The Alphabet Yoga Game: Flexibility, Literacy + Fun!

One of my favorite things to do as a children’s yoga teacher is create new and fun yoga games to help children engage with yoga in a developmentally appropriate way. The Yoga Alphabet game is a great way to engage children ages 2-6 in the practice of yoga while also reinforcing and developing early literacy and phonics skills.

Materials:

To play this game with children, you will need a deck of yoga pose cards

(Optional) A set of alphabet flashcards or an alphabet poster

Warm Up:

Sit in Criss Cross Yoga Sauce (Sukhasana) and sing the Alphabet Song while stretching arms side to side

How to Play:

Note: This game works best with children who are already familiar with the names of yoga poses and how to do the poses.

1. Pick two yoga pose cards (make sure the names of the poses start with different letters). Based on the cards, decide which letter you are going to use and ask the kids “Which pose starts with the letter ______?” If you have an alphabet poster or flashcards, you can point to the letter on the poster.

2. Children call out the name of the pose that starts with the selected letter

3. Everyone does that pose!
   

   Example:

   Hold up the yoga pose cards below and ask “Which pose starts with the letter D? D-D-Dancer? or F-F-Frog?” Emphasize the starting sound for each word to help children guess the correct pose name.

   For younger children (ages 2-3) you can add in/turn the question into a song: Which pose starts with D song

Depending on the age and skill level of the children, you may need to assist the children in figuring out the correct pose. Once the children have guessed the pose, everyone does the pose together!

If you sang a song during the guessing portion, you can sing again while the kids are doing the pose to reinforce the starting letter/sound and help synthesize this knowledge for the kids by combining sound/song with the physical movement of the pose. In this example, you would sing the Dancer Starts with D song. You can adapt the tune to fit with whatever letter and pose you are using.

This game can be played for as long as the kids are having fun, and you can repeat poses/letters as a tool to help with learning and mastery of the poses and letter sounds. Children love guessing the correct answer, so if there is a card/pose they did not guess, y9ou can come back to it again later in the game.

This simple activity “gamifies” yoga and helps develop gross motor and literacy skills in the littlest yogis.

I’d love to hear how this game goes in your yoga classes or at home with your children! Please comment below or send me a note and share your experiences!

Wishing you peace, love, and yoga!

- Andrea

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Andrea Creel, MSW, LCSW-C, E-RYT 200, YACEP

Andrea is the founder of Shining Kids Yoga, which began as an after-school program at her son's elementary school in 2014. She has been teaching yoga to all ages since 2005.  Andrea completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Tranquil Space Yoga in Washington, D.C. In addition, she received specialized training in children’s yoga from the Radiant Child Yoga program, training in postnatal yoga from Baby OM,  and training in therapeutic yoga from  The Samarya Center.

Andrea is the author of Mystery Pose: A Yoga Guessing Game (affiliate link) and the creator of two yoga card games for kids: Double the Fun Yoga Cards and Yoga Pose or Dare. She is also the creator and facilitator of the Shining Kids Yoga Kids Yoga Teacher Training, a 17-hour certification program in teaching yoga to kids.

When not teaching or practicing yoga, Andrea enjoys playing board games with her son, Quinn, singing at open mics, trying out new vegetarian recipes, and building community in ways big and small!