Easy yoga routines for kids are not only lots of fun: they can help build your child’s strength and focus, and even improve mood. Childcare experts Busy Bees’ qualified yoga teacher explores the benefits.
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Children’s yoga offers a treasure trove of benefits for your little one’s growing mind and body. Along with strength and flexibility, it also promotes balance and co-ordination. And it’s benefits are not confined to physical improvements. Yoga is also about mindfulness techniques such as breathing exercises and calming methods. Children learn to focus their attention and manage stress, a valuable skill for life.
Here are some fun yoga poses to get your child going.
Animal Yoga Poses
Butterfly Pose
Flutter like a colourful butterfly! Start by sitting nice and tall like a mountain. Now, gently bend your knees bringing the soles of your feet together. Can you make your legs look like a beautiful butterfly's wings?
Hop Like a Happy Bunny
Stand tall like a strong tree. Now, hop your way down to the floor, placing your hands flat in front of you. Feel free to bend your knees as much as you need! Can you wiggle your nose like a playful bunny searching for carrots?
Super Bunny Kicks
Push the ground with your strong hands and jump your legs up high in the air. Imagine kicking juicy clouds in the sky! Little bunnies who are still learning to jump can hop while sitting on your lap.
Hen House Hide and Seek
Stand tall like a proud rooster and spread your feet a little wider than your hips. Now squat down to the ground as if you’re hiding in a cosy hen house. Tuck your arms inside your elbows, making cosy wings to keep you warm!
Superhero Yoga Poses
Super Soar
Time to take flight! Lie flat on your tummy like a superhero in
disguise. Inhale deeply and lift your arms and legs high, feeling like
you're soaring through the sky. Exhale and gently lower yourself back to
the ground.
Secret Agent Sneak
It's time to become invisible! Squat low to the ground like a
stealthy spy hiding from villains. Wrap your arms around your knees for
extra secrecy. Can you stay completely silent for a super stealthy hold?
Unbreakable Strength
Get ready to build muscles like the strongest superhero! Start in a
push-up position with your hands flat on the floor. Walk your feet back
one at a time until your body forms a straight line. Hold this powerful
pose for as long as you can.
Balance Like a Ninja
Can you stand strong and steady like a legendary ninja? Stand tall
with your feet hip-width apart. Now, lift one leg straight out in front
of you, keeping your core engaged. Challenge yourself to hold this
balancing act for as long as you can.
Nursery Rhyme Yoga
Rocket Ride – Sing and Move
Pretend you are an astronaut on a mission to the moon. Use your body
to make a rocket ship and blast off into space. Here's how:
Sing: zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon!
Action: stand tall with your legs hip-width apart. Reach your arms high above your head, like building a tall rocket ship.
Sing: zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going very soon!
Action: staying in your rocket pose, tiptoe as high as you can. Feel those powerful engines lifting you off the ground.
Sing: If you want to take a trip, climb aboard my rocket ship!
Action: Time to launch! Step your right leg forward as if you're
climbing into the rocket. Lift your left leg off the ground behind you,
almost parallel to the floor. Can you feel the wind rushing past?
Sing: Zoom, zoom, zoom, we'll be there very soon. Action: Back to the rocket pose with both feet on the ground.
Sing: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... blast off!
Action: With each number, reach your arms even higher upwards. Feel the rocket launch and blast through the sky!
