of a team?
Team Sun Dance
How can we flow through the sun dance while all connected eg holding hands, touching feet, touch elbows etc
Let them get creative and work through their ideas as a team.
Partner Poses
I find having some yoga cards or print outs of some partner poses here very handy. For this class I like to introduce a bit of acro so instead of partnering up, I put children in groups of 3 or 4. I explain the role of a spotter in these poses and how it is just as important part of the pose than actually doing the pose. Of course, we switch round though too so everyone has a turn.
Game – Don't wake the Dragon
A volunteer goes in the middle. They will be the sleeping dragon. They have their eyes closed with a bell (or a rattle) next to them. It is everyone else's job to as a team retrieve this bell as quietly as possibly. If the ‘dragon’ hears anything he/she can open their eyes and let out a roar and everyone has to step back to where they started and try again.
Positivity Tunnel
Make two lines and have everyone reach up to join hands to form a tunnel. The people at the back go through one at a time and as they go through the tunnel, everyone says something nice and positive to them. It could be something they love about them, something they admire, a compliment of some kind. I always make it clear even if it’s someone they have had a falling out with to put that aside and say something nice even if it’s something as simple as ‘you are really good at yoga’ or ‘I like your shoes’. This is important in bigger groups at school etc because one negative comment can throw the whole thing off. When everyone is positive, it’s an amazing, uplifting experience and a beautiful part of the lesson. One the ones at the back go through they rejoin at the front of the tunnel and the next two make their way through and so on. Be sure to go through yourself!
Relaxation - Legs up the wall
Demonstrate as you explain this pose. Begin by sitting on the floor with a wall next to your side. Your legs should be stretched out straight in front of you. Move your body so the backs of your legs are now touching the wall. Relax your neck and place your hands on your belly or to your sides with palms facing up. Take some deep breaths here and move the legs down into a butterfly position anytime you need to take a break. Guide the children to take some deep breaths here, inviting them to close their eyes if it feels good. Stay here for 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly come out of this pose and finish with some journaling.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 6: Perseverance
Breath: Check in with the breath. A few deep breaths to settle in.
Sun Dance to Music
Choose some uplifting music, maybe something that the kids already know and love. Repeat the sun dance to the Music. I then usually move around the circle getting them all to add in a yoga posture of their choice and we all copy. It is a great warm up.
Mountain
Namaste hands
Reach for the sun
Forward Fold
Step the right leg back, drop the back knee and look forward – Proud Horse pose
Down dog
Cobra
Down dog
Step the right foot forward, drop the back knee – proud horse pose
Step it up into a forward fold
Reach for the sun
Namaste hands
Mountain
Game – Brilliant Balancers
Like musical statues, everyone moves/dances around the room. When the music stops, I call out a pose and everyone has to do that pose on the same mat, all facing the same direction. For a bigger group, I will put two mats together, side by side. There are no winners, as with most games in yoga, it is their job to make sure everyone can fit on the mat. They have to work as a team to make sure everyone is included. I call out a range of balancing poses. Here are the ones I use
- Tree
- Airplane / Warrior III
- Surfer / Warrior II
- Dancer
- Boat
- Seated Squat Pose
Warrior III Benefits
- Strengthens the ankles and legs
- Strengthens the shoulders and muscles of the back
- Tones the abdomen
- Improves balance and posture
Start in a mountain pose and the step it back to a high lunge position. Stretch your arms forward, palms facing each other. Start straightening the front leg as you lift the back leg. Stay active in the feet, pointing the back toes down to the ground. Exhale back to a high lunge to come out of the pose and step it back to mountain before trying again on the other side.
Try Practicing against a wall, back of a chair or with a friend for added support.
Crow
The older class love playing around with crow. I make it clear that the pose is not the goal here. We are just playing with something new; it doesn’t matter if we manage the pose today or get into for a second or maybe longer. It is just a practice. The more we practice our yoga, build our strength and our focus, the more we will improve on this pose.
Benefits
- Tones the abdominal wall
- Strengthens abdominal organs
- Strengthens arms and wrists
- Stretches and strengthens the back
- Stretches and strengthens inner thighs
- Builds endurance and focus
- Invitation to play with something challenging
Instruction
To come into Crow Pose from standing, squat down and place your hands flat on your mat about shoulder-width apart with the fingers spread wide. Bring your gaze to a point in front of you, between your hands. I sometimes place a little sticker here to help the child maintain focus. Now, keep the hands and feet where they are but lift the hips way up toward the sky, bend the knees and lift the heels off the floor so just the balls of the feet are down. Gently press the knees in to the backs of the triceps and begin to shift your weight into the fingertips. Shift your eight forward and back and then keeping it forward. Then play around with picking up one foot and then maybe the other. You can also use blocks here to help find that lift. Draw the navel towards the spine. If you fall, that’s okay. Play around with it, keep your focus and take your time.
