Have you ever squeezed water out of a wet towel? In this pose, we twist our body to wring out tension and tightness. Our spinal nerves get nourished. Vertebrae muscles get stronger. The organs in our belly get exercised and revitalized. Get ready to twist and blow!

Instructions

1. Lay on your back.
2. Hug your knees into your chest. Clasp them gently.
3. Rock back and forth.
4. Return to center.
5. Stretch your arms out to the sides. Palms are up.
6. Inhale and drop your hips and bent knees to one side. Twist your ribs, neck and head to the other.
7. Blow out through your mouth.
8. Change sides.
9. Twist back and forth 5-10 times, then release onto one side and relax for at least a minute.
10. Blow out fully.
11. Breathe in deeply.
12. Close your eyes.
13. Do the other side.

Notes for Parents and Teachers

You can help your child increase the twisting action. As she twists her lower body to the right and upper body left, help her in the following way:

1. Place one hand on her left lower back and the other hand on her right shoulder. Move her hips in one direction.
2. Lengthen her chest by pressing her shoulder gently down towards the floor in the other direction. Encourage the spiraling of the spine to stretch and relax her.
3. Give her a kiss on the cheek.
4. Move her knees to the other side.
5. Repeat.
6. Let your child help you to twist and blow too. Spinal twists massage the internal organs as well as the spine.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

Math Medley/Awesome Anatomy
Your spine consists of 3 groups of bones that help you stand up tall: 7 in your cervical spine or neck, 12 in your thoracic spine or chest area and 5 in your lumbar spine or lower back area. How many bones are in your spine? 31 spinal nerves run through your spine and connect to every part of the body. How many vertebra bones and nerves are in your backbone?

Body Benefits
The twisting action of this pose massages the kidneys, liver, stomach and intestines. It makes your digestive and elimination systems healthy and strong.

A snake’s tongue is a radar detector. It can taste and smell, seek out friends and detect enemies. Stick out your tongue. Follow your senses. What do you sense in the air?

Pose Instructions

1. Lie on your belly. Gently squeeze your legs together. Make your body long and strong like a snake.
2. Place your hands under your shoulders.
3. Inhale. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears. Lift your chest higher and higher. Slither out of your skin and lower back.
4. Exhale as you hiss the “s” sound of the snake. Sssssss. Stick out your tongue. Flick it.
5. Rest.
6. Inhale. Snake up again.
7. Do the snake as many times as you want too.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

We All Win
Make it a partner pose by doing the Snake Charmer pose together! The snake charmer squats in front of the snake and plays the flute. The charmer charms the snake to move up and down, side to side, high, low and any ways she wants the snake to go. The snake pays close attention to the charmer. The snake  listens carefully with her tongue and follows directions with the eyes and body. The charmer guides the  snake back onto the belly. Be sure to have the children take turns in each role!

Ecological Ethics
The mysterious and exotic ways of snake charmers throughout Asia have fascinated imaginations for centuries. To work with a cobra, they remove their poison glands so their bites become harmless. Is it OK to rob the cobra of its venom which is necessary for survival in order to put him in charm school? What do you think?

Mommy and Me
With infants and toddlers, let them lie on your back to have some herpetologic fun. (Herpetology is the study of snakes and other reptiles).They’ll giggle and enjoy the snake ride as you lift your spine up and down, side to side with them lying on your spine. Slither across the floor with them holding onto your shoulders then coil around them and cuddle to finish your serpentine sojourn.

Body Benefits
Practicing this pose will keep the spine and lower back flexible. Doing it the YogaKids way also exercises the tongue and opens the throat. When your snake is charmed, he is learning to follow non-verbal directions and enhance eye/brain/body coordination. Now that’s a sssspecial ssskill.

Ecological Echoes
Snakes have poor hearing. They don’t have outer ears like we do, but their inner ear is well tuned. Their slithering movements on the earth help them ‘hear’ through the ground. They are sensitive to vibrations of which most people are completely unaware.

Laughing Language
Make up tongue twisters. Use an “s” location in each one, anything from Saturn to supermarkets to Singapore. How many “s” places can you name? Here’s a few to get you started: “Super snails shovel slowly seeking Spain.”

The concept of the roller coaster was born as ice slides built in the 17th century in Russia. Sleds were rolled down 70 foot drops of wood covered with a thick layer of ice. 100 years later the French added wheels and eventually tracks. For our YogaKids version, all you need is fearlessness and a friend or two. No tickets to buy. Let’s roll!

The concept of the roller coaster was born as ice slides built in the 17th century in Russia. Sleds were rolled down 70 foot drops of wood covered with a thick layer of ice. 100 years later the French added wheels and eventually tracks. For our YogaKids version, all you need is fearlessness and a friend or  two. No tickets to buy. Let’s roll!

