In traditional yoga, poses are categorized by the position of the spine. In the YogaKids program, poses are categorized by subject. This helps with planning engaging themed YogaKids classes! There are 20 categories of YogaKids poses — and one of our favorites is WET poses — a category for celebrating water and water-dwelling animals! Here’s a just a few…

Alligator: Lie down on your belly. Stretch your arms in front of you, one palm on top of the other. Open and close your arms like a jaw. Open and close your real jaw as you do this, too. Keep your legs together and lifted like an alligator’s tail. Gently bring your tail up and down.

Row Your Boat: Begin in L-Sitting pose and place both hands, palms down, alongside your hips. Lengthen your arms and spine. Lean back and lift your legs up. Balance. Stretch your arms forward, palms up. Breathe in and out. Row your arms forward. Reverse, and row your arms backward. Try the pose while singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

Spouting Dolphin: Begin in All Fours pose. Lower your elbows to the floor. Make sure your knees are under your hips. Grasp your elbows with the opposite fingers to keep proper spacing. Move your lower arms forward, interlacing your fingers, and make a triangle. Breathe in and out, letting your spine lengthen and your tailbone lift up and back. Work your legs as you press your heels towards the floor. Breathe in and out. Move your body forward so your chin touches down in front of your fingers. Then breathe out and lift out of the water.

Swan: Begin in All Fours pose. Bend your lower legs, pointing your toes to the sky. Glide your body forward. Lift your chest and lengthen your graceful neck. Breathe in and out.

Waves: Sit on the ground and bend your knees, placing your feet on the floor hip-distance apart. Move your knees and legs back and forth to the left and right, as they ebb and flow like waves. Use this as a transition pose between the wet poses. It is a fun and accessible hip opener.

There are many more Wet Poses in the YogaKids Program — and you should always feel free to make up your own!  (Or encourage your YogaKids to get creative!)

Learn all the YogaKids poses in our Certification Program!

Classroom management can make or break an educator. This is why, during our Level 3 Transformations Training, we talk a lot about classroom management. We teach what we know works — and we ask our students to share their own success stories. From YK Apprentice Beth Clemenger came this awesome story of success…

As a school counselor, I work with students with a variety of disabilities: autism, ADHD, learning issues of many varieties, and others. Several of my students have behavior issues and can be disruptive to other kids.

Last year, I got a new student. She was 9 and recently adopted from an international orphanage. She was, for the most part, nonverbal and had no concept of appropriate behavior. We decided to try her in my yoga class that only had 5 students. Also, in this class, I had a boy that would challenge me often by saying” I hate this pose” or “why are we doing this?”

I decided to talk to the boy about being the “mentor” for this girl. He had already had contact with her as she was in his class. She had a 1:1 aide with her at all times for safety as she would try to bolt out of the building.  

Well, the first class was a disaster! The aide was so upset because she could not get the girl to “do the yoga poses.” The mentor boy was upset because the aide was doing his job.

I talked to the aide about it being okay if she just sat on her mat — that was the first goal. I added more engaging music, put a breathing buddies on each mat at the beginning of the class, used more props (such as hula hoops, scarves, balls, bubbles, balloons, marbles). This was really engaging for the nonverbal girl and it gave my mentor boy a way to “show “her how to use the props. 

I also had to explain to the other kids how to best interact with this girl — so that her behavior did not upset them or disrupt their yoga experience. We moved her mat a little toward the back and placed the mentor boy directly in front of her. The rest of the students knew that this boy was her “helper.” I also asked the aide to participate doing the poses with the class. This helped greatly. Rather than having an adult correcting the modeling, the girl was better able to engage with the yoga.  

We love this story so much. The techniques engage and empower both students. Well done, Beth! Thank you for sharing!

Transform your teaching in the YogaKids Certification Program!

From Certified YogaKids Teacher Melissa McDonough,  this Visual Vignette is a perfect addition to any dragon-themed class. Don’t forget the inclusion of the YogaKIds Dragon Breath Pose — a child-friendly variation of Kapalabhati that tones the abdominal muscles and energizes the entire body.

Dragon Craft Instructions

Begin with toilet paper tubes and decorate them  with markers and foam stickers. Then glue red, orange and yellow tissue pager to the center of the inside of the tube and lightly push the rest of the paper into the tube. When the kids blow into the opposite end of the tube, the tissue paper would come out like a dragon breathing fire.

Dragon Breath Pose

Sit comfortably in any of the seated poses. Place your hands on your belly. Breathe out through your nose with a strong snort as you snap your belly back toward your spine. Focus on your breath as it goes out. A little bit of air will naturally sneak into your nose after each snort — you don’t need to think about inhaling as it will happen naturally. Repeat this breath. Then breathe in and out normally. Add more rounds of Dragon Breath as you feel comfortable. Your Dragon Breath will get stronger and longer with practice.

Learn all the YogaKids poses as a YogaKids Teacher!