Go Go Yoga for Kids: Yoga Games & Activities for Children

By Sara J Weis

If you want to fully engage children in the overall practice of yoga, Go Go Yoga for Kids: Games & Activities will help you successfully merge the life lessons that can be learned from play with the lifelong benefits of yoga. By using the games, activities, and suggestions included in this book, you will find that incorpor

• Language: English
• Publisher: River Oaks Publishing
• Release date: Mar 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9780998213156

Sara J Weis

Best-selling author, Sara J. Weis, is a creative and passionate teacher who has inspired children for over twenty years. In Go Go Yoga for Kids Sara has combined her 20+ years of experience as an elementary teacher and a certified kid and adult yoga instructor to introduce children to yoga in engaging and child-friendly ways. She is passionate about helping children receive the many mental and physical benefits yoga can provide them both now and throughout their lives. Sara is the author of Go Go Yoga for Kids: A Complete Guide to Using Yoga with Kids, Yoga Lessons for Children and the creator of the Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards and the Kids Yoga Challenge App. She has also created the popular online Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Training which has trained thousands of others from all over the world on how to teach yoga to children.

Book preview

Go Go Yoga for Kids:

Yoga Games & Activities for Children

150+ Fun Yoga Games,

Activities, Poses, & Challenges

for Confidently Teaching

Yoga to Children

By Sara J. Weis

www.gogoyogakids.com

Copyright © 2020 by Sara J. Weis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact the author using the method at www.gogoyogakids.com.

Any physical activity has some risk of injury. Please be aware of your own limits as well as your student’s limits.

I dedicate this book to all of you who are making a positive difference in the lives of children everywhere. Thank you for allowing Go Go Yoga for Kids to be a part of your yoga adventure.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Why Kids Need Games

Characteristics of Age Groups

How to Plan and Sequence a Kids Yoga Class

Get to Know You Games

Breathing Exercises for Children

Active Movement Games

Large Group Yoga Pose Games

Partner and Group Challenge Games and Activities

Balance Games for Children

Mindfulness Games for Children

Stillness and Savasana Games

How to Set Up Your Kids Yoga Classes for Success

Teaching Tips for Tweens and Teens

Family Yoga & Games

Yoga Crafts

Yoga Pose Memory Game

Pose Glossary

Index

Preface

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Children are experiencing an increase in time spent with technology, homework, and social media as well as a decrease in recess time at school. Many are also involved in numerous extracurricular activities. When both parents work and also act as taxi drivers to those activities, the combined result is a hectic lifestyle that offers little, though very much needed, downtime. 

A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that highly scheduled children have less time for child-orchestrated, free, and creative play.  There is an old saying, A child’s job is to play, but we often seem to forget that play is such an important part of their development. 

That is why I believe Yoga Games and Activities for Children, is an extremely valuable resource to help parents, teachers, counselors, daycare providers, and healthcare professionals find fun, engaging, and healthy ways to get kids excited about yoga and physical activity.  I firmly believe that play is an important activity that helps inspire confidence in children and protects them from the impact of pressure and stress in their lives.  Whether you are a parent or are working in a professional capacity, you know that kids have boundless energy.  They also need to be interested in what they are doing to truly reap the benefits.  Bringing the gift of yoga into a child’s life can provide this balance while also enhancing multiple facets of their everyday life.

My own passion for yoga started when I took my first class at age 31.  I loved the feeling of being in the moment, and I immersed myself in my yoga practice.  After I obtained my yoga teacher certification and took some training workshops on teaching yoga to children, I was so excited to get out there and practice my new ideas.  I gained lots of experience by teaching yoga classes in churches, community centers, libraries, gyms, yoga studios, schools, camps, birthday parties – anywhere I could.   

I quickly realized I could easily apply yoga principles in the classroom.  As a teacher, I find that kids are my comfort zone, and the concept of blending yoga and education was the perfect merging of my two worlds.  It has become very apparent to me that children quite often learn best through movement and action.  My enthusiasm has continued to grow as has that of my students.  Through all my experiences I’ve been able to learn from every individual child by listening to them, watching them and interacting with them.  This has allowed me to perfect my ideas and modify my lesson plans.   

When I started my journey with children’s yoga, I searched everywhere for programs and books to help support my children’s yoga practice.  I quickly realized that existing resources did not chart out an easy path for implementing children’s yoga from beginning to end.  Since our time with children as parents and educators is limited, I felt compelled to create a guide that contained activities for all age groups that are user-friendly and can be implemented by anyone. That is how Go Go Yoga for Kids: Games and Activities came to be. 

If any game, activity, or idea in this book can instill a feeling of connection and belonging in a child, then my hope for this guide as a teacher and author will be realized.  When we implement a healthy lifestyle in children when they are young, we are helping raise healthy and aware adults.  The habits children develop when they’re young often stay with them throughout their lives. 

Through my years of engaging with children I’ve learned that you don’t have to be an expert to lead children in fun yoga practices that will strengthen their bodies and minds and encourage self-acceptance.  They can be shared by anyone who has an authentic and open-hearted intention. 

Thank you for joining me in this adventure and for sharing yoga and all its benefits with the kids in your life.

Namaste,

Sara J Weis

Introduction

To love and spread love and give hope and peace to others will fulfill your heart in a way nothing else can.

—Anonymous

Something special happens when children practice yoga and engage in games. They are most likely unaware that it’s happening, but they are actually learning crucial skills and behaviors that will carry them throughout life.

Yoga is more than allowing children to get the wiggles out. An engaging yoga class has a centering effect on children and builds their confidence from the inside out. The emphasis is not about reaching the end or completing a task. It is about the joy in the process.

Within the act of playing games we get to see each child’s unique personality blossom and to truly appreciate each response and giggle. To an adult, a child’s life may often seem relatively carefree. We tend to forget that being a child means consistently encountering different circumstances and experiences. With adults telling them what to do all day long, children are not in control. Their emotions are big and often hard to tackle. 

Yoga Games and Activities for Children is broken down into sections that highlight the benefits of yoga and how it fits into the lives of children at varying stages of development. Games are outlined with the appropriate age level, the number of players, materials needed and teaching tips. Not every game or activity is directly related to a yoga pose. Games for children are much more than just holding a yoga pose. The activities are about trying something new, building confidence, and strengthening connections between one another.

You will find that most of the ideas in this book can be used without a lot of pre-planning. I have included complete, easy-to-read instructions for the age group recommendations on the games included in this book.

For