It’s cold and snowy outside. So winter is officially here! It can be difficult to think of things to do when the weather turns snowy and frigid. In order to keep the chilly months just as fun and exciting as the warm ones, let’ do some yoga!
Breathing Activity:
Hot Chocolate Breathing:
The Hot Chocolate Breathing technique helps children learn deep breathing. It works with children of all ages.
- Pretend to hold your hot cup of cocoa in both hands in front of you.
- Breathe in deeply the yummy smell of the chocolate.
- Then blow out to cool the hot chocolate.
- Again smell the aroma of the chocolate.
- Breathe out -slowly cooling down the hot chocolate.
- Ask them how they feel.
Warm Up Song:
Dancing is enough to warm up in this cold weather. Therefore, enjoy this very active song!
Shake and Move by Patty Shukla
Wiggle your fingers, blink your eyes
Wiggle your fingers, blink, blink, blink
Move your hands side to side
Move your hands side to side
Shake your hands 1, 2, 3
Shake your hands, Shake with me
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Touch your ears
Touch your nose
Touch your mouth
And chin below
Move your head all around
Move your head all around
Pat your knees pat, pat, pat
Pat your knees pat, pat, pat
Move your shoulders up and down
Move your shoulders up and down
Clap your hands, clap, clap, clap
Clap your hands, clap, clap, clap
Move your feet back and forth
Move your feet back and forth
13 Winter Yoga Poses For Kids
Winter Yoga Poses with Stick Figures
Look! It’s snowing outside! Let’s go outside and play some snowy games. But before we go out and play in the snow, we need to put on our winter boots (Boot: Standing tall, lift one knee and hug it towards the chest. See if you can clasp the hands around the foot. Staying strong in the standing leg for balance, start to extend and straighten the lifted leg, keeping the spine long and chest open).
Aren’t snowflakes beautiful? Let’s catch some snowflakes (Star tilts: Standing tall with your legs wide and arms outstretched, add a balance challenge by lifting off one foot and tilting the star to one side, then the other).
All we need is snow to have some outdoor fun.
Let’s ski down the hill (Chair: Stand with feet together or a little apart. Bend the knees and lift the arms). Do not forget to move your hips side to side while you are skiing.
Who wants to try snowboarding (Snowboard: Standing with your feet wide, bend your front knee and spread your arms out wide)?
Do you want to build a snowman? Let’s make a snowman (Snowman: Standing tall, we bring the heels together and turn the toes out to the sides. Bending the knees, sweep the arms overhead and bring the fingers to touch)!
Did you see the snowy tree over there (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)? Let’s shake off the snow!
Who wants to play snowball (Child’s Pose: Sit on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, rest your arms down alongside your body)? Now, we need to shake off the snow all over our body (Body Pats: Standing tall, we begin to pat our body. Arms, legs, body, back, face, everywhere…).
Let’s build an igloo (House: Standing with your legs wide, hands together above your head, making a pointy roof for your house or cave)!
There’s nothing better than gliding through the cool air on a sledge (Sledge: 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).
If you still have energy, we can go ice skating (Ice Skater: Step one foot forward and come up onto the toes of the back foot. Bend into the front knee. Take the arms wide as if showing off your special skating moves).
There’s nothing more tempting after a snowfall than jumping onto a fresh snow and making snow angels (Angel: Standing with feet together take the hands round the back and see if you can press the palms together in a reverse prayer. Your arms from the front give you the appearance of having two little angel wings).
I am cold. Let’s warm up around a campfire (Campfire: Sitting with our legs crossed we fold forwards keeping our back long to rest on our elbows. Our hands are lifted and we wiggle our fingers like they are the crackling flames of the campfire).
Next time, we can go on a winter hike in the woods and see which animal tracks we can spot around the forest.
Relaxation:
Please lie down comfortably in such a way that your body can really relax. With your legs stretched out in front of you, your arms relaxed by your sides… If you like, you can close your eyes. Perhaps you like to adjust your position. If so, you can do that. Surrender to gravity. Your head, neck and your back, your arms and your legs are lying here. Your whole body is lying here. When you are lying here like this, you may feel your gentle breath, in your chest and in your belly. Take your time to feel the movement of the breath in your body and stay with it for a while. You don’t have to do anything special, just give it your attention… Now, imagine that you are lying by a fireplace. Feel the warmth and hear the sounds of fire. Feel your body soften and warm with every breath you take. Imagine that you are melting just like a snowflake as you are relaxing with every breath. Give your friendly and mindful attention to your body. Notice how your body is softened. When you are ready, you can slowly bring this exercise to a close. You may move your fingers and toes, hug your knees into your chest. Roll over onto your side. We press ourselves up to sit, crossing our legs. We bring our hands together at our heart. Namaste!
Game:
Red Light, Green Light Yoga Game (Winter Activity Version)
Game Proceedings:
• One person is chosen as the Stoplight. He or she stands at the front of the room.
• The other players are the “cars,” and they start at the opposite wall.
• The Stoplight starts the game by calling “Green light!”
• The other players then use “winter” yoga poses of skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, snowy tree, snowman, etc. to move forward.
• When the Stoplight calls “Red light!”, each player needs to be in a “winter” yoga pose and remain still.
• Everyone takes a turn being the Stoplight.
Craft:
Winter Mandala:
