Children’s Yoga Flow: Animal Theme

Let’s Have Some Fun! Children’s Yoga Flow: Animal Theme

Click here for the PDF version for a grid, which can be used for children’s yoga flows or in the driveway, using chalk to make the grid as shown with the names of the poses and playing “musical yoga,” which is similar to “musical chairs” except, when the music stops, the child not in the square containing the name of the pose just called or in the wrong square is “out.”

Another game is a youth empowerment game where parents are asked to cut out each pose from the grid and children create their own yoga flows by either “picking from a hat,” “scrambling” the cut-outs, or inventing their own moves and poses, which can be incredibly empowering.

Cues:

1. Butterfly/Cobblers’ Pose

I invite the children to touch their feet together with their hands rested on their heels. After holding for about 30 seconds, I invite them to flap.

2. Seated Forward Bend (paschimottanasana)

From butterfly, I will instruct the children to stretch out their legs like a bunny does when it lays down and reach for their toes.

3. Cat Pose

I will instruct children to come onto their knees and stretch their back downward like a cat after a long nap.

4. Cow Pose

This will be the other half of the stretch and will be a great point to invite the children to discuss the attributes of cows in general: Think: “what do we get from cows?” Milk. “Why is that important?” It helps us grow big and strong.

5. Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana)

Following our light conversation, I will invite the children to come to their feet and bend down like a pony does to eat hay. This a good moment to pause and explain the benefits of stretching.

6. Reverse Warrior (Viparita Virabhadrasana)

I will invite the children into the reverse warrior pose and instruct them to open their chest and reach high in the sky like a giraffe’s neck reaching high into the trees.

7. Chair Pose (Utkatasana)

We will then enter chair pose, which I will correlate to the unique posture and balance to that of a flamingo. I will have them think of their legs as one, keeping them fixed together for balance help.

8. Crow Pose (Bakasana)

I will then invite them to try our most difficult pose of the session. I will have them envision a crow sitting on a fence and offer a modification of keeping their toes on the ground since this pose requires more strength and balance than the others in the sequence.

9. Easy Seat (Sukasana)

I will finish out this sequence in a comfortable and relaxing position and will invite the kids to bring their hands together in a prayer position and say namaste.