Toddler Yoga Tips from Maia of Kumarah Yoga

Yoga is something I have really come to enjoy and appreciate since having children. I love how accessible it is and how even 10 minutes can lift my mood or calm my body. It has been especially fun to incorporate it into the day with D and S. As I am far from an expert, I was so excited to discover Maia of Kumarah Yoga’s website and Instagram, as she has so much experience doing yoga with children of all ages. We have enjoyed her yoga tools and videos for toddlers, and I am excited for her to share her tips with you all today! Happy Yoga-ing!

What are the Benefits of Yoga for Young Kids?

Little humans need to be active! They have lots of energy, they are exploring their limits, and they are learning new ways to move.  Yoga can be a fun way to get your kids to be active in different ways and explore the range of movement their growing bodies have.

Kids yoga doesn’t look like adult yoga. With kids, you can focus on creativity and movement, not just holding specific poses for a long period of time. Let them copy a pose, then move and make sounds within the pose.

Yoga is super beneficial for kids because they get to turn, twist, stretch, and strengthen their muscles in new ways. It helps them with proprioceptive awareness, balance, coordination, focus, building mirror neurons, increasing lung capacity, and so much more!

How to Engage Your Child in Yoga

Start by doing yoga on your own in a space where they can see you. If they are interested, let them join in and have them copy the moves you do. 

Get them their own yoga mat so they can play and explore on the mat in their own space! Though they may like want to share your space too.

Tell them the names of poses, invent new names for poses, and give lots of praise. They won’t be able to copy the moves exactly, but that’s ok! Praise their effort and make minimal corrections.

Use your excited voice, and even sing some songs. Make them up as you go, or try some “yogi-fied” versions of nursery rhyme songs. You can create lots of poses to go with the songs “Wheels on the Bus,” “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “Down by the Bay,” and “Row Row Row Your Boat.”

Get some adorable kids yoga cards to help them explore the pose shapes and be inspired to try them out. Show your child how to hold the cards gently, look at the picture, and copy the pose.

Lots of poses are based on animals and things in nature! Use these to teach kids about different animals, or create a themed yoga session and “explore” new environments to talk about animals and landforms you might see there. Yoga with young kids is a lot like acting things out.

The Best Poses for Kids Age 2-4

The best poses to start with for little kids that are aspiring yogis are poses that they can relate to, and can successfully do. Again, they won’t be perfect at them, but I would stay away from complicated poses until they have better coordination and balance.

Here are some good poses to start with for young kids:

Cat/Bear Pose

Cow Pose

Snake Pose

Lion Pose

Mountain Pose

Down Dog Pose

Frog Pose

Butterfly Pose

Star Pose

Swan Pose

Again, some of these are the “real” yoga poses names, but some are made up. You can change the names of the poses to fit your theme or intention at any time. That’s the beauty of kids yoga, use your imagination!

Yoga Activities to Try with Your Kids at Home

1. Make a list of animals and create a pose to go with each one. Encourage them to be more creative than just crawling, which is what a lot of kids default to with animals. Praise their effort then say, how about this? Wiggle and move in the pose, and be sure to add animal sounds.

2. Try finding or creating a yoga pose for each letter of the alphabet! Think of animals or other things in nature. You can even try movie characters, items around the house, or in nature. Check out this free printable version of Animal Yoga ABCs here.

3. Tell a story and go on a pretend adventure on your yoga mat. Add movements and poses to go along with the story. Use your imagination!  An apple picking adventure or a trip to the farm are two of my favorites.

4. Play a game and add in yoga poses. You can create your own board game, use yoga cards to play a dice matching game, do a bean bag toss to yoga cards, play Red Light Green Light, Pose, and so much more! Here are some printable kids’ yoga games you can download and print to play with your kids at home.

5. Tape up yoga pose cards on the wall in your child’s play space. Label them with different names depending on the theme. There are tons of themes you can choose from: Halloween Yoga, Springtime Yoga, St Patrick’s Day Yoga, Bug Yoga, and more! 

6. Get some adorable kids yoga pose board books. Your child can explore and play on their own, learning to copy the poses that match different animals! These are the best.

Make Yoga a Positive and Beneficial Experience for Your Child

No matter what, make sure that when you are doing yoga with your child you are being positive, engaging them with lots of specific praise, and talking about the benefits that YOU feel when doing yoga. 

Never force your kids to do yoga. If they aren’t interested yet, keep trying. Find something they like and make up some yoga-themed poses to go with it! Keep the experience positive and fun.  

When they are done, let them be done. End on a positive note so they will want to come back and try again. It can be just two minutes or twenty, they will still get good benefits from any amount of positive interaction in doing yoga with you.

Praise their effort and their specific behaviors. Avoid just saying “good job!”  Add specific praise like, “Your arms are so straight!” or, “You are very focused” to help them know exactly what it is they are doing well.

Talk about how you feel! “This pose helps my back feel strong.” Or, “I feel calm while doing this pose.” This will encourage your child to notice their own feelings and body as well.

Have fun! Try some yoga with your child and keep coming back to it. You will feel the benefits, see them in your child, and help them grow in positive ways. 

About the Author:

Maia is a 7th-year kids yoga and mindfulness teacher at a public school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She starting teaching yoga to toddlers and early childhood in 2011, and was hired by a local school to teach kids yoga full time in 2013. She is an experienced registered yoga instructor with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT, YACEP) and has an online kids yoga and mindfulness teacher training program.

Maia founded Kumarah Kids Yoga to help parents and teachers learn tools and strategies for teaching yoga and mindfulness to kids, particularly in schools. She loves writing lesson plans and creating resources for people to use with kids in any setting. Join her Free Resources Library for tips and tools to get started teaching yoga to kids!