Kids Yoga Games
There is nothing to get the hearts of children excited like playing a game. Imagine a group of young yogis fully engaged with the biggest smiles participating in yoga! Children learn to learn through play, play is the greatest tool in a teacher’s toolbox. As Maria Montessori said ‘’Play is the work of the child’’. Below are two of our favourite yoga games to play with our Yogis.
Musical Yoga Statues
Just like musical statues but with a yoga twist. This is great to warm little bodies up and even change state if you need to before your actual yoga class begins or just to throw in your class for a little fun. Find a song that is fun and upbeat and even better if it is one that the little yogis know. Make sure you have space to move around fairly freely. Little yogis LOVE to show their moves and creativity so if you have ribbons for children to dance around in you can tie it to their wrists for that extra flare. When the music stop shout a pose the children a familiar with and they must freeze in that pose.
Not only does this game get the giggles going, the hearts racing but it breaks the ice and serves as a great memory game for yogis having to remember poses.
Strike a Pose
This is a fun game to play with a small or big group of yogis. The teacher will stand at one end of the room with his/her back turned to the yogis, while the yogis stand on the opposite end. The teacher can then either count to 5 or spell a pose name out (teachers choice, be as creative as you like) and once she has reached the number 5 turns around and shouts out a balancing pose (like tree, dancer, flamingo etc) and if a little yogi falls out of that balance while the teachers eyes are on them they need to go back to the ‘’start line’’ and begin again. This process continues until the first yogi gets to the teacher. That yogi then leads the game. This game is brilliant for little yogis learning to listen and brings in self-control as they need to be able to stop and balance and that is hard if they run full steam ahead and fall out of a pose and find themselves back at ‘’the start’’. As the yoga facilitator in the room make sure everyone gets a turn and no one get left out.
Jelly Bean Game
This is one of our favourite games for the warm up section of a class – it REALLY gets the heart rate going! Alternate between the following instructions, mix it up and you can pick up the pace as you go:
Jelly bean: Standing forward fold, dangling your arms towards the floor
Running bean: Running on the spot
Frozen bean: Standing still, reaching your arms up in the air
Baked bean: Lying down on the floor
Jumping bean: Star jumps
Give them a try and let us know how it goes!