Yoga Birthday or Un-Birthday Party
A joyful kids yoga class plan for celebrating life, friendship, imagination and the gift of being here.
Yay! Birthdays!
They are kind of the best day of the year.
What a great opportunity to celebrate the fact that we are alive, and that each one of us is completely one of a kind.
Human life is fragile. It is magic, even with all of the scientific explanations. A birthday is a wonderful chance to pause and say, “I am here. You are here. We are here together. Let’s celebrate that!”
I have taught yoga at many birthday parties over the years. It can also be a very beautiful and worthwhile offering for kids yoga teachers. The process I usually go through with the birthday child is to have a short meeting with them, or with the family, and ask about their favourite things. Then I create a class plan with a specific theme built around the child’s interests, favourite movie or TV show, favourite animal, activity, dream or obsession of the week.
This class plan is a more general one. It is a great base for planning a Yoga Birthday Party, but it is also wonderful as a Yoga Un-Birthday Party.
After all, it is our birthday for one day a year, but it is our Un-Birthday for 364 days a year. That is a lot of days that deserve cake, candles, wishes, games, laughter and yoga.
So let’s celebrate being alive today, whether it is technically anyone’s birthday or not.
Let’s have fun with it.
To Bring
- A bottle for Spin the Bottle Yoga Presents
- Music for birthday songs, party songs and relaxation
- Optional: scarves, ribbons, yoga cards, small props, or birthday decorations
It’s Your Un-Birthday!
Time: 5 minutes
Take a moment to explain to the children what an Un-Birthday is: every day that is not your birthday can still be a day to celebrate being alive.
Now let’s start with three big “Yuuuuuummmm!” sounds instead of Om, just because Un-Birthdays are so yummy.
Then go around the circle. Each person completes this sentence:
“If it was my birthday today and I could receive anything I wanted, I would ask for…”
This is also a beautiful opportunity to tell the children that some people like giving gifts on their birthday rather than receiving gifts. Some people ask for a donation in their name to save animals, help the environment, support people in need, or make the world a little kinder in some other way.
So we can ask one more question:
“If I could give one birthday gift to the world, I would give…”
Balloons Breath
Time: 5 minutes
Let’s all take a deep in-breath, filling our tummies and letting them expand like a balloon.
On the exhale, make horse lips, whistle, or let the air escape slowly as if the balloon has been released. Let your body fly all around the room like a balloon zooming, spinning and wobbling through the air.
Repeat many times. Try happy balloons, sleepy balloons, wild balloons, tiny balloons, giant balloons and balloons that make ridiculous noises as they deflate.
Happy Un-Birthday Follow My Body Sun Dance
Time: 5 minutes
Put on some awesome birthday or party music and lead a joyful Follow My Body Sun Dance.
Flow through playful, celebratory movements until everyone feels warm, supple and ready to conquer the world with kindness, of course.
You can include reaching up to hang decorations, folding forward to pick up party hats, stepping back into strong celebration poses, jumping like confetti, twisting like streamers and opening your heart like the biggest birthday smile.
Yoga Freeze Dance
Time: 5 minutes
Dance, dance, dance!
When the music pauses, everyone freezes in a yoga pose called out by the birthday child.
Because it is all of our Un-Birthdays today, everyone gets a chance, one at a time, to call out a pose when the music stops.
Encourage big imagination: Cake Pose, Party Animal Pose, Balloon Dog Pose, Candle Pose, Confetti Star Pose, or anything the children invent.
Bake a Yoga Cake
Time: 5 minutes
Sit on your bottom with your legs apart. This is your cooking bowl.
Start adding ingredients to the bowl. You can find ingredients in the sky, in your sleeve, under your armpit, behind your ear, in your pocket, or floating through the magical Un-Birthday universe.
Hold onto your big toe with one hand, or hold your whole foot if that feels more comfortable. Your leg now becomes a giant spoon or electric mixer. Make big circles with your held foot, opening the hip as you mix the batter.
Do the same with the other spoon or mixer.
You can also knead the dough with your hands while massaging all the different parts of your legs.
Put your mixed batter into your baking pan in front of you. When you are ready, lift your hands up to open the oven, then bend all the way down to put the cake into the oven.
Stay there while the cake bakes for at least 10 seconds. Count together, because you do not want to take the cake out too soon.
When it is ready, lift your hands up to open the oven and take the cake out.
