Kids Yoga Poses: A Fun Guide with 6 Creative Approaches
Your go-to source for creative and effective kids yoga poses
Welcome to our guide to kids yoga poses – your new source of inspiration for more variety, creativity and endless fun in children’s yoga. From many years of training yoga teachers, we’ve learned one thing: motivation in children’s yoga depends entirely on how playful, imaginative and diverse the childrens yoga moves are. That’s why this guide is packed with ideas that go beyond standard yoga poses for preschoolers, helping you bring more joy and movement into every session.
Unlike many websites that offer children’s yoga content filled with rigid rules and strict step-by-step instructions, we’re not here to box you in. Instead, we want to spark your creativity and open up a world of fresh ideas.
If you’re looking for even more inspiration, we recommend exploring our Kids Yoga YouTube Channel as well as our exclusive children’s yoga lesson plan archive. On YouTube, you’ll find a variety of free videos demonstrating playful yoga moves for kids. Access to our lesson archive is reserved for graduates of our online children’s yoga training.
So let’s dive deep into the fascinating world of yoga exercises for children, including special yoga exercises for kindergarten and elementary school. Together we will embark on an exciting journey to unleash the full potential of children’s yoga. Have fun reading and discovering in our article!
Children’s Yoga Poses with Lots of Imagination
You know the feeling – some days just don’t go to plan. Nothing works out, your mood dips, and you spiral into negative thoughts. If life were a comic strip, a small, dark raincloud would follow you around, raining relentlessly – and occasionally zapping you with a sharp little lightning bolt.
It’s no secret that children have a vivid imagination – often more powerful than our own. That’s why we’re sure you pictured this scene in your mind’s eye just now. And that’s exactly what we intended! Now imagine this gloomy little cloud being blown away by a strong gust of wind. The sun comes out, your clothes dry, the lightning stops, and suddenly the mood begins to lift. Become that strong wind with the children – and blow the clouds away together!
What you may not have noticed: we’ve just created a simple kids yoga pose. And along the way, we’ve learned two things: breathing deeply and evenly calms the body, and it also soothes the mind. With every breath, those dark thoughts start to disappear. Imaginative storytelling like this can greatly enhance children’s motivation during yoga.
🟣 Bonus tip: Yoga poses for kids that combine storytelling and breathing work best when children inhale deeply through the nose and exhale slowly through a wide-open mouth. This turns even the simplest childrens yoga poses into mindful, magical experiences.
Kids Yoga Poses: What to Keep in Mind
To get the most out of your yoga poses for children, there are a few key aspects to keep in mind. First and foremost, children’s safety always comes first. That means creating a secure environment and keeping a close eye on your little yogis throughout the session.
It’s essential to adapt each exercise to suit the child’s age and individual needs. This is the foundation for meaningful, effective practice. Creativity, playfulness and storytelling should be part of every session to keep children engaged and motivated. Breathing techniques and relaxation exercises help promote emotional balance and reduce stress – making yoga a truly holistic experience.
- Match poses to the child’s age and developmental stage
- Ensure a safe and welcoming environment
- Include playful games and interactive activities
- Emphasise mindful breathing and deep relaxation
- Spark imagination through creative storytelling
- And most importantly: make it fun!
📦 Kids Yoga Resources to Support Your Teaching
We’re passionate professionals when it comes to teaching children’s yoga! To help you take your sessions to the next level, we’ve created a wide range of creative kids yoga resources.
Children’s yoga exercises with stories
Do you know the attitude of the happy dinosaur or the brave princess? No…? Neither do we! Do these children’s yoga exercises even exist? We don’t know either. But we do know one thing for sure:
It exists in the children’s imagination if we place the thought there and allow it to flourish. Children’s yoga should be fun – that’s why perfectionism and strict rules are out of place. It is therefore essential to avoid simply reeling off a program. Expecting children to be well-behaved and obedient to the prescribed program is also out of place. This already happens far too often in everyday life, at nursery or school.
Here at Yoga Studio Fox, we let the proverbial five be straight and let our children’s yoga exercises tell stories. You can do it too!
Animal Yoga Poses for Preschoolers
We integrate animals into a wide variety of kids yoga poses to spark children’s imagination and creativity. Together, we immerse ourselves in a playful world where their ideas take shape through movement. Our mission is to awaken the imagination and encourage children to express the images in their minds using their own bodies.
On this creative journey, every animal-inspired yoga movement is unique. There’s no right or wrong, no better or worse – only personal expression. The body simply follows what the mind envisions. These animal yoga poses for preschoolers help children get moving while nurturing their creativity and individuality – a quality that is sadly often overlooked in everyday life.
Through these joyful yoga poses for children, we aim to foster movement, confidence and emotional connection. It’s the heart of what makes kids yoga so powerful.
