Luke's Beach Day Review, Giveaway, and Beach Yoga Lesson Plan

Review of Luke's Beach Day

luke beach day

In case you missed it on Amazon.com, here's what I had to say about Luke's Beach Day by Giselle Shardlow:

"Luke's Beach Day, by Giselle Shardlow at KidsYogaStories.com, teaches children's yoga and environmentalism with a sweet story and easy-to-follow yoga pose pictures on each page.

The story follows Luke and his friends at the beach, discovering sea life, boats, and litter! Luke is bothered by the trash and makes sure to put it all in the garbage can, setting a good example and teaching readers to do the same. The book includes a list of all of the poses used in the book, including Kangaroo pose (fun!) and Sun Salutations. There is also a list of tips that are helpful for people who have never done yoga with kids (it is definitely different than doing yoga with adults!).

I love all the books from Kids Yoga Stories, especially this one that has the corresponding poses listed on each page. I love that as I read a story to my classes, the kids automatically go into the poses that they see in the top corner of the pages. It is much easier than trying to hold a book and to demonstrate a yoga pose at the same time.

Giselle Shardlow has created another invaluable resource for parents, teachers, and kids yoga instructors wishing to share yoga in a fun, healthy, and eco-friendly way."

I think it's a great book for kids yoga classes (enter the giveaway below!), so I've put together a lesson plan using it (this lesson plan was originally created for an OMazing Kids lesson plan constest last year). The lesson plan (below) includes a story from Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids, too!

A Relaxing Day at the Beach Lesson Plan

Suggested materials – Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids book by Carolyn Clarke Luke’s Beach Day by Giselle Shardlow Shell collection displayed inside of yoga mat circle Cardboard laminated suns Hobermann Sphere Ocean wave music Printed pictures of sand sculptures chosen from: Cat http://tinyurl.com/9tujuck Cow http://tinyurl.com/8qmh4sc Dog http://tinyurl.com/9crw6n8 Tree http://tinyurl.com/8ed6ua4

Sequence of Poses:

Breathing with the Hoberman Sphere

Rub Palms together and feel your own energy

Shell Meditation (Pass around shells and listen to the sound of the ocean)

Shoulder Rolls

Neck stretches (move head like yes and no)

Arms circles

Sand sculptures (Show pictures of sand sculptures and then mimic them with poses) Cat Pose Cow Pose Dog Pose Tree Pose

Dig a Hole (Standing Forward Bend to Extended Mountain with an imaginary shovel)

Jump the waves (Imagine you are jumping over waves staying on your yoga mat or have two kids hold the ends of a long piece of blue material for kids to jump over)

Sun Salutations

Beach ball game (Pass the ball around the circle with your arms, then lying down with your feet.)

Read Luke’s Beach Day and act out the story with the included yoga poses

Starfish Stretches (Arms, legs, and head are starfish arms. Sit down, open legs in a V. Stretch your arms overhead to one side, then the other side, stretch forward, and then stretch backwards until you are lying on your back.)

Kelp Forest (Lying back, arms and legs up in the air. Sway arms and legs slowly with the current. )

Cool-down Flow Knees to Chest, Legs Up, Dead Bug/Happy Baby, Savasana/Relaxation Pose 1_KneeHug_Book_Picture 2_HappyBaby_Book_Picture 3_LegsUp_Book_Picture 4_Starfish_Book_Picture

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (tighten and relax each body part) followed by this story from Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids:

A Day at the Beach

Imagine you are walking on the beach.

Feel the sand between your toes.

Is it wet or dry?

When you find your perfect spot, spread out your towel and lie down in the sand.

Feel the warm sun on your skin and a cool, refreshing breeze.

Listen to the waves crashing on the shore…

Children playing…

Seagulls singing…

And people laughing.

Listen to the sound of the waves.

A wave comes into shore, and then the wave moves back into the ocean.

Now, put your hand on your belly.

Feel it rise up when you take in a breath, and feel it fall down when you let out a breath.

Up and down, in and out.

Just like the waves in the ocean…

Enjoy lying here feeling your body relaxed at the beach.

© 2012 Carolyn Clarke from Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids

Activities: Choose any of the beach themed activities from the Pinterest board for A Day at the Beach http://pinterest.com/relaxationstory/a-day-at-the-beach/

Enter the Giveaway

So now you are probably REALLY excited to have a copy of Luke's Beach Day of your own!

