After completing my Rainbow Kids Yoga training in Vancouver, I spent a lot of time creating themed yoga classes for toddlers and young children. I loved combining movement, imagination, music, stories and simple values so the class felt more like an adventure than a formal yoga practice.
One of my favourite themes was In the Garden, which naturally lends itself to conversations about patience, growth and caring for the world around us. This lesson can be adapted for parents, teachers, yoga instructors or anyone leading movement activities with young children.
Theme and Value: Patience
Gardens give children an easy way to understand patience. A seed does not become a flower immediately. It needs soil, water, sunlight and time.
You can begin by asking simple questions such as: What do you have to wait for? What is something that took you a long time to learn? What does a seed need before it can grow?
Keep the conversation short and allow children to share their own ideas.
Begin With a Welcome Circle
Sit together in a circle and introduce everyone. You can use a name game and ask each child something simple, such as their favourite colour or favourite flower.
If using the sound Om is part of your teaching style, you can introduce it simply as a sound everyone makes together. Invite the children to notice how the vibration feels rather than giving them a complicated explanation.
Warm Up With the Sun
Begin moving by pretending the sun is rising over the garden. Reach upward, fold down toward the earth, move onto hands and knees and gradually return to standing.
You can use a child-friendly Sun Salutation or create your own sequence. With younger children, keep the movements simple and let imagination guide the class.
Garden Yoga Poses
Mountain Pose
Stand tall like a mountain overlooking the garden. Reach toward the sky or stay very still and strong.
Seed to Tree
Curl into Child’s Pose and imagine being a tiny seed underground. Slowly begin to grow, eventually standing and reaching upward before trying Tree Pose.
A parent or partner can offer a hand for balance.
Snake
Lie on the belly and gently lift the chest into Cobra. Make a quiet “ssssss” sound as the snake moves through the garden.
Butterfly
Sit with the soles of the feet together and gently flap the knees like butterfly wings. Pretend to fly from one flower to another.
Frog
Come into a comfortable squat and pretend to sit beside a pond. If appropriate for the group, add small frog jumps with plenty of space between children.
Cat and Cow
Come onto hands and knees and slowly move the spine between Cat and Cow. Add animal sounds if the children enjoy them.
Downward-Facing Dog
Lift the hips and become a dog exploring the garden. Wag your tail or walk the feet gently.
Flower Pose
Let each child invent a flower shape. They might sit in Butterfly with the arms reaching overhead, balance on one leg or create a completely new pose.
There is no need for everyone’s flower to look the same.
1-2-3 Yoga Tree
Turn Tree Pose into a simple balance game. Children can move around the room and, when you call “1-2-3 Yoga Tree!”, everyone freezes in their own version of Tree Pose.
Make it cooperative rather than eliminating anyone who loses their balance. Falling and trying again is part of the game.
Sing and Move
Songs can make transitions easier and help younger children stay involved. Familiar movement songs such as If You’re Happy and You Know It can easily be adapted with garden movements: flap like a butterfly, hop like a frog, buzz like a bee or grow like a tree.
If you use recorded music in a public class, make sure your setting has appropriate music licensing.
Add a Story
A short book about gardens, butterflies, insects or plants can create a quiet transition between active parts of the class.
You can pause during the story and ask children to turn different animals or plants into yoga poses.
Cocoon Relaxation
Finish with a short relaxation inspired by a butterfly’s transformation. Children can lie comfortably on their mats and imagine resting inside a cocoon.
Rather than wrapping children tightly in mats, simply invite them to curl up or cover themselves loosely with a blanket if appropriate.
After a short rest, slowly “open the cocoon,” stretch the arms like wings and become butterflies flying through the garden.
Kids Yoga Is About Exploration
Children do not need perfect yoga poses. The most important part is giving them a chance to move, imagine, play and experience their bodies in a positive way.
A garden theme can gently introduce ideas like patience and growth while also developing coordination, balance and body awareness.
For another themed class, try Kids Yoga Lesson Plan: Going Into Space or Kids Yoga Lesson Plan: Beach & Ocean Theme.
If you work with children and enjoy creative movement, you may also be interested in the Circus Arts Leader Certification, which includes games and adaptable movement activities for groups.
