About
Kidding Around Yoga
May the entire universe be filled with peace and joy, love and light… and lots of peaceful children!
Sharing The Love of Kids Yoga
Kidding Around Yoga was founded by Haris Lender in 2009. Since we began spreading the love of Kids Yoga we have trained more than 10,000 people across the globe and as a result our teachers have delivered classes to more than 1 million children worldwide.
Our unique program combines the principles of ancient yoga practices with a fun and engaging twist, which is coupled with a series of original music written and performed by our founder and many members of the KAY family.
Trained KAY Teachers
Children Practicing KAY
KAY Kids Meditation Minutes
Our Founder
Kidding around Yoga was founded in 2009 by Haris “Harini” Lender (AKA Momma KAY). Haris is a certified Integral Yoga teacher at the 500 level. She has also been certified in Prenatal, Raja, Children’s and Stress Management. She spent 11 years running Camp Yogaville and for the last 9 years at her own summer sleepover yoga camp in Florida.
Haris lives in St. Pete, FL with her husband, Evan. All four of their kids are either in college or becoming yoga teachers! Haris spends much of her hard-earned vacation time in either one of her “tiny houses”. One is a yurt at the Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville in Buckingham, VA. The other is located close to Montezuma, Costa Rica at the Cabuya Yoga resort.
Although she didn’t know it at the time, she has spent her life preparing to create this imaginative style of yoga for kids. Growing up in the Lender family it was a common occurrence to be thrown into a skit for the family business that might have any of the kids dressed up as a penguin, sporting a plastic tushy, or singing along at a huge convention or family reunion to a silly song written by either of her creative parents.
Haris is extremely grateful to her teacher Swami Satchidananda, and to all of the Swamis, friends, and teachers at Yogaville that have helped guide her over the years. She is also thankful for her parents who gave her the insanely creative ability to write songs and invent lots of fun activities for the kids, and her husband Evan… AKA POPPA KAY, who is right there by her side helping her with ALL THINGS KAY!
Our Team
Kidding Around Yoga is comprised of a team of talented and creative individuals. There are almost 20 people on the core team who work towards the coordination, organization and management of all things KAY, as well as over 40 trainers across the global who deliver our in-person and virtual trainings.
Team KAY:
Are you interested in joining the Kidding Around Yoga team as a trainer? Click here to get in contact.
Our Training Programs
You do NOT need to be a certified yoga teacher to take any of our Kids Yoga teacher trainings.
Whether you are an Educator, a Caregiver, a Healthcare worker or a Yoga or Fitness professional, we have courses suitable for everyone.
Our training categories:
Certification Paths
Get certified to be a Kids Yoga teacher with one of our comprehensive and expansive certification courses.
Specialty Courses
Online courses to hone your knowledge in a particular area, from Trauma-informed to Toddlers, we have you covered.
Virtual Mini Workshops
90 minute virtual workshops are a great way to fine tune your teaching skills or dip your toe into the Kids Yoga world.
Educator Workshops
6 hour workshop to introduce yoga, meditation & mindfulness into today’s demanding academic environment.
What our students say
My name is Rebecca and I trained several years ago with Kidding Around Yoga. I am a full time primary school teacher in Oxford and I teach your Kidding Around Yoga every week. It is without doubt the best part of the whole week for children and for me. Every single child loves it. They then sing all the words to your songs in the playground and start impromptu yoga sessions themselves on the field rather than playing other games. They use all the strategies you give in their daily lives and they are all fine calm, peaceful, kind, loving children. We have children with high level of need, some children with ADHD and autism and all children, without exception love everything about Kidding Around Yoga. I want to say thank you so much. This has transformed the classroom. Every parent at the recent online Parents Evening said that it was their child’s favourite subject and attendance is excellent in the hope we’re doing yoga again that day. It has led to a calm, purposeful atmosphere with calm, peaceful, happy children. Just wanted you to know the impact you have had for us and I’m sure all over the world.
With love and thanks
Rebecca
I am so appreciative and grateful to you and your wonderful trainers for sharing all of your knowledge, experiences and love with us newbies!!! You have created such a caring, positive, loving learning environment for so many of us to enjoy and grow from:) The kids I have been working with are having boatloads of fun and sharing it with other kids all the time, and I have had such positive feedback from the parents, too! So…thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over!
KAY’s Justice Task Force
The mission of the Kidding Around Yoga Justice Task Force (JTF) is to keep KAY inclusive: organizationally, within teaching materials, and in reach. To that end, we are committed to continuing to strengthen our anti-racist and anti-discrimination actions, and to make ongoing changes in order to fully embody the teachings of yoga.
Kidding Around Yoga includes people all over the world, with different nationalities, cultures, languages, ethnicities, races, economic backgrounds, religious faiths, spiritual traditions, political views, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and physical, perceptual and mental abilities. We believe yoga is for every body and do not discriminate based on differences. In fact we celebrate diversity, and teach tolerance and acceptance as part of our practice.
Check Out Our Blog
Why Should Children Practice Yoga?
“For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present.” -Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. from The Body Keeps the Score The basic elements of a yoga practice (movement, breath work, and meditation) help...
Yoga Class Theme: Sports!
Looking for a way to get some of the "too cool" kids interested in yoga? You know the ones - they think yoga is easy or just for hippies. Challenge them to try yoga by grabbing their interest - and sports may just be the ticket! First, you aren't just going to sit...
Mudras: How and Why?
Mudras, the elaborate hand and finger gestures used in many Yoga and Ayurvedic traditions, are effective and simple tools to employ for self-soothing, energizing, settling emotions, and focusing. Like little yoga poses for your hands, mudras make use of the energy,...