Cool Down Sequence
Mindful Moment
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 7: Awareness
Bunny Breath
Take three quick breaths in through your nose and one long breath out. Remember to wiggle your nose like a bunny!
Sun Dance – Slow
Go through the sun dance sequence that they have learned but nice and slowly. Really bringing focus to the breath and how each pose feels in their body today.
Game – Three Step Mountain
Poses: Mountain, Frog
Choose one child to be ‘it’. Whoever is ‘it’ is blindfolded and must carefully move around in search of someone they can tag to make them ‘it’. The other children must stand in their strong mountain pose. They are each allowed to take a total of 3 steps to avoid being tagged. They can take these in one go or one at a time. They are also allowed to go into frog pose at any time. Being lower down may make the person that is ‘it’ miss them.
Once someone is caught, the game starts over with the tagged person as the new ‘it’.
It is a great game for the children to work on being honest and following the rules, building up self-control and also bringing in that awareness aspect.
Animal Poses
Cat - Look down towards your belly button, rounding your back like a spooky Halloween cat
Cow - Do you know what yogic cows say instead of Moo? OM of course!
Happy Hedgehog (Happy baby pose) - soothing, reclining pose that opens the hips, stretches the inner thighs, extends the spine and massages the lower back.
Game – Electric Circle
Holding hands in a circle, pass squeezes by gently closing your hand around your neighbors' hand. An electric current you receive in one hand must come out of the other. When you feel a squeeze, you must pass it to your neighbor through your other hand.
Try these
• Passing more than one current at a time
• Passing currents in opposite directions
• Selecting different students to start the game.
• Guide students to act “electrocuted” if they get currents from both sides exactly at the same time.
Lighting a Candle Breath
Sit with your arms beside your body. To light the candle, breathe in and raise your arms out to the side and high up until your palms meet at the top. To blow out the candle, exhale and lower your hands down the middle of your body until they return to rest by your sides. Repeat a few times
Experience Silence - Savasana
Spend some time in silence. "Silence is one of the best ways of cultivating self-awareness," Boccio says. "When you're talking, you don't realize how noisy your mind is. When you're practicing silence, you're trying to step back from your reactivity to your mind. That alone is a profound insight."
Take a few moments to enjoy quietness before guiding the children to return back into an alert yet calm state.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today
Lesson 8: Calmness
Prep
I like to set my essential oil diffuser up special for this class. I use a mix of lavender and orange oil but you could use a calming mix of your choice. Alternatively, you can make up a calming spray if you don’t have a diffuser. I also set up chairs beforehand in a circle as I usually would the mats.
Breath
The children enter and after taking off shoes/socks they find a chair to sit in. I then ask them to sit up tall, relax their hands in their laps, place their feet on the ground and then tuck their chin ever so slightly. I then ask them to close their eyes if that feels good, otherwise just soften their gaze down in front.
Then all together we are going to breath in for a count of 4 and breath out for a count of 6. I avoid retaining the breath in between for this age as you would teach it teenagers or adults. It is important to try and get the children to breath with their abdomen. Younger children will often do this naturally but as we get older, we sometimes start breathing more into our chest. Switching to abdomen breathing will allow our relaxed chilled nervous system to switch on (the parasympathetic nervous system).
Guide the children for a few cycles of breath. Ask them if they can notice any smells as they take a deep breath in through the nose. Ask them to guess what fragrance it may be.
Chair Yoga Sequence
Here are just a few ideas. Feel free to create your own sequences and add in some songs that the children like. I like to spend 15 to 20 minutes on this part of the class. We move through a sequence and then see if the children have any ideas about other poses we do on our mat that we can try with the chair.
Start in a Forward fold sitting on the chair.
On an inhale stretch your arms up high. Exhale bringing your arms back down.
Bring the Shoulders up on the inhale, down on exhale. Repeat 3 more times.
Neck rolls.
Namaste hands.
Take legs wider in your seat.
Side bend – each side.
