The Holidays

I can remember being a kid and thinking that the time from Halloween to Christmas seemed to take years! And now I'm realizing that I haven't made a single post since before Halloween and now it is almost Christmas, and the time seemed like a few days! So here are some holiday things that I've taught for the last few months...

Halloween- Spooky Yoga

I love Halloween yoga! Here are some things we did:

• We talked about bones  and skeletons
• Made scary faces while stretching the muscles in our faces
• Black cats- Meow!
• Pumpkin squats (Sit in squat and make a Jack o Lantern face)
• Gate pose- with lots of Squeaks
• Work as partners back to back and move arms and legs to become spiders

Thanksgiving- Thankful Yoga

There are so many wonderful things to do for Thanksgiving because being grateful for what you have in the present moment is such a huge part of yoga. I always start off a Thanksgiving class with going around the circle to ask what the kids are thankful for ("my parents", "my cat", "trains", "chairs" and lots more things). Here are some other things we do:

• Strut around like Turkeys
• Make apple pies to Kira Willey's Making Pie
• Table Pose
• Chair Pose

This year I also read I wonderful book recommended to me by another YogaKids teacher, Heather Wurtzle. The book was Thank You World by Alice McGinty.

December Holidays- Peace on Earth Yoga 

I love December and the holidays during the month. I celebrate Christmas, so many of the things that I include in the class are Christmas inspired, but we always do candle pose for the lighting of the  menorah. Here are some other things we do:

• Christmas tree decorating- Kids work with partners. One stands in tree while the other decorates the "tree" with tinsel or garlands

• Pass the present- Similar to hot potato, but when the music stops, the person holding the present comes up with a yoga pose for us all to do
• Star Pose
• Acting out carols- Like 12 Days of Christmas!

I also always talk lots about peace- we send out peace to the whole world  during December. Did you feel it?

So, I know that it is probably too late to use most of these ideas, but save them for next year!

With love and light,

Happy Holidays,

Carolyn

www.sdyogakids.com

The Peace Book

The Peace Book by Todd Parr is a geat book to use in yoga class. I think the book is a great description of peace and all of it's complexities- from getting along with others to finding peace with being who you are.

I asked each child to define peace, and then we read the book and acted it out in yoga poses. There are lots of pictures of animals that the kids can become. Partner poses are fun to do with this book because they promote teamwork and cooperation. It is also fun to have the kids draw peace.

We ended with chanting Om...

Giving the World a Big Hug

I recently bought a Hugg-A-Planet. It's a giant stuffed earth. We had so much fun in yoga class with it. It was so inspiring to see each child hug it- it's like each child could grow up to save our hurting earth... It made me feel better that the world is in these fresh new hands.

Find it on: http://www.peacetoys.com/

We also read Whole World and acted out the song with yoga poses. This book by Chris Corr and Fred Penner has great pictures and changes the emphasis from the traditional religious song of "He's got the whole world" to "We've got the whole world in our hands." This makes it more appropriate for a public school setting. A wonderful book for empowering children to take action and change the world. This book also has a CD so you can easily act out the song with yoga poses.

Namaste,

Carolyn Clarke www.sdyogakids.com

Garden Theme

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!

Quack! Quack!

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!

The Simple Things

The other day I was in a hurry and didn't have time to plan out a full, creative, and exciting lesson plan. As I ran out the door, I grabbed a bag of multi-colored pom-poms that I recently bought at the craft store.  I pulled them out at class- and they created quite a hit! I had so many of them that each child got to pick out their favorite color (they don't usually get to do this if I don't have enough to make everyone happy, so getting to make this choice alone was quite a hit!).  Then we put our pom-poms on the ground and blew on them to make them roll on the floor. They were so excited at how they could get their pom-pom to move.  I sometimes get so wrapped up in lesson planning, that I forget how much kids enjoy the simple things: a $2 bag of pom poms!

A Rumble in the Jungle

Yesterday I taught a fun class at a summer camp at a Montessori school. The theme was the jungle, and we had such fun romping around like animals. We read Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae. This is a great children's book about all the different animals in the jungle. We became Elephants, Chimpanzees, Zebras, Giraffes, and more. Lion was especially fun since we listened to the Lion Sleeps Tonight song.

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

I taught a class recently that was a make-up class to compensate for a class that I couldn't teach a few weeks ago. The kids kept hearing about the "make-up" class, and one of the 5 year old girls asked me in the middle of yoga, "When are we going to put on make-up?"

