Today we planted a garden in yoga... I gave each child a magical pretend seed to plant in the ground. This magical seed can grow in just a few minutes!

Then each child became a seed in Child's Pose. I gave each "seed" a spritz of water with my spray bottle, and then out came the sun and we grew and grew. Each child got a turn telling me what they grew into- here are some of the amazing things we had in our garden:

Purple Flower

Tree

Sunflower

Roses

Ava Flower

Corn plant

This magical garden was planted to the song, Inch by Inch/Garden Song from the Tajar Tracks album with DEBBIE DEBORD WITH SOL DRIVEN TRAIN AND GWYNN VALLEY CAMPERS. You can listen to it and buy it here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/soldriventrain2

We also were different critters that you'd find in a garden- Ladybugs, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Dragonflies, Turtles, and Birds.

If we'd had more time we could have planted actual seeds in a cup, or walked partners around in Wheelbarrow! Next time...

Serendipitous moment of the day: I was lucky enough to receive a gift of a cucumber and a bell pepper from the school's actual backyard garden!

I saw this great post on the Daily Om today (www.dailyom.com) about ducks. What fun things to talk about while in duck pose...

" July 23, 2007 Symbols Of Versatility Ducks

If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the world that is also a home to ducks, you will no doubt be familiar with the image of their cute feathery bottoms sticking up in the air as their heads disappear under the surface of the water. Perhaps you’ve even taken a moment to wonder what they see in their underwater world, and if they will resurface with a fish or a water bug in their beaks. As we observe them, we see that ducks are denizens of three worlds—the world of air, the world of water, and the world of earth. As such, they have adapted themselves to be able to swim, fly, and walk, and they seek and find nourishment in more than one place. They are symbols of versatility and can inspire us to explore our own ability to adapt and find nourishment in a variety of places.

Ducks are able to float, swim, and dive into the water, fishing for food. They can walk on the ground, eating vegetation and bugs, and they fly in the air to travel long distances relatively quickly. Equipped with feet that are equally good at paddling and walking, as well as wings to fly, ducks seem comfortable in just about any natural environment. Next time you see a duck bottom, you might be inspired to examine your own ability to both float on the surface and to dive beneath it. In many traditions, water symbolizes the emotions—to duck our heads into our emotions means we are able to surrender our minds to our hearts, to go into the watery realm of feeling and see what there is to see, often coming to the surface with nourishment and treasure.

At the same time, we share the duck's ability to get solid ground under our feet by connecting to the earth on which we live simply by walking on it. And finally, when we reside in our spirits, we fly above the mental, emotional, and material realms, free of all the ties that bind us to this earth, traveling faster and farther than we ever thought possible."

From DailyOm.com

There are lots of things you could do with a duck theme...

Duck squats:

-Simple yoga squat saying "quack quack"

Duck walking:

-Walk in duck squat

Duck duck goose (When child walks around the circle and says "Duck", each child becomes a duck in duck pose).

Duck books

-Duck for President by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

And don't forget Rubber Duckies- balance them on your heads or use them on the floor to focus on when you are balancing.

So many fun things to do with ducks! Quack Quack!