Twist. Bring your right hand to your left thigh, left hand to the back of the chair and look past your left shoulder. Repeat on the other side.
Forward fold.
Forward fold, walk your hands over to your right foot. Switch sides.
Forward fold twist. With wide legs, one hand to center on the ground other hand reaches up to the sky.
Stand up, use a chair to help balance in tree pose on each side.
Stand back to chair, hands holding on behind and look up for a mini back bend.
Standing facing back of chair, hands on chair and fold forward for a half lift.
Using seat part of the chair for your hands in Pidgeon pose. Repeat both sides.
Holding chair leg for a bridge pose.
Side twists both sides. Holding on to chair legs, bring your knees to the chest then let them fall one way and then the other. Take a few cycles of breath in each direction.
Sitting on the ground facing the chair, fold over seat.
Finish in easy seat on the chair.
Game - Winked Out
The children sit in a circle in their chairs. Everyone needs to close their eyes. The teacher walks around the circle tapping each person on the head once. There is one special person that will be tapped on the head twice, that person is the winker, they now have the magical power to send their friends to sleep.
The game begins; it is a silent game, no talking. The winker winks discreetly at his friends without being seen by the others. Once you are winked at you must count to ten and then lay down and fall asleep in a sleeping pose.
Players get a chance to guess who the winker is by raising their hand if they think they know. If they are wrong, they have to sleep too. But if they guess correctly, they get to tap the heads of the next circle of friends and choose who is the next winker.
Make your own Lavender Eye Pillow
When kids get involved in creating something, they are much more likely to want to use it! This is a real quick way to make an eye pillow that they can use at the end of class and also take home with them.
Here is what you will need: Clean socks (one each for everyone), dry rice or another grain or legumes, dry lavender or something else that smells good.
Here is what we do:
1. Mix the dry rice and lavender in a bowl.
2. Have the children stuff their sock with the filling, being careful as to not over fill it.
3. Make a knot at the end of the sock – it’s done!
Sometimes if we have a bit longer, we will decorate our socks with fabric pens. In this case I would choose out plain white socks.
Relaxation - Becoming a Rainbow
Lay down on your mat, use your eye pillow over your closed eyes and start to relax. Slow down your breath and follow it… allow yourself to sigh a few times. Feel yourself melt towards the mat with every exhale.
Imagine that you are walking down a beautiful path. The sky is clearing up and you see a beautiful big rainbow. Maybe you choose to stand underneath it and let its warm and bright colorful rays fill you with joy. You are connected to the whole of nature… you are the rainbow now.
Red: you are strong and safe
Orange: you are happy and playful
Yellow: you are proud and full with self-confident
Green: you are kind and generous
Blue: you are sincere and truthful
Indigo: you are wise and creative
Purple: you are a good friend
Enjoy a couple of minutes of quiet relaxation for a few minutes more before instructing the children to gently bring their attention back to the room.
Journal – Write 3 things you are grateful for today.
As this is the end of the 8 weeks, I like to give the journals to the children to take home and continue their practice. You can suggest they do this daily if they can. This is a wonderful practice to have at the end of the day before bed.
Please be sure to Share your classes with me and others!
I would love to see how you get on with these ideas so please feel free to share any pictures, posters and inspiration with me on my social media by tagging me on instagram @amazing_me_yoga using the hashtag #amazingmeyoga or get me on facebook at www.facebook.com/amazingmekidsyoga
Thank you so much for all your support and if you know anyone who would enjoy this lesson plan please share it with them!
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Disclaimer: This lesson plan is for your personal use only. It is not for publication or distribution of any sort without prior consent. It should not be copied any where else but can be quoted in part if full credit and links are provided to Amazing Me Yoga. These are ideas for inspiration purposes only and Amazing Me yoga accepts no responsibility or liability to how these ideas are used.
I would love to see how you get on with these ideas so please feel free to share any pictures, posters and inspiration with me on my social media by tagging me on instagram @amazing_me_yoga using the hashtag #amazingmeyoga or get me on facebook at www.facebook.com/amazingmekidsyoga
Thank you so much for all your support and if you know anyone who would enjoy this lesson plan please share it with them!
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Disclaimer: This lesson plan is for your personal use only. It is not for publication or distribution of any sort without prior consent. It should not be copied any where else but can be quoted in part if full credit and links are provided to Amazing Me Yoga. These are ideas for inspiration purposes only and Amazing Me yoga accepts no responsibility or liability to how these ideas are used.