Enter the giveaway by Friday, August 2nd, 2013 at midnight PST to win a copy of Luke’s Beach Day and Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids.

Click Here to Enter

Rules of Participation:

  • Must be 18 years or older with a valid e-mail address.
  • Employees or family members of Bambino Yoga are not eligible.
  • No purchase required.
  • Comments submitted via Rafflecopter  may be copied & pasted into the blog posts on KidsYoga101.com, ImaginationsForKids.com, or Bambino Yoga.com.
  • Odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible entries received.
  • The winner will be chosen via a drawing of valid entries on Monday August 5, 2013.
  • The winner will receive Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids and Luke’s Beach Day. Luke’s Beach Day will be shipped separately by Kids Yoga Stories.
  • The winners will be notified via e-mail, will be posted on the blog posts & will be posted on the ImaginationsForKids/Bambino Yoga Facebook page.
  • Legal Info:This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or Rafflecopter. You are providing your information to Bambino Yoga, not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for our internal purposes in relation to the administration of the giveaway. Your information will NOT be sold to any outside parties. Indemnification/Hold Harmless: By participating, entrants agree: (a) to the decisions of Bambino Yoga which shall be final in all respects; (b) to release, discharge, and hold harmless Bambino Yoga and its respective representatives and agents from all liability, injuries, losses or damages of any kind to persons or property resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, misuse or use of a prize, or from participation in and/or entry into the Contest or any Contest-related activity and for acceptance, delivery, or use of any prize; (c) that the foregoing parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation or guaranty, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, relating to any prize.

Namaste,

Carolyn

Carolyn Clarke

www.imaginationsforkids.com

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Using Live Flowers in Kids Yoga Classes

Sunny One of my favorite things to do in a springtime yoga class (or anytime, really), is to bring in fresh flowers for my yoga students. Here's why I love using fresh flowers in yoga:

1) Smiles-

The children's faces light up when they see them. It is an instant mood-lifter. That alone is enough of a reason, but there are more reasons...

2) Mindfulness-

Flowers invoke mindfulness. Thus the phrase, "Stop and smell the roses."  Their beauty and fragance can stop us in our tracks. Ever go on a walk with a toddler? Chances are they stopped to look at each flower along the way.  I like to encourage mindfulness by having each child hold a flower (stay away from thorny stems like roses).  We gaze at the flower in silence for an age appropriate amount of time. I find that the longer that you look at the flower, the more colors and textures you notice. I discovered this when I was lucky enough to get a massage in French Polynesia- the therapist put a hibiscus flower in a vase on the floor under the head rest, so for an hour I gazed at the flower. At first it was just a red hibiscus, but then I started to see variations of colors and textures that I never would have noticed if I'd just walked past it.  So, ring a bell to start the flower meditation, have a period of silence, and then ring a bell afterwards. Ask the children what they noticed about their flower.

3) Breathing-

If your flowers are fragrant (which I recommend), do a "breathing exercise". Take long deep breaths to smell the flower all together as a group. Discuss.

4) Balancing and Standing-

I love holding a flower while doing standing yoga poses:

  • Extended mountain- Reach your flower up to the sky
  • Crescent moon- Bend side to side with your flower, just like it does in the wind
  • Flowering tree pose- Hold the flower in one of your branches and pretend your tree is blooming
  • Warrior 3- Strecth your flower out in front of you
  • Seed to Tree- Curl up child's pose and then sprout out of your seed to become a flowering tree (inspired by YogaKids)
  • Ask the kids for their ideas- they will have some ideas, too, for doing yoga with the flowers

5)Sitting/Floor Work-

There are lots of fun things you can do with the flower while on the floor too.

  • Make a bouquet- Have all the kids sit in a circle with feet touching, extend your flowers up in the air (Staff Pose), then forward bend and bring your flowers to the center towards your toes
  • Rest your flower in your lap for any kind of arm stretches or side stretches
  • Table pose- Set the table with a flower on your belly, or a flower on your back depending on which style of table pose you are doing (or try both)
  • Ask again for kids ideas!

6)Relaxation-

Rest the flower on your belly for belly breathing and savasana (Prompt the kids to picture the flower, smell the flower, feel the flower while they are relaxing.)