Pose Instructions

1. Sit down with legs spread wide. Put your hands around each other’s waist. Hold tight.
2. As the roller coaster climbs up the hill, lean back.
3. Lean forward as you speed downward.
4. Be brave and raise your hands as you lean right and left.
5. When you’ve had enough, unbuckle and collapse back. Rest.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

We All Win/Bridge of Diamonds
Take turns leading the roller coaster. Follow the leader and move together as one.

Math Medley
How tall is the tallest roller coaster? If measured in feet, can you convert to meters?

Pose Instructions

1. Lie on your back.
2. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor, heels in close to your backside.
3. Bend your elbows and lower your arms over your head.
4. Place your palms flat on the floor beside your ears with the fingertips pointing toward your shoulders.
5. Pull your elbows toward each other.
6. Press down into your hands and feet, as you straighten your arms and legs, and lift your chest and thighs toward the sky.
7. Release down.
8. Finish up by curling into a ball and letting your body rock and roll back and forth.

Note to Parents and Teachers

This is a challenging pose. Please supervise and assist your child to come into this position easily and without force. Most young children will be unable to arch their spines like a wheel. Their pose will look more like a table.. their chest level and their 4 limbs supporting their torso like the legs of a table.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

Affirmations
Make up some positive statements that will help you in this pose as well as make you feel good. Some examples of YogaKids affirmations are:

I am flexible.
My heart is open.
My spine is strong.
My brain is alert.

Body Benefits
This pose brings strength and flexibility to the spine, back, legs and arms. The more you practice, the more this pose will begin to look “wheel-like.”

Brain Balance
Whenever the head is lower than the heart, blood flow to the brain is increased. When done properly, wheel can oxygenate and wake up the brain.

Visual Vignettes/Laughing Language
Talk to your children about all the different ways that wheels make a difference in our lives. Imagine if we didn’t have cars, skateboards, skates, scooters, bicycles? Can you think of new ways to get around? Write and draw your innovative inventions.

Nutrition Tips
Most children love wagon wheels. Use whole wheat, rice or semolina pasta as a healthier alternative to refined white flour. Top it with a hearty tomato sauce filled with vegetables.

Do the wheel pose regularly to boost energy, awaken the brain and make yourself feel alert! What foods make you feel good? Which ones don’t you like very much? How do certain foods make you feel? Try this fun Food Mood activity.

Take three paper plates and have your children draw different faces:

• Make a happy face.
• Make a sad face.
• Make an angry face.

Attached their decorated plates onto the wall or the refrigerator. When your child likes a food, have him draw or write it on the happy plate. If what you are serving isn’t a favorite choice, she will choose the “sad” plate. Foods that contain a lot of sugar, artificial ingredients or too much salt can have an adverse effect on your child’s moods and feelings. Have him “post” these on the angry face plate.

This is our version of the classic pose, or asana, called Trikonasana. Tri- means three. Kona- means angle. Asana means pose. Three angles form a triangle. Can you find the triangles in this pose?

Instructions

1. Begin in Mountain pose.
2. Jump your feet and arms apart.
3. Turn your right foot so it points to the right.
4. Turn your left toes as far to the right as you can. Imagine a line from the back of your right heel straight into the middle of your left arch. Line up your feet on this imaginary line, to provide an even base for your triangle pose.
5. Press down evenly through both feet and feel strength in your legs.
6. Place your left hand on your hip as the teapot handle.
7. Bend your right arm to form the spout.
8. Release your left hand from the hip and slide it down your leg.
9. Stretch your right arm straight out to the side, as you extend and lengthen the right rib cage and the hips move left.
10. From the hip hinge, tilt the upper body sideways right, as the hips swivel more to the left. Stretch your rib cage and spine away from the opposite moving hips.
    Release your right hand down. Lift your left arm up.
11. If you feel yourself pitched too far forward, lift your right hand higher on the leg and rotate your chest skyward.
12. If it’s comfortable, turn your head and look up. If not, look forward or down.
13. To return to center, just wiggle your fingers and return to an upright position with your arms still extended out to the sides. Turn your feet so your toes point straight forward and jump back to center.
14. Breathe in and out. Jump again to practice triangle and pour tea on the opposite side.

Note to Parents and Teachers

This pose increases strength and flexibility of the feet, legs, hips and neck. It helps lengthen the spine, too. With young children, ignore the detailed directions of the feet. For children approximately 10 and older, or if they have been practicing for a while, we can begin to give them more details on structure and alignment. When they start asking questions, you will know that they are interested enough to begin to grasp the subtleties of shape and form in their poses.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

Musical Musings
Sing the teapot song as you do the pose, with these variations:

Om a little teapot short and stout.
Here is my handle.
Here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, I reach out.
Then tip me over and pour me up…

Bridge of Diamonds
Instead of beginning this classic teapot rhyme with I’m, in YogaKids we start with OM. The yogis say Om is the sound of the universe. Uni means one and verse means song. When we join together, we make beautiful music!

