Supporting Creativity in Kids' Yoga Classes

The kids that I teach tell me that one of their favourite parts of the class is the part when they can create.

In most of my classes, there will be an element of creation. In fact I usually weave creativity throughout my class plans.

Why is creativity important to include in your kids yoga classes?

Being creative helps children to problem solve, to think critically, perhaps build social skills (if they are working with others) it also gives them a sense of autonomy, which is so important to children.

What does creativity look like in a kids yoga class?

Being creative isn’t about how artistic you are. It is the ability to make something new, to imagine something original into existence.

There are lots of different ways that this could happen in a kids yoga class. Children are naturally creative and oftentimes, all we need to do is facilitate this and give space and freedom.

Here are some examples:

Warm up:

• How does your body want to move to this music?
• Take it in turns to lead the class/ lead your partner (mirror work).
• Show me a movement that stretches your arms/ legs/ makes you feel strong etc.
  
  

Breathing: 

• Create a breathing pattern to represent (for example) a falling leaf, 
• What name would you give this breathing exercise?
• How could you change this exercise?

Create:

• Can you turn this pose into a partner pose?
• How can you add movement to this pose?
• What pose would you put before this pose?
• What pose would you put after this pose?
• Can you make a new pose by combining poses?
• Can you create a flow of poses to tell an autumn story?
• What would you call this pose?

Tips to Support Creativity within your Class

Scaffolding
This is a term used in education that refers to giving children support to help them achieve.

It’s not likely that a teacher would say “Write a story” and give a blank page  and no previous support.
A teacher may provide lots of different scaffolding to support the child to do the best they can. This might look like giving lots of previous experiences of stories, creating a plan together, having access to that plan, providing language banks, images to represent characters etc. 

Good education consists of providing children with enough support to enable them to be successful. In my opinion, it should be the same in our yoga classes. 

In my kids yoga classes, this support looks like: 

• A bank of age appropriate poses and movements that the children learn. Having a bank of known poses builds confidence and a solid foundation to be creative from.
• Lots of experience of using these poses and movements in different ways playing different games. Practising the poses in lots of different contexts.
• Demonstrating examples of what I am asking for.
• Having access to visual reminders; large pose cards in the middle of the circle.
• Having access to their own cards to support them (partner cards).

Here are some photos of visual supports that I use in my classes:

• A4 cards for everyone to see
• A pose bank/ partner cards
• Nameless poses, for children to write on
  

* You can get these too by purchasing Captivate with Cards.

Boundaries and Limits
When you give children some structure or boundaries, they often feel like they have freedom within that to explore.

Here are some examples:

• Create a flow using no less than 3 poses and no more than 5.
• Select poses from the ones given (for example using the partner card).
• Give a theme, for example a spring story.
• Give a time limit.

Meeting individual needs

Some children struggle with creating, and may need a little extra support. 

This might look like:

• Working with those children, giving a few options to choose from.
• Giving them the opportunity to copy your ideas.
• Partnering/ grouping with more confident children (if all children in this dynamic are happy with that).
• Giving more ideas, for example, if the children are creating a flow of 4 poses, giving 3 of these poses and asking them to add on one pose at the end or the start.

Over time, you can reduce the level of support that is given- if this is the goal.

If you found this useful, I think you would really love the e-course and resources bundle Captivate with Cards. 

You get lifetime access to all the resources that I’ve mentioned here and many more. You also learn how to use them in all of your classes, find out more here:

As a special offer for November, I am including the School Yoga Teacher Bundle (worth £235 -approx. $305) absolutely free as an add on to the Captivate With Cards Training. 

This is only available for November and won’t be repeated again. 

As well as the totally amazing Captivate with Cards Course and Resources, you will get instant lifetime access to:

Props Like a Pro E-Course: Learn how to use props effectively in your kids yoga classes.
Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60)

Tame the Crowd without Being Loud E-Course: Learn how to work with large groups.
Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60)

Structure for Success E-Course: Learn how to structure kids yoga classes effectively in schools.
Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60)

Yoga Club for Schools E-Course: Learn how to plan and deliver fabulous and fun yoga clubs.
Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60)

The Document Bundle: Get access to this brilliant resource that is jam packed with sample policies, planning grids, risk assessments examples, letters, and contracts to edit and use.
Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60)

Why am I increasing the prices for these courses?
Currently the courses each have one long video and notes to accompany it. I’ll be spending some time breaking these into bite size modules and adding extra resources and content in, which will add to the value.

When you purchase Captivate with Cards Training and Resource Bundle, you will be able to access all of these training and resources for as long as they are available as courses.

So there is no problem if you don’t have the time to visit them now. They will be ready for you when you need them.

If you would like over £400 of comprehensive training and resources for less than £200, then make sure to get this offer.

📨Email me with any questions you have about this offer, or anything else!