Flowers

Today I taught a FUN class with flowers... It was in honor of my friend Corey who moved to Canada this week- she loves flowers, so the theme of today was flowers and gardening.

I brought a Gerbera Daisy in for each child in the class, and we used them for lots of fun things.... We used them for meditating ("notice the color, the shape of the petals, the smell, the beauty..."). We used them for stretching ("lift your flower up in the sky, now reach to one side and the other with your flower.") We used them for balancing ("focus on your flower on the floor"). We also talked about watering flowers, and how they get droopy if you don't water them- then we talked about how our bodies get "droopy" if we don't give them water too.

W e also planted some seeds (Child's Pose) in our garden and grew into beautiful flowers and plants with a little water and sunshine. We became snakes, bees, butterflys, and frogs- all sorts of wonderful things that you find in a garden!

We ended with a poem and flow:

From the Ancient Chants of the Anasazi by Mary Summer Rain:

Give-Away Dance Song This day (Namaste), each day (Mountain Pose), Rain (Run in Place) and sun (Reach up for the sun), Snow Moon (Crescent Moon to the Right), Warm Moon (Crescent Moon to the Left), Nighttime (Crescnt Moon Center) and noon (Mountain Pose), We share ourselves (Hands circle out from heart out into room), We give ourselves (Hands circle out again), We are all ones of One. (Namaste Hands)

Give-Away, Give-Away. The joy of Giving Away (Toss imaginary things away from your heart).

I give to you (Hand to heart and hand out to group). You give to me (Hand out to group and hand back to heart) . We give to them (Hand to heart and hand out to group). They give to us (Hand out to group and hand back to heart). We share ourselves (Hands circle out from heart out into room). We give ourselves(Hands circle out from heart out into room). We are all ones of One. (Namaste Hands)

I sent them all home with their flowers...

Namaste,

Carolyn http://www.sdyogakids.com

All about Feet

Hello, I recently taught a foot yoga class at Radiance Yoga.  We did lots of yoga for our feet- waving hi with our feet, wiggling our toes, spreading our toes, picking things up with our toes.  We also did a Walking Meditation around the room paying attention to our feet.

Some questions I had for the kids included:

What are you feet scared of? "Anything slimey" , "Cold water"

What is something nice that you do for your feet? "Clip my toenails" and "Stretch them"

After all this focus on our feet, we did some standing poses and flows that relied on our feet.

I wish I had remembered to give foot massages! Next time!

YogaKids goes to Charleston, SC

I recently got back from a great trip to the East Coast. I taught a Taste of YogaKids workshop at All Saints Lutheran Church in Mt. Pleasant.  There were some wonderful women there to share a day of laughter and yoga as we explored the world of children's yoga.  We went over lots of kids yoga poses and breathing. We also talked about music and book ideas, along with ways to use yoga in the classroom. I was very inspired by these women that attended because they were so enthusiastic and excited about teaching yoga to kids.  It invigorates my own teaching when I am around like-minded folks that are excited and want to do what I am doing too! I was also lucky enough to attend many yoga classes in SC with my first yoga teacher, Laurie Clarke, who also happens to be my Mom! She taught me some advanced pranayama like Agni Sara and Alternate Nostril Breathing while engaging Mulabandha.  Tricky stuff- should keep me busy for a while...  I won't be teaching these to the kiddies, but I will be doing them to increase my own energy to keep up with the kiddies! Now that I've given up caffeine I need all the help I can get...

Namaste,

Carolyn

www.sdyogakids.com

Easter Egg Shakers

I had a feeling the day after Easter that kids in my preschool class would be hyper from the excitement of  Easter and jacked up on sugar.... So I planned an active class for Monday. As they say, if you can't beat them, join them! Brought some plastic Easter Eggs and some dried beans to my Preschool class. The kids filled the eggs with the beans to make musical egg shakers. We shook them as fast as we could, then we practiced shaking them one time, two times, three times, four times, five times. Then we had fun with Laurie Berkner's I Know a Chicken song. We stood in chicken pose (wings out, strutting like a chicken), and then laid our magical shaker eggs. Then we shook along with the song. BIG HIT! I love using props like this in class. We had a lot of fun, and they were able to practice fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and rhythm.  Once they were able to get out all that energy, we transitioned to some breathing and quieter poses on the floor.

You can buy fancy egg shakers, but I like having the kids make their own. They seem to enjoy it and it is cheaper!

Kid made shaker

Fancier egg shakers for purchase

Have fun!

