Musical chairs meets yoga. A fun, inclusive version of the classic game combining upbeat music, kids favourite yoga poses and loads of energy. This will be a hit with your group and can be played with any age, including teenagers. It is especially fun for Family Yoga and with groups of varying ages and abilities. Musical Mats is an enjoyable way to improve listening skills and social skills.

Musical Mats

Teacher Prep

Set out one yoga mat per participant. I often do this in a circle, oval or large rectangle with all mats facing into the center. Onto each mat place a yoga pose card. Try ABC Yoga Cards for Kids, The Kids Yoga Deck, Elevator Series Pose Cards, or make your own using our alphabetical list of poses. Have a bunch of fun, upbeat music uploaded to your iPod.

How to Play

Before beginning to play, review all poses to make sure everyone knows what they are expected to do and how to practice the poses properly and safely. Have students stand in a circle on the outside of the mats. When music plays students walk, skip, hop, walk backwards, etc. (something different each round is fun) around the mats. When the music stops each student claims a yoga mat and performs the corresponding pose on the mat’s yoga card. Encourage students to find a new mat each time.

Teacher’s Assistant Variation

Put out enough mats for one per student minus one (i.e. 15 students, 14 mats). Each time the music stops one student will be left without a mat. They are the Teacher’s Assistant and get to help everyone else perform their pose, giving suggestions and encouragement. Sometimes children will delay choosing a mat in order to be the Teacher’s Assistant. Make it understood that everyone will only get one opportunity to be the assistant. If someone really doesn’t want to be the assistant make a pose into a partner pose and go onto the next round.

Partner Poses Variation

Choose a partner. As the music plays walk together around the mats, holding hands or arms linked if desired. When music stops claim a mat and perform the partner pose which corresponds to that mat. This is great fun for a Family Yoga class or anytime you want to build connections and develop cooperation and social skills.

Themed Musical Mats

Pick a theme and choose only yoga poses and music which correspond to the theme. This is great for birthday parties, to reinforce concepts in a school unit (Insects, Shapes, Amazon, etc) or for seasonal yoga classes (Valentine’s, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, etc)

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 Tricky Tree group yoga pose develops concentration and focus while improving balance and memory. This is an ideal pose to get students working together and is a lot of fun as our three yogis demonstrate. By employing this pose children are able to access kinaesthetic learning, engaging their minds and bodies to review a basic learning skill such as counting by twos, multiplication tables, spelling words or in this case repeating the days of the week in French. In addition, they develop their social skills by learning to work together communicating verbally and non-verbally with one another. 

Tricky Tree: Group Yoga Pose

In order to build focus and concentration a great pose is Tricky Tree. This is a partner or group pose.

Facing your partner or into the group, everyone needs to raise the same leg and give it to the person standing beside them. In this case we are going to raise the right leg, giving to the person at our right. This takes some teamwork and a lot of balance.

So once you are in the pose, you can then repeat something which requires rote memorization such as the days of the week in French.

dimanche, lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi

When you are finished its nice to either step out of the pose, or if you are in a safe environment with no sharp edges, you can gently fall to the floor.

And that’s Tricky Tree.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more great videos on teaching yoga to kids and teens.

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A local yoga instructor is doing her part to promote healthy living for children. Donna Freeman is the author of the new book Once Upon a Pose and today she joins us in studio. She’s also brought along some kids.

We are talking about yoga and kids and how fun it can be. But you’re specifically looking at how to get yoga into schools.

Yes, yoga in schools is a really wonderful combination of bringing the health benefits and the intellectual and emotional training into the classroom. It’s just vital to bring it into the classroom these days. Kids need these skills.

Q: What’s some of the stuff you are able to do in the classroom?

You can use what we are doing today which is a whole lot of partner poses. Partner poses develop cooperation and team work and they get kids talking with one another and working together in a really unique way.

Another thing that is nice about a school is you can use what’s in a school, a desk and a chair, to do yoga. A lot of people don’t think of that because in their typical class, which is in a studio, and there is a mat and they aren’t sure how to adapt it to a school.

Q: What are some of the benefits for kids?

Increased focus, improved concentration, their creativity skyrockets, their impulse control is greater. As well, it reduces their stress so that they are in a mental and emotional place where they’re ready to learn.

Q: And you think you can use this in different subjects?

For sure. You can use yoga in a science classroom, mathematics classroom, language arts classroom, even in an art classroom. Y0u can incorporate yoga poses in all those subject areas.

Watch video for more …

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Gate pose is a lovely side stretch which resembles a beam (parigha) used to latch a gate. This is a terrific pose for kids because it teaches balance while maintaining a solid foundation. It also focuses on elongating the side body, an often forgotten part of the torso, which helps to improve posture. Be careful not to collapse on the folding side by focusing on lifting both sets of side ribs. As well, its common for the lifted arm to come to the front of the body, so be sure that the gaze goes under the arm which will open the chest (fantastic for asthmatics, allergies, or anyone with pulmonary issues). I use this pose with stories such as Garden Delight and Farmyard Fun or anywhere someone needs to enter a special or magical place by going through the gate. You can also use the Double Gate #2 as a partner pose for a butterfly.

