This list of basic yoga poses for kids serves as an inspiration guide, but please encourage the children’s creativity. Yoga poses for kids often mimic our natural surroundings and may be interpreted in different ways. Some things to consider when you are practicing yoga with your children:
• Feel free to adapt or change the yoga poses to suit your needs.
• Focus on having fun with movement, not on practicing perfectly aligned poses.
• Engage the children. Follow their passions and interests.
• Create authentic, meaningful experiences.
• Cater to their energy levels and different learning styles.
• Be creative and enjoy yourselves, but please be safe.
• Wear comfortable clothing and practice barefoot.
Our Kids Yoga Stories’ characters, Sophia, Luke, Elizabeth, Baraka, Pablo, and Anamika, demonstrate the kids yoga poses in the list below, followed by the yoga pose name, possible keywords, and descriptions.
Yoga Poses for Kids:
Easy Pose:
Resting, Cloud, Washing Machine (twist upper body)
(Sit comfortably cross-legged, and rest your hands on your knees.)
Extended Child’s Pose:
Echidna, Turtle, Polar Bear, Armadillo, Porcupine
(Sit on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, place the palm of your hands flat out in front of you, and take a few deep breaths.)
Extended Cat Pose:
Goanna, Tiger, Fox
(Come to all fours, extend one leg out behind you, and look forward.)
Extended Mountain Pose:
Giraffe, Saluting the Sun, Fountain
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose, look up, and reach your arms up to the sky.)
Extended Side Angle Pose:
Sailboat
(From Triangle Pose, bend your front leg, rest your front elbow on your thigh, and reach your other arm straight up high to the sky. Look up. Repeat on the other side.)
Flower Pose:
Flower, Anemone
(Come to sit on your buttocks with a tall spine, lift up your legs, balance on your sitting bones, touch the soles of your feet together, and weave your arms under your legs.)
Gyan Mudra:
Badger, Fox, Raccoon
(Sit on your heels, with both hands in A-Okay sign over eyes to look like the badger’s eyes.)
Half Shoulder Stand:
Candle, Giraffe, Bat
(Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms resting alongside your body, and chin tucked in. On an exhale, push your palms down and lift your legs straight up, making an L shape with your body. Stay in this position or squeeze your belly and raise your hips. Then, bend your elbows and place your palms on your lower back for a half shoulder stand. Pretend your feet are the flickering flames and your legs are the candlesticks.)
Happy Baby Pose:
Bear Cub, Bug, Beetle, Otter, Pig, Ladybug, Spider
(Lie on your back with your chin tucked in, hug your knees into your chest, then grab the outer part of your feet with both of your hands, and rock like a happy baby.)
9Apps 4.9
