Yoga Time!

My first yoga student, Little K practicing Tree Pose in Hawaii

I started doing yoga with the two and three year olds in my class around Christmas time when the temperatures first began dropping below the point that we were able to take the kids outside. After being accustomed to at least an hour a day of running around and playing outside, it quickly became apparent that my co-teacher, Amy and I needed to come up with something active to keep our kids (and ourselves) from going insane, all cooped-up inside for the remainder of the cold season. We started with a few fun songs and dancing activities found on YouTube, many of which Amy had used at her previous school. The kids LOVED this and we found ourselves scrambling daily to come up with more songs to extend this new favorite time of day in our classroom. At the time, our "movement" time happened to fall right before our circle time meetings and we needed a way to bring the group back down to a place where they could calmly sit for our meeting. So at the end of our dancing and marching around the classroom, we all gathered together for some seated, yoga-like movements, ending in a little focused breathing. This worked marvelously and so began the incorporation of yoga into our daily routine.

A few of my favorite yoga resources for kids...

That weekend, I went to my local library on a mission to find a particular yoga book called You Are A Lion, I was introduced to back in Seattle through the library's book-mobile program. Not only did I find what I was looking for, but the librarian who assisted me, introduced me to a wealth of new books to explore. I promptly checked them out, some picture books and some reference, and brought them in to introduce to our class. My tried and true favorite was the perfect book to help the kids get engaged and take their introductory practice to a whole new level, learning the names of the poses and a handful of fun new ones that invited the kids to make animals sounds and incorporate their high energy and silliness into their practice rather than avoid it. I also brought in my personal set of yoga cards and let the kids and we went through a few of them each day, learning the names and even more new poses. They were so interested in our yoga activities that we started incorporating yoga practice into our regular work-time (aka free-play). I set the cards out as a special activity on the table, along with the children's reference books and picture books so that the kids could practice them and choose the poses they wanted me to demonstrate for them.

My pose cards we used before finding the Yoga Pretzel cards shown above

The more we practiced our yoga together (usually for 10-15 minutes at a time, once or twice daily), the more advanced the kids became. Now, three months later, our class has yet to lose interest in our yoga activities and now enjoy a more advanced, call-and-response practice where I say, "show me tree pose," and "show me mountain pose," rather than me leading with the pose first saying "now I'm going to stand tall and straight with my hands high above my like a mountain," the way I first did when introducing each pose. Each child has his and her favorite poses and they often request them, or point out the names of poses when they notice someone making a similar movement with their body. Not all the kids want to participate every time, but the large majority are eager to jump in whenever we start up with some yoga. The fail safe, however is called "Twinkle, Twinkle Yoga," and whenever I start up this yoga activity, every child joins in every time. I learned this one from Helen Garabedian's wonderful book Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Toddlers and Preschoolers, and it is so perfect in it's simplicity that any teacher or parent with zero knowledge or training in yoga can easily implement with their children. All you have to do is stand with your legs and arms apart, making a star with your body and rock back and forth from foot to foot, energetically "twinkling" your fingers and singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It is so easy, the kids absolutely love it every time, and it does unspeakable wonders for getting the attention and focus of every single child in the room, bringing them to a place where they are ready to listen upon conclusion.

I personally love yoga, and although I rarely go to formal classes anymore, it is a part of my every day routine both at home and in my classroom. From reading Garabedian's book and from my own experience doing yoga with my young students, I cannot say enough about the benefits of incorporating even the smallest amount of yoga practice into your daily school curriculum, or routine at home. Here are just a few of the many reasons why I recommend adding a little yoga to your day with your little one(s):

Great reference book filled with pictures of kids doing poses

• Practicing yoga helps children develop balance, coordination, large motor control, focus, and concentration
• Regular yoga encourages healthy circulation and increases oxygen to the brain 
• Yoga can be a fantastic self-soothing exercise and a fun way to practice patience 
• The command over the body developed in yoga builds confidence in physical skills and can improve self-esteem
• Certain poses (those where weight is on shoulders, arms, and wrists) can help develop muscle strength needed for improving fine motor skills, particularly those needed for writing later on
• Yoga can help relax and calm children and adults, assuage stress and encourages mindfulness, especially good for before nap or bedtime for deeper sleep
• Doing yoga with children offers a fun bonding experience for everyone involved and can do wonders for relationship building.

So go on, pick up one of the books I've shown, do a little online reading and research, or just jump right in with Twinkle, Twinkle Yoga, you're bound to have a blast and your kids/students will love it even more!