7) Paying it Forward-

You can send the flowers home with the kids. OR I bring in a vase or mason jar, and suggest to the kids that we put all of our flowers together in the vase and give it to someone that might appreciate it (teacher at the school, someone's parent that just had a baby, or the owner of the studio, etc.) It's fun to see who they come up with to give it to. If they can't all agree on one person, then ask each child to give their own flower to someone of their own choosing.

8) Eco-friendly-

I love using props in kids yoga, and I especially like when a "prop" is from the earth and biodegradable... Remind them to put the flower in their green garbage bin or compost bin if they are taking the flowers home. Using flowers helps bring a connection with the earth into the classroom or yoga studio, and it is fitting for the week of Earth Day!

A few tips-

Make sure that the flowers you bring in aren't poisonous or prickly.... I like picking out flowers with rigid stems (Think sunflowers over tulips) so that they stay straight during our poses. If you are just doing mindfulness exercises and not asana with the flowers, then choose beauty and fragrance over sturdiness!

Also, if you have too many kids in your class to make flowers feasible, a single flower or a small potted plant is a nice addition to the center of a circle of mats and creates a good focus point for meditation and balancing.

Have a wonderful time using flowers in your class! And take some pictures!

Namaste,

Carolyn

Carolyn Clarke

www.imaginationsforkids.com

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"Lovey-Dovey" Yoga- 5 Valentines Activities for Kids Yoga

Hearts and rory and words

My favorite month for kids yoga is February! I use the theme of L-O-V-E  all month long!

1. Love Breath-

Take a deep breath in, say LOVE when you breathe out.

2. IKEA Love Pillow Breath-

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Hold this heart pillow.

Bring the arms out when you breathe in to make room for the air, and then wrap the arms around the heart when you breathe out. Visual cues like this make it easy for kids to play with their breath.  You can have the kids take turns using the pillow to lead.

3. Rocking Chair pose-

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  • Lie on your belly.
  • Bend your knees.
  • Stetch your arms back to reach your feet.
  • Pull your feet up to make the front of your body rounded.
  • Rock back and forth like a Rocking Chair.
  • Feel how open the area is around your heart- send some love to someone who needs it!

4. Partner Back Massage

  • Sit on the floor, with your legs stretched out like a V.
  • Have a friend sit in front of you, and they can stretch their legs out like a V too. Keep having friends sit down in the same way until you run out of friends J
  • Give the person in front of you a shoulder and neck rub.  You can use different techniques- lightly rub their back, gently chop (like a gentle karate chop), and then draw heart s or other shapes with the palms of your hands or your fingers.
  • Note: I always have kids ask the person in front of them if it is okay to give them a back massage. If you are doing this with lots of kids, and someone doesn’t want a back rub, have them be the first one to sit down. If you are doing this with only one partner, then switch places so both have a chance to receive a massage.

5. A FREE Loving Kindness Meditation

Loving Kindness meditations are a sweet way to integrate love into yoga. Download this FREE Loving Kindness relaxation story from Imaginations here.

I hope you enjoy doing Lovey-Dovey yoga with your students or family.

Sending you lots of love,

Carolyn

Carolyn Clarke

 

January's Taste of YogaKids Workshop

Last month, I held a Taste of YogaKids Workshop at San Diego State University. There were a variety of people there including yoga teachers, nutritionists, therapists, and school teachers. It was such a great group of people with diverse experiences, but the thing we all had in common was the joy in sharing yoga with children. The day started off with covering calming, quieting poses and breathing, and then moved into some more dynamic, energizing poses. We also talked about the YogaKids Elements, the part of the YogaKids program that truly sets it apart from other children's yoga programs. After a lunch break we covered ways to integrate music, language arts, science, visual arts, storytelling, and affirmations into a yoga session. Throughout the day we covered more than fifty yoga poses specifically geared for kids!

After a guided visualization, participants were sent off relaxed and empowered to share yoga with children.

I'm always so excited to teach these workshops and share all that I have learned since I began teaching yoga to kids in 2002. What is also so inspiring, is that I always learn from the participants as well. I love the idea sharing that happens!

If you are interested in attending a future workshop, let me know at carolyn@suntomoonyoga.com or keep checking www.sdyogakids.com for updates.

Namaste,

Carolyn Clarke www.sdyogakids.com