SPARKLE UP YOUR CLASSES AND CREATE SOME FUN WITH THE KIDS
Our top tips for your children's yoga classes are here . . .
Our top tips for your children's yoga classes are here . . .
 UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 and Australian Health guidelines this event has been postposed to later in 2020.. Please come back and check my Schedule here. In the meantime please enjoy some of the suggestions I have in this blog with your children and teenagers at home.
This month I decided to share a teen tip with you especially with my upcoming Teen Training in Brisbane April 17-19 at One Family Yoga & Fitness. One of the things I have noticed with my teen students is the absolute necessity to have FUN with them. I think we can get easily forget that even in their rapidly changing body and increased level of responsibility in their lives is a ‘Child’ that wants to have fun – don’t we all actually! This is one of the reasons that I always make laughter and fun an essential ingredient in my class! Recently we played a memory game which I figured would help them explore their ability to focus and memorize what they saw before them. Also indirectly a different way of enhancing their skills to study for exams! What was really sweet was how they seemed excited at the prospect of playing the game and at the same time became nostalgic with one another about when they were tweenies and loved doing this together! What you need and how to play
 With Valentine’s day approaching you may begin to feel that love is in the air. Being able to guide children to love each and every part of themselves is paramount to their well being for me! It my hope that when they can accept all the changes and transformations they experience with gentleness it can enable them to cultivate greater kindness for themselves and others around them. I see children almost like butterflies who go through the delicate but powerful process of emerging and continue their ongoing process of growth and transformation. Most importantly for me I hold a deep desire and commitment to remind them of their unique beauty, true nature and just how amazing they really are! In my first class this term with new students we travelled into the garden to see what we could discover which is always fun! I asked them to describe what colour they would be if they were a butterfly which is always delightful. Milla pictured here with her butterfly was a newbie to class and I was reminded of how special it is when you have new students who fall in love with the newness of the experience they are having and remind you of that special quality. We finished our class with a fun creative activity where you provide one side of the butterfly and ask them to mirror and draw the design on the other side. This is a great way to relax, build concentration and also offers the challenge to be able to replicate the design as a mirror image. Of course you can also give another option of creating your butterfly from scratch too! What you need:
Children are almost like butterflies of differing types - size, shape, colour and marks, some are heavier and others are lighter.... the thing they seem to have most in common is a willingness to transform moment to moment, demonstrate courage as they fly and giggle as they attempt it.........What an inspiration they truly are !!!! Karen. Have fun!  This is a mindfulness activity that I have generally practiced with preteens. Recently I decided to try it on my younger yogis in a mixed age class of 5-10 years. I was surprised to see how much they loved it and were sitting so quietly and patiently waiting for their turn. The purpose of activity is too slow down mentally and physically bringing awareness to having a slower approach to life. Materials required – a miniature turtle/metal/clay or ceramic – small pouch of bag to place it in. How to facilitate it – Get everyone seated in a circle and explain that the focus of this circle time is to ‘slow down’. When we begin to slow things we begin to become more aware of the little things in life that we may have not noticed when we are rushing around and not paying attention. Begin to pass the pouch with the turtle inside around the circle. Ask the students to remain silent for this part of the activity as each one holds the pouch. Give them a few moments to feel and guess what is inside the pouch but ask them not to share what they think it is until the whole group has had a go. Now invite them to share what they thought it could be – then reveal the turtle and place it in the centre. This is the perfect time to talk about how we feel when we are rushing compared to when we take our time to do things slowly in a more calm and relaxed manner. This type of reflection can be wonderful to invite into our lives at the end of a busy year when children in particular start to get tired. After all, slow and steady wins the race!  As you may have noticed we are crazy about toes in Yoga as we see this to be our connection to the earth. So why not have some fun with your toes and celebrate just how awesome they are! Pom poms – I have to be honest I am a fan, I love the colours, texture and the endless simple fun you can have with them. On the theme of connection why not have some family fun using your toes. What you need and how to do it
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AuthorKaren Wightman is the founder of Creative Yogis. She is an experienced, local and international children’s yoga instructor, yoga teacher trainer, and children’s art teacher. YouTube ChannelArchives
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