Jungle Adventure

Hi there safari friends! We went on a jungle adventure in Yoga for Kids at Centered today. Here's what we got up to in case you'd like to use any of these things to play yoga at home.

Usually we learn a new breath at the beginning of our yoga class, but today we tried something a little different. We did a simple mindfulness activity, listening to the sound of the chime all the way through to its end. I invited the kids to close their eyes, listen to the sound, and then open their eyes back up when the sound was gone. We did this a few times, striking the chime with varying degrees of force. This would be easy to replicate at home with a simple pan and spoon if you don't have a chime.

We kept up the warm-up sequence we've been using the last several weeks, stretching the spine in all directions and then playing Jim Gill's "Jump Up, Turn Around" game. I'll probably bring in a new warm-up starting at our next class together, which will be September 14 (studio is closed for Labor Day on September 7 and I'm subbing for Lauren on September 14).

I brought out the flannelboard to introduce our jungle theme. We sang "Old McYogi Went to the Jungle." I'm guessing you know the tune! Here are the animals we met along the way:

• lion - standing lion's breath

• giraffe - extended mountain pose

• monkey - arm swinging with monkey sounds

• elephant - forward fold with hands clasped to make a trunk

• tiger - cat pose

From there we sat down for our first book, One Spotted Giraffe by Petr Horáček. This is a super fun pop-up book that introduces counting and some less common animal vocabulary. You all did a great job handling the book today! Knowing how to use books like this is actually part of a very important early literacy skill, print awareness.

Next it was time to move with some music, so we listened to “Rockin’ at the Zoo” from Kids in the City by Laura Doherty. We went right into our next song, this time starting to cool down a bit, with our "Dance for the Sun" by Kira Willey. 

Coming toward the close of class we read That’s Love by Sam Williams and repeated our chime listening activity. Then, as always, we took a rest, this time lulled by the sounds of the Amazon jungle. 

It was a treat to play yoga with all you wild animals today! Don't forget the studio is closed for Labor Day on September 7... I look forward to seeing you again on the 14th! NAMASTE

What Do I Feel Today?

Hi yoga kids and families! Today in our yoga class at Centered we explored feelings. Embracing our feelings as they are, even the hard ones, can be tricky. Thanks for being willing to explore this topic with open hearts. Helping kids have lots of words to describe what they are feeling can help them learn how to process their emotions in a healthy way and make good choices. Here's a re-cap of what we did.

Opening Breath: Gentle centering breath with the Hoberman sphere as a visual aid. We came back to this breath several times throughout the practice to come back to a place of calm after talking about various emotions.

Warm-Up Song: "Jump Up, Turn Around" from Moving Rhymes for Modern Times by Jim Gill. We've been using this warm-up song for a few weeks now. It's a song and game in one; check it out on Soundcloud.

Flannel Board: Feeling Faces
We took some time to talk about an explore different feelings. First, we "tapped-in" to our feelings by gently tapping all over the body. Then we looked at various faces and talked about some things we can do when we feel different feelings. We also used lots of different vocabulary words to talk about our feelings. Some examples are:

angry (mad, frustrated, cranky) - volcano breath (inhale the hands up, bringing all the angry feelings up to the surface, and then exhale them out audibly, like a volcano exploding)

sad (upset, heavy) - give ourselves a big hug

tired (sleepy, exhausted)  - take a rest if we can (child's pose, for example) or practice power breath if we need some energy (inhaling the arms up, and then exhaling sharply, pulling the arms down toward the belly, drawing more energy into our bodies)

silly (goofy, wacky) - making silly faces and dancing!

Song: "Clap Your Hands" from Here Come the ABCs by They Might Be Giants.
Time to get a little silly! What a great song to use at home any time you need to get out a little extra energy. See the "Jump, Frog, Jump" post for a video that goes along with this song.

Book: If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
A delightful picture book version of this popular children's song. The animals included in the illustrations provide lots of opportunities for yoga movement as well. Here are the poses we practiced along with the movements included in the story:

• monkey (side stretches)
• elephant (forward fold with hands together forming trunk)
• giraffe (upward salute)
• lion breath
• lemur (stretch arms and legs wide and spin around each side)
• hippopotamus (all fours)
• bird (slowly raise and fall arms)
• mouse (child’s pose)
• frog (squat)

Song: "What Do I Feel?" Breathe In: Children's Songs for Mindfulness and Awareness by Lianne Bassin

An awesome song for helping kids honor their emotions.

Book: The Feelings Book by Todd Parr
Another awesome Todd Parr book that presents life lessons in a gentle, kid-friendly way. 

Finally, it was time to rest. Today I played the song "Colors" from Dance for the Sun by Kira Willey to go along with our svasana. This gentle song explores various emotions through colors. You can find a sheet of printable picture cards to go along with the song from Omazing Kids Yoga. 

Thanks for coming to Centered to play yoga with me this week everyone! See you again soon! Until then, NAMASTE