Namaste,

Carolyn www.sdyogakids.com

Yoga for Kids in the News

I found this article on Google News today. Yoga for children is making the headlines!

http://www.townonline.com/stoughton/homepage/x144053213

It talks about a YogaKids teacher that taught a foot themed class. This was a great idea, and it's inspired me to put together a foot lesson plan for an upcoming class. I'll let you know how it goes...

Carolyn
www.sdyogakids.com

Yoga and Nutrition- Eating a Rainbow

  Last week I taught a fun class that integrated yoga and nutrition. We did rainbow pose (Side Plank) and then talked about how your body needs to "eat a rainbow". Eating a rainbow means eating fruits and vegetables from all the color groups (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and White too). We talked about what colors we had already eaten, and we brainstormed some fruits and veggies for all the different colors. I think it is a great way to eat well- too often we focus on the negative and the things we "shouldn't" or "can't" eat. Instead thinking about the abundant fruits and veggies that we should eat! Lots of fun, and really made me thing about eating a rainbow myself... I just never seem to be able to eat enough blue! I need to stock up on some blueberries.

Carolyn www.sdyogakids.com

This Week's Theme is LOVE!

Oh, how I love the week of Valentine's Day... In my classes I get to talk about Love... Sweet Love... I've been passing around a heart balloon and asking the kids to share who and what they love. I've heard some of these great responses: "My family"

"My Mom and my Dad and my Sister and my Brother and my Aunt and my Uncle and my Cousin and my Grandma and my Grandpa" (you get the idea)

"My kittie"

"Dinosaurs"

"You"

We do lots of heart openers in class (Cobra and Camel)...

We chant Love...

We divide up into partners and give each other back rubs...

We do Loving Kindness Meditation.

Let's make every week a week about love!

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!

~ Carolyn http:www.sdyogakids.com

National Girls & Women in Sports Day

On Saturday, February 10th, 2007, I volunteered at a National Girls and Women in Sports Day event in Balboa Park. Girls had the opportunity to try different sports and activities, including yoga, cheerleading, karate, softball, and more. I thought it was a great way to introduce girls to activities that they might not have exposure to in PE programs. In my yoga classes, we did lots of fun yoga poses- Cat, Cow, Tree, Sun Salutations, Moon Salutations, and Relaxation to name a few. It was a big class- almost 30 girls in each class- but they were very quiet and attentive.

A few had done yoga before, but many had not. One group leader told me that one girl in particular had never done yoga before, and had a lot of questions before the class about what to expect. It turns out she loved it. This child was a bit overweight, and it made me really happy to know that she found an activity that she loved! Yoga could be something that she does forever now!

"NGWSD began in 1987 as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work to assure equality for women's sports." -From NGWSD Central

~Carolyn http://www.sdyogakids.com

New Music for Yoga for Kids

I just discovered a wonderful CD that I can't wait to use in my classes. Here's the blurb from CD BABY:

KIRA WILLEY: dance for the sun

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kirawilley

A totally unique album of kids' yoga songs - with a little doowop, a bit of jazz, and some African tribal music - that's great to listen to, as well as fun to use with the illustrated booklet for musical family yoga.

I listened to all the samples on CD BABY and it sounds like such a great CD for yoga with the kiddies!

I'll keep you posted as I start to use it in my classes!

Space Yoga

Today I taught a fun class for preschoolers. We talked about the stars and how they make pictures in the sky. Then we looked at the pictures in this book:

It has really pretty pictures of the stars and the animals that the constellations are named after. Lots of fun poses to do along with the book. Then we launched off in our rocket ships and flew to the moon. There we walked around space and did some fun space yoga- Crescent Moon, Sun Salutations.

Then we got back in our rocket ships and flew back to Earth just in time for relaxation...

Today my favorite pose is Rocket Ship:

YogaKids Silly to Calm Video on YouTube

I was exploring YouTube, and I was so excited to find a clip of the YogaKids Silly to Calm Video. Here it is: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8M-3OQU8k]

This is a perfect example of how I teach yoga to kids. Usually the first question people ask me after I tell them that I teach yoga to kids is "HOW?". Many of the poses and excercises in this clip are methods that I rely on to tap into the kid's energy and help them move through it and into more calming poses. And it's so fun, too!

Class today

Taught a fun class today at The Child's Primary School. Here's what we did: lizard on a rock

sun salutations

meditation for the new year

and kids made up their own poses

I learned some really fun new poses to share with other children. I am always so amazed at how much I learn from them!