Kids Yoga Guide Peace, Love & Happiness this Memorial Day
On this Memorial Day our suggestion is to draw our awareness to the aspect of peace, rather than focusing on any negative effects of war. Let us share with our children the hope that there will be no need for war in our future. By hoisting the US flag on one of the steel flag poles today, we can pay tribute to the men and women who have died for our nation. Let us and our children learn from these tragic historical events and begin to believe that we do have the power to create peace. Peace, Love and Happiness can be created not only in our own personal lives but spread across in our country as a whole.
Spark a conversation with your child on this Memorial Day about how they can generate peace. Offer them simple tips and behaviors to apply to their everyday life. Integrate the thoughts of peace, love and happiness into your little one’s yoga practice today and make it fun with yoga games!
Musical Mats:
Taking a fun, entertaining kids yoga game and giving it meaning. Everyone loves Musical Mats. Our suggestion is to apply today’s holiday as a theme to the game. As opposed to choosing warrior poses today let’s choose poses that are more peaceful poses to promote positivity. Let’s choose fun upbeat music that exudes love, happiness and peace into our surrounding environment.
How to Play:
Place the children’s yoga mats with the short end facing the center in a circle like the rays of a sun, have the kids stand behind their mat on the outside of the circle, call out a yoga pose, start the music and have the children start to skip around the outer perimeter of the mats. Instruct the children that when the music stops they will each find a mat (whichever one they are closest to) and demonstrate their version of the called pose. There is no need to take one mat out of the equation to create feelings of unworthiness, loss or defeat. Keep everyone’s mat and ensure the children that it is ok if the music stops and they find themselves on someone else’s mat. This will promote sharing with friends and feelings of equality amongst your peers.
Appropriate Poses: Tree pose, Frog pose, Mountain pose, Eagle pose, Butterfly pose, Bridge Pose, Downward Dog, Cat/Cow, Dolphin pose, Lotus pose, etc.
Appropriate Songs: Zippity Do-Da, Walking on Sunshine, Amazing Grace, I’ve Got The Whole World in my Hands, Heal The World, This Little Light of Mine, etc.
Enjoy the holiday. Spread peace, love & happiness. Practice yoga.
What are you favorite yoga games? Please share them in the comment section!
Namaste & Play