Yoga is a great way for kids to exercise, relax, focus, and to have fun simultaneously. But how do you get kids interested in yoga? How can yoga be fun? From toddlers to teens, yoga games are an exciting way to get them involved in this ancient practice. If you are looking for ways to get your kids interested in yoga, look no further than these yoga games for kids. Kids will be laughing, playing, and performing yoga poses and growing healthier along the way.
Before getting into the different yoga games to play with the kiddos, let’s cover how yoga supports kids’ health and ways you can get your kids started practicing yoga.
Benefits of Yoga for Kids
Regularly practicing yoga leads to many physical and mental benefits, including increased flexibility, strength, and concentration. What better way to get your kids interested in yoga than by incorporating it into their playtime?
Make it a routine
Regular and consistent yoga practice in children has shown to improve their performance at school, in sports, and even improved their behavior at home. Yoga helps kids with winding down at bedtime and significantly improves sleep quality through the night. Mindfulness exercises during yoga practice have proven to be effective in helping kids with ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Autism. Yoga is a great way for kids to get exercise, burn off excess energy, and stay healthy. It also helps them focus and relax. Fun games can motivate kids to begin the practice of yoga. If you are curious about how meditation can also be beneficial for your children, read more about it here.
How to Get Kids Started
You might want to start by simply introducing your child to basic yoga poses before diving into group activities and games if they are not already familiar with the tradition. Have your child try some simple poses, such as the tree pose or the mountain pose. You can find instructions for these and other beginner-friendly poses online. Pinterest is great too! You can pick quite a few posters and other quirky ideas here. Explore a range of printables too which can come handy while designing your fun activity.
Be the Example
Set an example by demonstrating healthy habits for your kids. Kids look to special people in their life for cues on what to do. Making yoga a part of your everyday life sets a positive example for kids and improves your overall health and well-being. Not to mention, doing yoga together as a family offers a positive bonding experience with your kids.
Practice brings Perfection
Make it fun and encourage kids to practice regularly! Add some props or narrate a story to go along with the poses. This will help keep your child engaged and interested. The more they practice, the better they’ll get at it. Practice leads to perfection and also makes playing yoga games way more fun!
Fun Activities and Games for Active Kids
Yoga helps children develop muscle strength and flexibility while teaching them valuable breathing and relaxation techniques. And on top of that, yoga is a lot of fun!
So what kind of games can we pull from the practice of yoga? Without further ado, here are 10 yoga games that the kids will love, and a few adults might have fun too!
- Plant & Animal Poses
Let kids strike different yoga poses like downward dog, cat-cow, the lotus, and the tree pose. Then have them try to hold the pose while you name different animals. For an extra challenge, have them try to hold the pose while making the animal sound.
- Yoga Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of yoga poses for the scavenger hunt from corresponding flashcards. Hide yoga- pose flashcards around the house or yard and have the kids hunt for them. As they uncover each yoga flashcard, have them perform it and hold it for a few breaths. Mark it off of the list as complete and move on to the next item on the scavenger hunt list.
- Obstacle Course
Arrange a course with different yoga poses as obstacles. Kids crawl under a blanket in a child’s pose, jump over a pillow in warrior III, and balance on one foot in a tree pose. Get creative and make it as challenging or easy as you like with as many obstacles as you want for hours of enjoyment.
- Freeze Dance
Play some music and have kids dance around the room any way they like. When the music stops, everyone dancing must freeze in a yoga pose. See who can hold their pose the longest without wobbling or falling over. One rule: you can’t do the same pose twice!
- Balloon Yoga
What a fun twist on traditional yoga and the perfect game for birthday parties with balloons! Have kids blow up balloons and then hold them while doing various yoga poses. They’ll love the challenge of trying to balance their posture with the balloons.
- Yoga Charades
In this game, one player performs a yoga pose while the other children try to guess what it is. This is a great way to teach kids about the different yoga poses while also getting them up and moving.
- Yogi Simon Says
One kid is chosen to be Yogi Simon and the other children must do whatever Yogi Simon says. For example, Yogi Simon may say “Yoga Tree Pose” and everyone must then assume the tree pose. Be sure to say “Yogi Simon Says…” before each pose.
- Silly Yoga Train
In this fun activity, someone is chosen as conductor of the Silly Yoga Train to lead the train of passengers around the room or yard with their back to everyone. The passengers can be silly, dance around, and move their whole bodies but when it’s time for the train to stop, the conductor yells a yoga pose and turns around. Everyone has to pose and if they don’t, they have to get off the Silly Yoga Train.
- Red Light – Green Light Yoga Race
The leader is chosen to stand at the front of the room with all the other children on the other side. When the leader says “green light” everyone gets to walk forward slowly, practicing mindfulness steps. Then the leader says “red light” and a yoga pose, like the tree pose. Every kid has to stop immediately and go into that pose.
- Yoga Mirror
Pair up children into groups of 2 and have them play yoga mirror, where one is the mirror of the other. Then call out poses and each “mirror” must do the same movement as the other. Get kids to be creative by letting them come up with the pose the mirror will follow.
Once kids get the hang of these games and a few yoga poses, encourage them to make up games on their own, and you might find they will start doing yoga amongst themselves unassisted by an adult.
Conclusion
Whether you are a teacher with a classroom of kids, hosting your child’s birthday party, or just need fun activities to get your kids moving around this summer, yoga games for kids are a fun and easy option to get them interested in yoga. Kids learn about the benefits of yoga and have an exciting time doing it through playing yoga games.
Yoga remains a great practice to begin as a kid and helps establish positive healthy habits that will support kids’ growing bodies and minds.
