In today's fast-paced, screen-filled world, finding activities that promote mindfulness and promote free thinking can be a challenge. However, one activity that stands out is playing with LEGOs. This timeless toy not only sparks imagination and creativity but can also...
Fun Ways to Use Yoga Cards
EP. 53 |Fun Ways to Use Yoga Cards The best and most useful tool for teaching yoga to kids? A good set of physical yoga pose cards with images or drawings of kids doing yoga. Yoga cards are fun and accessible for all ages. In this episode, of Mindful Conversation with...
What Fills Your Heart
EP. 47 | What Fills Your Heart? Deepen Your Family's Gratitude Practice Show Notes Gratitude is more than a feeling - and is best practiced as more than a mindless "chore". Brain science and our own experience tells us that tuning into what truly brings us joy,...
Animal Sound Salutations
Almost any young child loves to imitate animal sounds and behavior. Luckily, there are so many yoga postures with animal names that creating songs and stories about animals is easy! I decided to try incorporating animal sounds into a sun salutation and came up with...
Mindful March
We've all heard about the benefits of meditation practice, but how do we start, especially with kiddos? Kidding Around Yoga is here to help! We've created this 30-day MEDITATION CALENDAR to provide you and your family (or your school classroom) with a daily meditation...
Walk Like a Warrior
A couple of years ago, my daughter’s friend was struggling. I’ll call her Melody. Upon turning 12, Melody suddenly became self-conscious and embarrassed by her changing body. She began “shrinking” into herself, truly trying to hide from the world. Eyes cast down,...
Gimme a Break – a Yoga Break!
It seems there's never an end to the to-do list, for you or for your kiddos. I'm here to tell you to give yourself, and your children, a break! A YOGA break, that is! A short break during work time has been shown to have real benefits for children (and adults) of all...
Create a Calm Down Box
Creating a Calm Down Box is a fun and practical activity to try at home with your own children, in your classroom, or in your next Kids Yoga class! Making a Calm Down Box is more than likely a long-term project. The more we learned about how to calm down, the more we...
Scream for Peace
Recently I had the honor of sharing yoga with 80 children at a public school in my area...at once. I’ve taught some large classes, but they were always indoors and never more than 60. What’s 20 more, outdoors, next to a train track and an interstate? Add a megaphone...
Quick Calm for Kids
The constant wiggling. Bouncing. Darting eyes and fidgety fingers. Sometimes it can be really tough for our little people to just be still. Whether in a formal school environment, sitting at the dinner table, or just learning to control their reactions, teaching...
Peace Begins with My Fingers?
Let's start the new year with PEACE! I thought I would share a little about the science behind feeling peaceful. The international yoga teacher training program, Kidding Around Yoga, has a mantra they teach every teacher and child who experiences their program: Peace...
Sowing the Seeds of Peace
In your mind, picture an empty plot of land being prepared to plant a garden. The garden plot lies warm in the sun. The soil has been turned and is well-nourished with rich, organic compost. Earthworms, ladybugs, butterflies, and bees are plentiful to keep the garden...
What Kind of Garden Do You Want to Grow?
When I go into my kid’s yoga class, I tell them that meditating is the most important thing they will ever learn in their whole life. Yoga makes our bodies strong and also our minds. We work on the muscles through the poses and I ask them to show me their muscles....
Four Yoga Practices to Teach Gratitude
All of us are bombarded with advertisements, pressured to always gather more, and are rarely satisfied by simply being. This is especially true for our children, as they may not yet have the ability to filter through the materialistic messages; instead, their "need"...
Build Your Child’s Kindness Muscles!
We all recognize the importance of kindness - a vital character trait we want to develop in ourselves and our children. Here are some quick ways to build the kindness muscles in your kids and students: Post It Notes - This is a fun activity to spread kindness in your...