Yoga in the classroom?
While student teaching, my mentor teacher had a time each week when the 4th graders would push the desks to one side of the room and get out yoga mats for a yoga session. I loved it and the kids loved it. At home, I do yoga pretty regularly and I have loved the benefits of feeling better, more relaxed and less stressed. Why not share this with students? It has benefits for them! Kids need to be taught ways to calm themselves down and yoga is one way they can do that.
When I began teaching Kindergarten, I wanted to include yoga in my classroom but I do it a little differently from my mentor teacher since Kindergarteners are quite different from 4th graders. Here are some things that I have done in my own classroom to share yoga with students.
1. Yoga sessions.
I don't do full on yoga sessions very often - maybe once a month or close to a holiday when I know students can get hyped up easily. I find different kids yoga videos on youtube. You can find great ones with themes like Star Wars or Frozen that my students LOVE.
With that being said, in Kindergarten especially, I always teach expectations before we ever do a yoga video. Students need to know that they are expected to stay in their own space. The focus is to have fun and learn new ways to take care of our bodies and minds, but we also need to be safe and respectful to others.
2. Yoga books for kids
I have several yoga books for kids that have little poems that go with different yoga poses. When we have a few extra minutes or we need a brain break, I pull out a book and we do a yoga pose or two.
3. GoNoodle
If you haven't tried GoNoodle, you should. It has lots of fun brain breaks for kids and I especially like the Mindlfulness Videos. They are short but they help students learn self control, focus and how to manage stress. I like to do these right after recess to calm students down and get them ready to learn again.
Not all students love yoga and not all students can do all the poses. That's totally fine - it's the same with anything in life. We all have different talents and strengths. However, I have also had some students really shine during yoga. I have had students become really proud of themselves because they were able to do a pose they couldn't before or because their balance has improved. I have had a great experience practicing yoga and teaching kids yoga and I encourage every teacher to find something they love and share it with their students!
While student teaching, my mentor teacher had a time each week when the 4th graders would push the desks to one side of the room and get out yoga mats for a yoga session. I loved it and the kids loved it. At home, I do yoga pretty regularly and I have loved the benefits of feeling better, more relaxed and less stressed. Why not share this with students? It has benefits for them! Kids need to be taught ways to calm themselves down and yoga is one way they can do that.
When I began teaching Kindergarten, I wanted to include yoga in my classroom but I do it a little differently from my mentor teacher since Kindergarteners are quite different from 4th graders. Here are some things that I have done in my own classroom to share yoga with students.
1. Yoga sessions.
I don't do full on yoga sessions very often - maybe once a month or close to a holiday when I know students can get hyped up easily. I find different kids yoga videos on youtube. You can find great ones with themes like Star Wars or Frozen that my students LOVE.
With that being said, in Kindergarten especially, I always teach expectations before we ever do a yoga video. Students need to know that they are expected to stay in their own space. The focus is to have fun and learn new ways to take care of our bodies and minds, but we also need to be safe and respectful to others.
2. Yoga books for kids
I have several yoga books for kids that have little poems that go with different yoga poses. When we have a few extra minutes or we need a brain break, I pull out a book and we do a yoga pose or two.
3. GoNoodle
If you haven't tried GoNoodle, you should. It has lots of fun brain breaks for kids and I especially like the Mindlfulness Videos. They are short but they help students learn self control, focus and how to manage stress. I like to do these right after recess to calm students down and get them ready to learn again.
Not all students love yoga and not all students can do all the poses. That's totally fine - it's the same with anything in life. We all have different talents and strengths. However, I have also had some students really shine during yoga. I have had students become really proud of themselves because they were able to do a pose they couldn't before or because their balance has improved. I have had a great experience practicing yoga and teaching kids yoga and I encourage every teacher to find something they love and share it with their students!
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