5 Yoga Games with my Yoga Pose Flashcards
Today I am sharing 5 games I play in my children’s yoga classes using my flashcards. I use these a lot so have a couple of sets laminated and ready to go in my yoga bag. They are included in my resource subscription (along with over 50 other resources) which you can join here for just £5 a month or £50 a year.
When teaching children’s yoga is really important to keep things playful. Incorporating games into class is a simple way to do this and it keeps engagement high and behaviour problems low. All these games could also be used as brain break or active breaks on their own. Sometimes a children’s yoga class doesn’t flow to the time you expected, I sometimes find we can’t fit in everything I’s planned and on other days I’ve not got enough to fill out time. On these occasions having a set of flashcards and some games up your sleeve is a life..well lesson..saver.
1. Pose Scavenger Hunt
This one’s really easy. Before class hide the cards around the room and then challenge the children to find them, and make the pose when they do. They can bring the card back to their mat and make the pose and collect cards to make it more past pace or leave the cards where they are for others if you want the game to move more slowly - be clear with the children whether you want them to collect the cards or not.
2. Pull out a Pose
This is the most simple way to use the flashcards, a child draws a card from your deck and everyone makes the pose. This gives you time to read the prompts on the card to make sure everyone is making the pose correctly.
3. Create a Flow
Children love to design their own flow but need a visual aid to help them remember the poses…and then the order they want to flow them. Giving them a set of cards and letting them get creative is great fun. Remind groups to think about linking standing poses together or seated poses and to think about how they will transition between poses. Or perhaps they could group strengthening poses together and then balancing poses. hatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
4. Musical yoga pose statues
This one is probably quite self explanatory but children dance while the music is on and freeze in a yoga pose when the music stops. Pull a card each time the music stops to tell everyone which pose to freeze in. You can read the prompts to help anyone who has forgotten that pose - then give five seconds to find stillness in the pose. Try to choose positive and uplifting music in yoga and something the children know tends to work best.
5. Yogi Says
This is a simple take on the traditional game Simon Says. Stand at the front pulling cards from the deck. Say “yogi says move into - whichever pose you have pulled from the deck”. Every so often leave out the “yogi says” - children should not make the pose but remain in the previous pose.
I don’t like to make my classes competitive since that’s not really aligned with yoga - so I don’t make children be “out” if they make a mistake, they simply carry on. It’s also important to still remind the children how to perform the poses correctly. Each flashcards has some cues written to help everyone get into the pose safely which you can simply read when you draw a card. It’s ideal if you have already taught the poses to the group in detail and then these can serve as a reminder. Also remember - although I have only included child safe poses in my flashcard deck, each child should follow their body’s lead and only do poses which feel comfortable for them.
Have you got any other ideas for using my cards? If you do I’d love to hear them, please send me an email on vic@innerchildyogaschool.com or send me a message on my social media channels.