Math Medley
There are three different types of triangles. They are:

• Equilateral (all sides are equal)
• Isosceles (two sides are equal)
• Scalene (All sides are unequal)

See how many different triangles you can make with your legs and arms!

Do you know what animals got to fly in the first hot air balloon over 200 years ago? It was a sheep, a duck and a chicken, and they flew over France for eight minutes. How long can you fly? Where would you go?

Instructions

1. Sit on your heels and inflate your balloon.
2. Take little sips of air and pump your arms upward little by little. When you’ve sipped in as much air as you can, your balloon is filled.
3. Bring your hands over your head to show the balloon rising slowly upward.
4. Get up and fly around.
5. To land your balloon, blow out through your mouth and empty your lungs. Make noises like air escaping and collapse on the ground like an empty balloon.
6. Fall into Child’s Pose as you collapse. Rest.
7. When you’re ready, pump up your balloon again. Where will you fly this time?

Note to Parents and Teachers

For very young children, this pose is a great introduction to breathing. Our lungs fill like balloons when we breathe in (inhalation) and deflate or empty when we breathe out (exhalation). Inflate your balloons together. Time it so you fill at the same time. Fly around together in a hot air balloon dance and then deflate in a gentle heap… snuggle, giggle and wiggle together. How many times can you go up, up and away and come back down?

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

We All Win/Awesome Anatomy
Blow up real balloons. Rub them to create friction to stick to your body. Take turns passing the balloon using your different body parts: armpits, wrists, quadriceps, sacrum, and quadriceps. Say the name of the body part as you pass the balloons.

Laughing Language/Visual Vignettes
Fantasize with your child abd make up a story about where you would go in your hot air balloon. Who would you take with you? What do you see? Write the story down or draw pictures.

ABCDEFGHIJK   —  L —   MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

What letters are to the left of the L? What letters are to the right? L is for Love. L is for Light. L is for Left. Right?

Instructions

1. Sit down.
2. Extend your legs straight ahead. Press them into the floor. Flex your feet.
3. Drop your shoulders away from your ears.
4. Place one hand alongside of you. Use that arm to keep your spine long.
5. Stretch the other hand in front of you. Make a capital L with your pointer finger and thumb. You’ll know you’ve got the left hand right if those 2 fingers look like an L.
6. Move your L-shaped body to the left. Waddle sideways on your sit bones. Steer with the L finger wheel.
7. Recite the letters of the alphabet backwards to the left of L:, K , J, etc.
8. Come back to center. Realign in L.
9. Move to the right, steering with your L finger wheel.
10. Alphabetize forward from M to Z.

Note to Parents and Teachers

Use this pose to help teach children left from right. Seeing the L shape of their hand in front of their eyes and feeling the L shape of their body will help ingrain the letter L.

For young children, L is one of the letters that gets transposed. Usually around age 5, most can recognize if the L is backwards or not. If your children aren’t sure about left and right, use L is for Left techniques to help them learn.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

Laughing Language
Make up, tell or write a story about a little lizard named Leftie and a row boat named right, who could only row to the right.

Visual Vignettes
Draw all the things you can think of that begin with an L (for example, lollipops and ladders). How about those that begin with an R (for example, rabbit, radio and rooster)?

Body Benefits
This pose will keep the hips and sacro-iliac joint flexible and fluid.

Instructions

1. Jump your feet apart.
2. Stretch your arms straight out of the shoulders, palms down and fingers stretched.
3. Turn your toes toward the right.
4. Bend your right knee into a right angle.
5. Turn your torso forward.
6. Raise your arms alongside your ears. Feel the support of the earth underneath you and stretch your hands to the sky.
7. Say a few affirmations! (“I am bold!”)
8. Come up and turn your feet to the left.
9. Do the pose on the other side.

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Affirmations

• I am a bold warrior.
• My body is strong.
• My mind is strong.
• My love keeps my family strong.

Note to Parents and Teachers

The word warrior comes from the root “war”. In yoga we practice peace, so we’d like you to encourage your children to think of the qualities a warrior has besides someone who fights. Discuss with your children the characteristics that peaceful warriors possess. Some ideas are strength, tenacity, perseverance, focus, concentration, believing in yourself. Is there something that your child would like to have or achieve at the moment? It could be anything from a toy, to getting better at a sport, realizing a goal, or whatever they come up with. Explain to them about the posture, presence, mind and other characteristics of a warrior.

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

Math Medley
Notice the shapes that your lower body makes in the warrior poses. Which of these angles does your knee make in your Brave and Bold Warriors?

• Is it a right angle at 90 degrees?
• An obtuse angle at more than 90 degrees?
• Or an acute angle that is smaller than 90 degrees?
• Can you see and feel them as you practice?

Visual Vignettes
Draw yourself, your friends and family as warriors. Color them. Decorate them too. Put your warriors on a hangar with a string and make a mobile.