Now decorate your cake with frosting, fruit, sprinkles, flowers, chocolate, rainbow dust, kindness, courage, and anything else the children imagine.
Cut the cake, take a big piece, and eat. Share and taste your friends’ cakes too.
You can even write your name on the cake.
Candle Pose
Time: 5 minutes
Let’s put birthday candles on the Yoga Cake we made.
Lie down and lift your legs up into Candle Pose, or Shoulder Stand if it is suitable for your group. For younger children or groups where Shoulder Stand is not appropriate, simply lie on your back and lift both legs into the air like two birthday candles.
Sing a “Happy Birthday to Me” song, make a wish, and now it is time to blow the candles out.
Usually, I have the birthday child go around the circle and first light all the candles by striking an imaginary match on an imaginary matchbox and bringing it to each participant’s feet to light their candle.
Then they go around the circle again, blowing out the candles by blowing gently on each student’s feet.
Both of these help us stay in the pose for a very long time.
Children can also come up into Candle Pose when their feet are being lit, and come down out of Candle Pose when their candle feet are being blown out.
Since we all have our Un-Birthday today, everyone gets a chance to light the candles and blow them out.
When everyone comes back to sitting, invite the children to share their birthday wish if they want to.
Yoga Presents
Time: 5 minutes
Take a moment to think about the birthday gift you most want, and then wrap it in a yoga pose.
Maybe this is a good one for a Present Pose.
Since it is all of our Un-Birthdays, let’s all give gifts to each other.
This can be played like Spin the Bottle. Sit in a circle and spin the bottle. When the bottle stops, the person facing the bottom of the bottle gives a yoga gift to the person facing the top of the bottle by naming a yoga pose for them to do.
Encourage children to give thoughtful pose gifts. Maybe someone needs a strong Warrior Pose, a calm Butterfly Pose, a silly Frog Pose, a peaceful Starfish Pose, or a brave Lion Pose.
Optional Party Classics Made Yoga
Time: 5-10 minutes
If you have time and the group is still full of party energy, you can add a few traditional party games made yoga.
Yoga Musical Mats
Place yoga mats around the room like musical chairs. When the music plays, everyone dances around the mats. When the music stops, everyone finds a mat and freezes in a yoga pose. Instead of eliminating anyone, invite two or more children to share a mat in partner poses as the game continues.
Yoga Pass the Parcel
Wrap a small object in layers of paper. Between the layers, place yoga pose instructions, kind actions, funny challenges, or mindful questions. Pass the parcel around the circle while the music plays. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel unwraps one layer and leads the challenge inside.
Super Smile
Time: 5 minutes
It was a very happy birthday or Un-Birthday.
Challenge your group to record the fastest contagious smile ever.
Start your stopwatch. Pass a big smile to someone across the circle by making eye contact with them.
Once that person receives your smile, start jumping up and down excitedly to show that the first smile has been sent.
The person who received the smile now passes a smile to a new person in the circle. When their smile has passed to someone else, they also start jumping excitedly.
The process continues until everyone in the circle has received a smile and passed a smile.
When everyone is jumping on the spot, stop the timer.
Do it a few times and see if you can beat your record time and pass the smile even faster.
The Inner Gift
Time: 5 minutes
Now lie down and relax. Take about a dozen deep belly breaths, filling your belly like a balloon and then releasing all the air out.
With every inhalation, bring peace and joy into yourself. With every exhalation, let out the things that bother you or make you feel uncomfortable.
Listen to your body. Listen to your heartbeat. You are calm and relaxed now.
Now it is night time after your birthday or Un-Birthday. As you are lying down, you can see a million stars shining and glittering in the sky.
You can also see shooting stars flashing through the sky.
You can make a wish for each and every shooting star you see.
Now there is one very special shooting star, and it is coming right up to you. It is not scary. It is light and warm and full of love.
It offers you a gift, a very special gift.
It is an inner gift. Not a gift you can touch, but a gift you really need. A gift you can feel in your heart.
Maybe it is a gift of love, health, courage, patience, joy, confidence, friendship, or a quiet message. You know best what gift you need to receive now.
Accept the star’s gift and thank it.
Take a deep breath and let this amazing gift enter your body with your breath. Let it come all the way into your heart, making your heart sparkle and shine. Let it become a part of you.
Allow the children to stay in silence for another moment here.
Wiggle your fingers and toes, and remember that the gift the star gave you will stay with you. Slowly open your eyes and sit up.
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