Yoga is great for kids for most or all of the reasons it's good for you. As a parent to a tiny human, I find inventing
activities for him can be fun and sharing my love for Yoga is a simple way to be active and connect. With a background in education, I remind myself to be playful unattached to results.
The best part about sharing yoga with my kid is not only our improved motor skills, body awareness and self-confidence, but the connection we have as we experience joy and playfulness. The more fun and relaxed I become, the more freedom we have together. So yoga is mutually healing and benefits us both.
In this post I've shared a flyer I put together that I used during Covid summer '21 in which I volunteer taught a toddler group yoga class outside at a local park. Since most of the yoga practitioners were two years of age, I made the practice vigorous and active, with a Savasana and snack at the end. Also, this is an age where their sense of autonomy is expanding, so I jumped at any chance to have them participate by leading.
Roll the yoga pose is one way I incorporate movement and child-led participation. I've shared the video short below thats covers how to make the dice, check it out to see how easy it is. What I like about this method is virtually zero preparation for this activity. I find lately that while I love activities for toddlers, the prep work can be involved like taping things down, or covering floors for potential messes, meanwhile you may lose the interest of the little one. With 'Roll Your Yoga Pose" little yogis pure fun is generated automatically through dice that create exciting yoga sequences by chance. Yogis also get to identify animal shapes and practice naming them. Toddlers lead the group by demonstrating each shape of animal they roll.
Kids learn by repetition, I mean really, all of us do and having them see your practice can make a difference in their level of interest of yoga. If you have a yoga practice that your kid repeatedly "sees" each week , you're teaching them that this yoga activity is important to you. If you are considering beginning yoga yourself, now may good a great time to start! Because I teach yoga, my son sees me and sometimes participates in my study of yoga to prepare for my classes. He also sees me on the Zoom platform teaching online, and finally he sees me durning my own yoga practice. His experience of me and my energy after my practice is calm and joyful. I believe, in my weekly pursuit to return myself toward wholeness, which is different every time, sparks my son's natural wonder toward yoga.
If you are interested in starting a beginner a yoga practice alone or with your little one I offer "Mommy and Me" sessions. If you already have a yoga practice and may want to know more tips on how to guide your little one, I'm available for a consultation.
Whatever works for you, Have Fun!
Roll the Dice Instructional Video
Illustrations by Sarah Jane Hinder in Yoga Bear: Sounds True, Inc. 2018