Filtering by Tag: how to

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

Note: As an Amazon Associate, Shining Kids Yoga earns from qualifying purchases from some of the links in this blog

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!



Feel the Love: Lovingkindness Meditation for Kids

Lovingkindness (metta) meditation is a well known meditation practice that builds feelings of love and being loved.

Enjoy this child-friendly guided audio relaxation that teaches the practice of lovingkindness (metta) meditation to young children. Perfect for Valentine's Day or any day of the year! This child-friendly meditation will help your child feel more calm, happy, and loved.

Online Yoga Games That Kids Will Love!

As an Amazon Associate, Shining Kids Yoga earns from qualifying purchases from the links in this blog

“In every job that must be done 

 there is an element of fun.

 You find the fun and snap!

 The job’s a game.” 

- Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, “A Spoonful of Sugar,” Mary Poppins


As anyone who has taught or watched a kids yoga class knows, teaching yoga to kids is very different from teaching an adult yoga class.  Keeping the attention of students and presenting material in a way that is accessible and engaging means that we need a lot of tricks in our kids yoga teacher toolbox. In my classes, I use many different modalities to make yoga more exciting and fun for children including songs, creative & imaginative play, art, and games.  However, especially for the elementary school age group (ages 5-10), games are one of my favorite and most well-received activities. 

In yoga class, games turn learning and challenges into fun by finding creative ways to engage children in learning yoga poses (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dharana). I’ve also used games to teach children the sanskrit names of yoga poses and help them understand the yamas and niyamas. Games also teach important developmental skills including: cooperation, teamwork, honesty, concentration, rule-following, and strengthening short-term memory.   In a 15 minute yoga game, children can practice upwards of 20 yoga poses and breathing techniques.  Games also allow for repetition of poses which leads to mastery.

Some of the games we play in my kids classes are “yoga-ized” adaptations of traditional and ubiquitous children’s games like “Duck Duck Goose” “The Floor Is Lava” and “Simon Says”. Other games I created specifically for use in yoga class and a few were created by students themselves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when yoga classes moved online, I had to think carefully about how to adapt or create new games that would work in this novel medium. Some games that I had used in my in-person classes translated easily with few or no adjustments.  Others required rule changes or creative adjustments to get them to work. And some work even better online than in-person due to the ability to show images close up and larger on the screen, the new possibility of having digital props (images and videos shared through the screen-sharing function), and children having props at home that they wouldn’t have at school or at the yoga studio (dice, stuffed animals, pillows, etc).  Being online also facilitated the creation of new games.  

 In online classes, visuals are a lot more important so having yoga cards that could be held up or digital cards that could be screenshared was a must. Utilizing tools embedded in Zoom are also helpful - including using the chat function where kids can share guesses in a game or answer a question if they don’t want to speak out loud. Given the physical isolation kids have experienced throughout the pandemic, It’s also important to me that the games we play in yoga class foster connection. Many of the warm-up games that I teach include opportunities for children to share about their day or week as well as opportunities to find shared interests and make connections with other children in the class. Despite our physical distance, these games help kids feel more connected and provide them an outlet to share about their lives.


Online yoga games are simple to learn and play, work well with a wide range of ages and abilities, and create an atmosphere of fun and engagement in yoga class. If you are looking for more ideas and demonstrations on how to incorporate yoga games into your online yoga classes or as brain breaks during virtual school, check out my recorded workshop Adapting Yoga Games for Online Kids Yoga Classes, which includes 7 teacher-tested/kid approved games that you can play in your online yoga classes with children, including one game that gets requested by students almost every single class.

If you’re ready to dive into the world of games in yoga class, check out these great resources in the Shining Kids Yoga online store:



Andrea Creel, MSW, LMSW, 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 karaoke, and trying out new vegetarian recipes!