10 Ways to Help Kids Do Yoga Poses Better

Yoga for kids is nothing like yoga for adults – it has to be fun!  If you are all “Om Shanti” and “Namaste,” you most likely won’t be able to keep up with the kids in your class.  Kids classes are, and should be fast and loud and dramatic…and even a bit crazy… in a good, fun way of course!


But even with all of this fun and excitement, there comes a time in your weekly classes when you want to do more than just play yoga, but actually, and gradually, get a bit better at it. 


Below are 10 creative and practical ways to help kids do poses better – Have fun!

 

yoga pose kids get better - rainbow yoga training

 

How to Help the Kids Do Yoga Poses Better


  1. Using props – You can have the kids reach farther in the Seated Forward Bend (Sandwich Pose) by luring them to reach towards a toy, or they can backbend farther in the Cobra Pose by stretching toward a puppet with their nose.  In the Candle Pose, the kids come into a higher and better pose by reaching toward your hand or a doll with their feet.

 

use props toys - rainbow kids yoga teacher training

Related article: 15 Fun Ways to Help Children Stay Longer in Yoga Poses 

 

  1. Yoga problem – Come to the centre of the circle and assume a yoga pose in an awkward or wrong way (you can also ask for a volunteer to do it).  Then, one at a time, each kid comes to the centre, walks around the person who is in the yoga problem, and makes one adjustment.  We keep going until the posture is perfect and then we choose a new posture problem.  It’s a great way to learn how to do the poses correctly! 

  1. Yoga Sculptor – In groups of two, one starts as a lump of clay resting in Child’s Pose while the other moves him and sculpts him, one adjustment at a time, into an amazing yoga pose statue.  I usually don’t fix the kids’ creations, but if you want to, you can go around to all the sculptures and suggest to the artist to make small corrections that might make the pose more comfortable and steady.

 

child's pose yoga sculpture - rainbow yoga training

 

  1. Sculpture Art Studio – You, the teacher, will be the sculptor in this game!  This exercise gives you the opportunity to adjust everyone in their poses.

  1. Yoga workshop – this is the best way to teach kids how to do poses better!

Every class you can take five minutes the class to teach the kids how to do a certain pose better.  The rest of the class is still totally amazing and super crazy fun!  Only those five minutes are a bit more serious.


In these five minutes, you take one pose and you teach the kids how to do that one pose better.  Teach them how to:


  • Go into and out of the pose
  • Variations in the pose
  • Do it in pairs and in a group… 

  1. Yoga Picture and Art Gallery – Take photos of your students doing their favourite poses and proudly display them in your studio.  Use them as a guide to remind the group how to do the poses.  You could even hang them in fun sequences for the group to practice, and let the students rearrange them once in a while.

  1.   Pose of the Month – Choose one pose to celebrate for a whole month!  Explore the pose from every angle, using your body, your friends and your imagination.
  • How many different animals can this pose be?
  • Can this pose move in some way and become a travelling pose?
  • Draw pictures of the pose
  • Invent partner poses and group poses based on this pose
  • Make up and sing songs about this special pose
  • Explore variations of the pose
  • Make special sequences using these variations
  • Teach the children all of the cool benefits of this pose 

camel pose yoga benefits - rainbow kids yoga teacher training


  1. Yoga World Records – It sounds competitive, but it doesn’t have to be.  Focus on the students’ strengths, and find something that everyone is good at.  You can be as silly and creative as you like!   You can even invent group records and try to break them together!  Your students are sure to make a greater effort than they usually do and improve their poses.

Make your Yoga World Record Chart, and proudly display it in your classroom.  It may look similar to this:


YOGA WORLD RECORDS


The Talent

The Winner

The Record

Jumping the most times in frog pose

Oli

10,000 jumps!

Most convincing monkey behaviour

Gopala

Non-stop!

Longest standing Yoga Tree

Angel

Six Minutes!

Largest Human Pyramid

Class Four

15 people!

Staying still the longest

Emily

10 min (Starfish pose)

Tallest tower of ice cream scoops

(Stacked child poses)

Delphin, Meika, Kelby, Curtis and Billy

5 YEAH!

Most convincing animal sound

Indigo

Horse

 

 

  1. Make it Beautiful – This is an instruction I use a lot with kids.  When I tell the kids “Make it Beautiful”, it helps them move through the poses with more awareness.  Instead of jumping in and out of poses and flinging our legs and arms all over, which is ok in a kids' yoga class to start with, we move in an attentive and careful way… we learn to appreciate our body and the magic that makes all of its movements, and yoga, so beautiful.
  2. Practice - Practice makes perfect, so just keep doing it again and again... there are no magic tricks here :) 

 

 

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