Children’s yoga teacher training: become a kids yoga teacher online
Our online training enables you to become a kids yoga instructor – online, from the comfort of your own home, at your own pace. Our training was the first of its kind to be certified with the BAG’s “particularly development-promoting” seal of approval.
- International training certificate powered by the American Yoga Alliance
- Live via Zoom or flexible via recordings
- Access to our lesson plan archive for free
- Extensive teaching materials
- No previous experience necessary
Kids Yoga Basic Poses and Moves
Our guide to children’s yoga may not be quite what you expected. From the beginning, we’ve emphasised that our goal is to inspire creativity – not to provide rigid, step-by-step instructions for specific asanas.
That said, we’d still like to introduce a few yoga poses for children that are ideal for beginners. These simple movements form a great foundation for any session, and can easily be adapted into more playful kids yoga poses.
The snake (Bhujangasana)
Children lie flat on their stomachs, place their hands under their shoulders, and gently lift their upper body. This pose supports spinal flexibility and helps strengthen the lower back – making it a popular choice among classic childrens yoga poses.
The Dragon (Anjaneyasana)
From a kneeling position, one foot steps forward while the other stretches back. Children bend their front knee and raise both arms towards the sky. This pose encourages balance and opens the hips – a playful yet grounding option
The flower (Padmasana)
Sitting with legs crossed and feet placed gently on the thighs, children form the classic lotus pose. This position supports stillness, focus and flexibility, and is often used as a gentle start or finish to a sequence.
The Turtle (Kurmasana)
Children sit with their legs stretched forward, then bend their knees slightly and pull them in towards their upper body, reaching forward to hold their feet. This pose gently stretches the back and hips, and is especially useful for calming transitions.
The Cloud (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
Lying on their stomachs, children place their hands beside the chest and lift the upper body while keeping hips grounded. This heart-opening movement strengthens the back and encourages confident posture – a favourite in flowing yoga poses for preschoolers.
Child Yoga Poses for Meditation & Mindfulness
Life is full of moments that challenge our abilities and inner strength. While physical skills can be developed through regular practice, mental strength often requires a different approach. Children, in particular, face situations that call for courage – whether it’s the first day at school, starting a new class, or moving to a new home. Fortunately, courage can be nurtured. This gentle child yoga pose blends mindfulness, breathing and visualisation to help children feel more grounded, calm and brave.
To begin, children lie down comfortably on the floor and gently close their eyes. As they settle into stillness, they notice their breath becoming slower and deeper, and their heart rate calming down. In this quiet space, they focus on their breathing and begin to visualise courage flowing through their body.
With each inhale, they imagine drawing in oxygen and strength. With every slow exhale, their breath travels through their body, wrapping them in courage – like a soft, protective cloak.
From the crown of the head to the tips of the toes, they are completely surrounded by calm and inner strength. This powerful mental image can be taken with them into everyday life, whenever they need a little extra support – making this one of the most effective yoga poses for children to develop resilience and self-confidence.
Laughter Yoga for Kids: Fun and Uplifting Poses to Try Together
At first glance, yoga and laughter might not seem like a natural combination – but when working with children, it’s important to take off your “serious glasses” and embrace playfulness. Laughter is healthy, energising and has a rightful place in kids yoga poses, especially when the goal is joy and connection.
Laughter yoga may sound unusual, but it’s wonderfully simple – and incredibly effective. The idea is to start by laughing on purpose, even without a reason. Before long, that staged laughter turns genuine, contagious and unstoppable. What begins as pretend quickly becomes real.
This partner-based activity works beautifully in childrens yoga poses. Children sit opposite each other, look into one another’s eyes, and begin laughing out loud. No need for jokes – just laughter for laughter’s sake. Repeat the exercise four or five times, with short pauses in between. During each pause, close your eyes and enjoy half a minute of peaceful stillness.
Laughter yoga is especially well suited to yoga poses for preschoolers, as it both releases pent-up energy and encourages relaxation. It’s also a great way to shift the mood during tense or restless moments – bringing lightness, calm and emotional reset into the session.
Children’s yoga exercises with a mantra
Mantras are powerful, positive statements that can help children shape their thoughts and intentions. With a little practice, they can even counter negative thinking patterns and support healthy habits. Mantras are simple yet effective tools that can stay with us throughout life – helping to build focus, inner strength and resilience.
Integrating mantras into your kids yoga poses is a wonderful way to strengthen emotional awareness in a playful and supportive setting. This mindful addition brings calm and purpose to movement, especially when paired with breath and visualisation.
Creating personalised mantras for each child makes the practice even more meaningful. When used alongside gentle child yoga poses, these affirmations offer a sense of grounding and self-confidence. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
I can do it and I believe in myself.
I like myself the way I am.
I can do anything.
I can make new decisions every day.
I can make every day a wonderful day.
I feel safe and secure.
