Halloween Time Yoga Fun!

Halloween is always exciting, especially for children.  Holidays and special occasions are the perfect opportunities to incorporate fun and different activities during these times of year.  Yoga for kids naturally takes the form of playacting and pretending, so a Halloween theme is the perfect fit for a class of little yogis!

Here are 5 fun ways to make your yoga routine extra spooky:

1.  "Boo" breath Breathing exercises have always been calming and cleansing - now they can be fun!  As an opener for class, start this exercise with kids sitting in easy pose (criss-cross-applesauce, that is).  Have yogis take a deep breath in, then exhale with their favorite ghostly noises.  BoooOOOooo!

Lil' yogi witch

2.  Witch  Commonly known as Utthita Tadasana, or extended mountain, this will be an instant Halloween hit!  Have little yogis take a few deep breaths while making a tall, pointy witch hat with their hands.

3.  Spider pose  To us grown-ups: Ardha Purvottanasana, or crab pose.  To a bunch of spooky yoga kids: a fun way to creep out their yoga teacher!

Frankenstein!

4.  Frankenstein walk  Everybody's favorite Halloween personality, Frankenstein!  Have kids monster-walk from one side of the room to the other by trying to touch opposite hand to opposite foot with arms and knees held straight.  Monster noises are to be encouraged. (BONUS: Play Monster Mash and make this move into a full-blown Halloween line dancing routine!)

5.  Corpse pose  Halloween time is the only time that I will call Savasana by its otherwise morbid English name in a kids class - "sleeping vampire" works just as well, too.  After laying still, have kids "rise from the grave" by reaching their hands toward the ceiling, sitting up slowly.  Spoooky!

My favorite part about Halloween season is seeing kids wearing their costumes 24/7 for the entire month of October, but a close second is doing Halloween yoga!  Namaste, and happy haunting!

Jenga, and other Fun Ways to Focus

Trying not to tumble the tower...

While getting kids active is a major goal of any little yoga class, an equally important goal is helping kids be calm and centered.  If it were as easy as just telling youngsters to be calm, it wouldn't be such a challenge!  Luckily, yoga is a perfect way for kids to practice focusing their energy on a productive task.  One of our favorite activities in my studio is Yoga Jenga.

Before starting the game, we do yoga breathing exercises while we warm up our fine motor skills.  We play using classic Jenga rules, with the addition of a yoga pose written on each block that must be performed to complete every turn.  The kids love seeing how tall they can get the tower without knocking it over, so they don't need me to remind them to be calm and careful during the game! It is the perfect excercise in self-control and concentration, and with the common goal of keep the tower from toppling, the game is lighthearted and no competitive. 

 Jenga is one of my favorite kids yoga activities, but there are countless ways to practice concentration and attentiveness:

Read.  Have your kids listen as you read to them, checking in periodically to see that they are following along. Let older kids practice reading aloud to you - what better way for them to get ahead with literacy!
Color.  Kids of all ages love coloring!  You can find hundreds of free printable coloring sheets here.  Even better Han coloring is drawing.  Play some instrumental music, and on a blank sheet of paper have the little yogis draw or color whatever the music makes them think of.
Sing.  Learn new songs together! Or teach them new ways to sing old favorites, like singing Row Row Row Your Boat in a round.
Origami. You can often find free community newspapers that have the perfect pages for making a kid-size origami hat.  Only a few simple folds, add some color customization, and it's ready to wear!

All of these activities are fun ways for kids to apply themselves.  They are perfect ways of playing that are simple, inexpensive, and great learning opportunities - just like yoga!