Gate Pose – Parighasana

gate pose

• Kneel tall, extend the right leg out straight to the side, toes forward
• Keep your shoulders and hips squared to the front
• Place the right hand on the right leg
• Reach overhead with the left arm, keep reaching over toward the right, feeling a lovely stretch along the left side
• Gaze forward or look upward toward the inner elbow and hold for a few breaths
• Repeat on the other side

Benefits: stretches the side of the torso, opens the shoulders, stretches the hamstrings, increases lung capactiy by lengthening the intercostal muscles, improves circulation and spinal flexibility.

Double Gate – Partner Pose Variations 

1. Face your partner. Come into Gate Pose reaching for your partners straight leg with the underside arm and joining your raised hands overhead (as if you are unlatching a gate which is almost out of reach).
2. Kneel beside your partner. Extend the outside leg straight. Reach away from one another with the upper arm (looks like butterfly wings).
3. Kneel a distance away from your partner. Extend one leg toward your partner so that the feet touch. Reach the arm overhead until you join hands forming an arch. You can join both hands and perform a simple twist by bringing the upper arms down then back up, repeating a few times.

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Trees are beautiful, nourishing, strong, flexible, and provide many of our basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, medicines and tools.  Trees also purify the air we breathe via photosynthesis and are essential to life on earth. Tree pose is a basic balancing posture which is deceptively difficult. Young children especially will have challenges with this pose until they develop their ability to balance on one foot (usually around age 5). Tree pose teaches awareness of the mid-line of the body – the vertical axis that runs straight down your body from the crown of your head, bisecting your face & neck, through the center of your core, to the mid point between your feet on the ground. It also teaches basic physics as the arm positions alter the center of gravity. 

Tree Pose – Vrksasana

tree pose

• Stand, feet together; find something on the floor two feet in front of you to focus on
• Extend your arms at shoulder height out to the side (wide center of gravity makes this the easiest arm position for balancing)
• Lift the right foot, turning the knee out; place the right foot above or below the  knee
• Imagine your toes are the roots grounding into the earth, your standing leg is the trunk strong and tall, your arms & bent leg are branches reaching outward and upward toward the sun
• To test your balance:

1. Bring your arms to Prayer position in front of your heart (narrow center of gravity)
2. Raise your arms overhead (narrow and long centre of gravity)
3. Look up to your hands (changing the focal point increases the difficulty)

Benefits: strengthens thighs, calves, ankles & spine, stretches the groin, thighs & chest, improves balance, reduces flat feet, develops concentration & mental stability

Often when teaching Tree pose I encourage each participant to become whatever tree they want to be: oak, apple, palm, Christmas, weeping willow. The entire body dynamics change respectively and children are allowed to express their creativity and emotions. You could take this a step further and discuss the symbolism of each tree then have students become physically whatever tree they relate to that day.

• Oak: strength & courage
• Maple: balance, promise & practicality
• Apple: magic, youth, happiness
• Cedar: healing & protection
• Aspen: determination, overcoming fear & doubt
• Fir: springtime & immortality
• Palm: peace & opportunity
• Willow: magic, inner vision, dreams

Tree Pose Partner & Group Variations

Once you have practiced tree pose individually you may want to try these variations.

Partner: Stand facing one another a few feet apart. Both partners lift their right leg and give it to their partner to hold in their left hand. You will make the shape of an H. Balance and then lift the right hand up overhead. You can add a twist at this point by looking over the left shoulder or reaching for your partners right hand and pulling your torso around. Repeat on the other side.

Group: Making a Forest – Have everyone stand in a circle facing inward. Everyone lifts their right foot and gives it to the person to their right to hold. See if you can succeed in linking the entire circle into a forest before someone loses their balance. Repeat with the left leg. This usually results in lots of giggles and then a tumble or two as we lose our balance but is a great way to build unity and cooperation.

A fantastic resource for teachers and parents interested in exploring trees is Tree World, also available in French.

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We all need a sanctuary: a place to feel protected and sheltered from the storms of life. Child’s pose is such a place. It is the epitome of protection and calm as you gently curl inward returning to the shape of a newborn child. This forward bending pose teaches back body breathing, supports the vital energy centers of the heart, head and abdomen, and calms the nervous system. The goal once you are in position is to simply surrender with tender joy allowing tension to ease and drift away. You may find breathing at first to be a little choppy but after a few moments your body will adjust, finding new breathing patterns. Allow the back body to expand and widen on the inhalations while maintaining complete and warm exhalations.

Child’s Pose – Balasana

child's pose

• kneel low, rest your head on the floor in front of you
• place your hands wherever is comfortable: by your head, near your knees
• relax, surrender, breathe, discover the peace
• stay for 30 seconds to 5 minutes

Benefits: stretches the hips, thighs and ankles, calms the brain and relieves stress and fatigue

two scoops

Variation – Two Scoops

• in pairs, have one partner perform Child’s pose, being certain to lower their hips and make their back as flat as possible
• the other partner performs Child’s pose on top of their partner, making two scoops of ice cream with their bodies
• switch roles and repeat

Benefits: builds teamwork and cooperation, intensifies the stretch for the bottom partner, improves balance and tones core muscles for the top partner

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