It is the story of a stick man who is separated from his family, when he goes for a jog and is picked up by a dog. He then ends up on all sorts of adventures, with the reader wondering if he will ever get home. Enjoy the story with twenty one kids’ yoga poses!
Stick Man lives in the family tree (Tree: Standing tall, place the heel of your foot on top of the other. Bring your hands together at your heart and grow your branches up tall) with his stick wife and their stick children. One day he wakes early and goes for a jog (Roadrunner: Standing up, fold forwards and place your hands down either side of your feet. Step one of your legs back and bend your front knee down into a lunge. Lift your chest). But unfortunately, he is not aware of the dog! “The right kind of stick for my favorite trick” barks the dog (Dog: We press our feet and hands into the floor as we lift our bottoms to the sky)). “I am not a stick! I am a Stick Man. And I want to go home to the family tree!” Luckily dogs must be kept on the lead. At last the game is over and Stick Man is freed.
He sets off for home with a hop until a girl cries with a smile on her face “The right kind of Pooh-stick for winning the race!” (Reclined Twist: Lie on your back with your knees bent, your feet on the floor. Drop your bent knees over to the right, send your gaze over to the left. Keep your knees and feet close together. Press the backs of your shoulder blades down toward the mat) The girls throw the sticks into the river (River: Sitting up tall, legs out long in front of you. Point your toes and place your hands behind your bottom with your finger pointing towards your bottom. Lift up your hips). Stick Man is floating. He floats on and on (Swimming: Lying on our tummies, we lift our feet and arms up off the ground to swim) until a swan find him as a twig (Swan: Begin all-fours pose. Bend your lower legs, point your toes to the sky and glide your body forward. Lift your chest and lengthen your graceful neck. Drop your shoulders and keep your arms strong). “It is the right kind of twig to weave into my nest (Nest: Lying on our tummies, flick our feet up towards our bottoms. We reach around with our arms and take hold of our ankles. Kicking our legs into our hands, we lift our chests up)” says the swan.
The nest is deserted by the oar of a boat (Boat: Sitting on our bottoms, we lift up one foot, then the other foot, and one hand and no hands / Rowing: Sitting up tall, legs long, we take hold of one of our ankles and drawing it down to our foot, then back up again to our waist we row our boat) and Stick Man is free. He drifts down the river and sails out to sea. He finds himself on a beach far from home. A dad comes with a spade in his hand. “An excellent mast, a flag on our castle at last.” “I am not a mast for a silly old flag” said the Stick Man (Mast/Moon: We stand up tall, feet together and reach our arms up above us. Then we lift and lean over to one side, still pointing upwards as much as possible).
Stick Man is lonely and lost. He is frozen and covered in frost. His eyes start to close. He stretches and yawn and lies down (Relaxation: We lie back, our arms and legs heavy and long. Close your eyes and enjoy this rest). He can’t hear the voice saying “Here is a good stick for the fire!” Can anyone wake him before it is too late?
Then he suddenly wakes. What is that noise up above? “Oh ho ho ho ho… I am stuck!” (Knee Hugging: Lying back we draw our knees up and give them a big hug)) A Stuck Man? “Don’t worry! I’ll soon set you free” cries Stick Man. A hop and a jump. And Santa falls into the room with a thump! (Rock ‘n’ Roll: Sitting up we hug our knees into our body. We let ourselves rock back onto our backs and keep rocking so we rock all the way forward again to sitting up) “Stick Man, you excellent friend thanks!” says the Santa (Namaste: Sitting with your legs crossed, hands together at your heart, bow your head).
Then Stick Man helps Santa deliver the toys to the boy and the girl, who are sleeping in their beds (Tiptoes: We come high up onto our tiptoes very quietly / Bed: Sitting on our bottoms, with our knees bent, feet flat and hands behind us, fingers pointing towards our bottoms. Press into your feet and lift your hips up). Faster and faster they fly through the snow with two reindeers (Deer: Sitting tall, legs out long, we bend one knee up. We hug that knee, then placing our hand behind us, bring our other elbow round to the outside of the knee, looking back over our shoulder / Flying: Standing up tall, step forward and tilt, lifting your back foot off the ground, sending it long and strong behind you like a tail. Stay steady and balanced as you take your arms out wide to the sides like wings and fly). Till Santa says “Only one home to go!” (House: Standing with your legs wide, hands together above your head, making a pointy roof). It is the family tree of the Stick Man. “I am Stick Man, that’s me! I am sticking right here in the family tree.” (Tree: Standing tall, place the heel of your foot on top of the other. Bring your hands together at your heart and grow your branches up tall)
Relaxation:
What a nice story of Stick Man and how happy ending! He finally comes together with his family. How important it is to be a family… being loved and cared, protected… We are very lucky to have a family. Let’s feel the love of our family while taking a deep breath through our noses. Let’s breathe the love in and fill with the love of our family…
When you feel ready, you can slowly start to move your fingers and toes. Pulling your knees to your chest, give them a big hug. Rolling over to one side, lift up to a comfortable sitting position. Bring your hands together in front of your chest. Thank you for doing yoga with me today. Namaste!