4 Ways To Encourage Play With Yoga For Kids

As summer draws to a close and children prepare to head back to school this fall, parents and educators look for ways to supplement the school day with sports and other extracurricular activities that help children connect better with others and get as much exercise as possible. the body as the mind in a different way. The concept of structured play emphasizes the importance of these activities for the child’s academic and cognitive development. Fortunately, yoga for children is a perfect way to ensure that through games, postures, songs and dances, children have the opportunity to create and discover another world on the mat.

Here are 4 easy ways to get it:

1. Let the children create poses

The power of yoga lies in the flexibility of the postures, and children have a great capacity for imagination to create their own variations of postures! Let them explore characters, emotions, and anything else to create their own poses, using what they’ve learned so far. Monster Pose is ideal for this – for kids to make up their own monsters and explore the way they breathe, move or sound, and interact with others.

2. Use Games

Yoga games are not only a great way to review new poses and encourage group collaboration. They also allow a more relaxed class structure that invites joy, imagination and creativity . Consider ending classes with games that make kids think fast and work together, like “Yogi Says” or “Follow the Yogi.”

3. Includes Drawing

Drawing is a very good way of working for children of any age to take advantage of their imagination visualizing postures, feelings, fears, values, and others. Complement a class with drawings , ask the children to draw anything from their favorite posture to something that scares or calms them down. With these drawings you can explore the ideas and thoughts they are having that they might not be able or willing to express in any other way.

4. Give them freedom

Put the kids in charge of the class! Letting children lead their peers, or contribute to a group activity, not only engages them more effectively , but also creates a more relaxed and relevant atmosphere within the class. Have them take the lead, choose where the story goes, or share the stance they’ve created with others. This leadership gives the child in your charge a different perspective on collaborating with others, and the rest of the children feel more encouraged and able to act as they want.

These ideas don’t have to be just for kids! With adults you can also try these ideas in your classes. Everyone can spend more time playing, and bring out the inner child that we all carry inside.