How to Make Yoga Fun for Kids

So you’ve found your love for yoga and are looking for fun ways to introduce your kids to this wonderful practice! And despite many people thinking this sounds like an impossible feat, there are so many great methods that you can use to do yoga with kids in a fun and playful way that they’ll love! 

Most kids absolutely love games and playing, right? So why not introduce yoga through fun games and activities that will not only engage your kids, but they’ll have lots of fun too!

Kids are also going to learn in different ways. Some may be more in tune with their body and learning through movement while other children learn best by watching or listening. And the great thing about practicing yoga with kids is that it involves all of these different types of learning.

Here are 3 yoga games that are great for learning how to make yoga fun for kids!

Yoga Freeze Dance

Everyone loves freeze dance right? Kids get to dance, wiggle, and jump around the room to fun, upbeat music and get all the energy out! It sounds fun to me! And yoga freeze dance is exactly the same as the classic freeze dance, just with a little yoga twist.

Here’s how to play: Start by playing upbeat music and have your kids dance around the room, moving however they want to the song. Then, pause the music and everyone has to FREEZE! Here’s where the yoga comes in. Instead of freezing in a random pose, call out a yoga pose for everyone to do when you stop the music. And since it’ll take a bit of time for your kids to learn the names, do the yoga pose with them. Once everyone holds the yoga pose for a few seconds, turn on the music, dance around, and then freeze again!

Imaginary Yoga Adventure

Explore your children’s imagination through an imaginary yoga adventure. It’s so important to encourage your kids to use their imagination. And taking them on an imaginary journey to a destination around the world while you flow through several yoga poses is a great way to do this!

Here’s how to play: Move through whatever yoga poses you think your kids will like. But while you do this, pretend that each yoga pose is helping you get closer and closer to your destination. On your journey maybe you: 

• “Meet” some new friends and learn what they like to do for fun. Do yoga poses that replicate what they like to do (surfing, cooking, playing sports, singing, etc.)
• Learn about animals and plants that live in that part of the world and create movements to replicate the nature you see
• Get a little hungry, decide to have a picnic, and do food yoga poses
• Go to the park and pretend to swing on the swingset or go down the slide
• Go to the beach and pretend to relax in the sun

This activity is a great way to help your children learn more about the world around them! You can even print pictures of a place that you’re going to “go to” that day to help your child visualize it a little better.

Pose Detective

Once your kids have a general idea of several different yoga poses, this is a great game to practice using their listening skills, making their own choices, and being creative!

Here’s how to play: Have your kids start standing and ready to listen to your instruction. Call out different body parts that need to be touching the mat when they do a pose. For example, you could say, “show me a pose where you only have 2 feet on the mat.” They could do poses like warrior I, warrior II, standing crescent moon, etc. Or you could say, “show me a pose where you have 2 hands and 2 feet on the mat.” They could do poses like downward dog, plank, or a new pose that they invent!