Reinvent Your Yoga Mat: Unleash Its Hidden Superpowers

Ever wondered what your yoga mat is truly capable of? 

The ancient yogis didn’t need mats, blocks, or designer water bottles—they practiced on earth, grass, and sheer determination. 

But here’s the twist: your trusty yoga mat isn’t just a rectangle for downward dogs. It’s a tool for creativity, play, and reinvention—if you dare to think outside the studio.

Your mat isn’t just a surface—it’s a playground. Here are activities that will reinvent it today

You Are The Yoga Mat

Have all the students stand on one side of the room facing you. Put some really cool music on and ask the students to follow the movements of the yoga mat with their body. They are the yoga mat! They are not doing what you are doing, but what the yoga mat is doing and it is open to their own interpretation.

It is a bit easier if you fold the yoga mat in two… Try:

  • Moving one shoulder by moving an upper edge of the mat

  • Waving the yoga mat

  • Jumping the mat up and down… or to the sides

  • Moving the feet by moving the lower edges of the mat quickly (you can hold the mat with your chin here too)

  • Twisting the yoga mat

  • Twisting and squatting

  • Folding the yoga mat

  • Crumpling the yoga mat

  • Shimming the shoulders

  • And infinitely more!

5 Minutes


Musical Yoga Mats

Put some fun music on for everyone to dance to. Whenever the music stops everyone needs to stand on a yoga mat in tree pose. If you don’t have your own yoga mat, you share!

Each time you start playing the music again, take away a couple of yoga mats.

A the game progresses and there are less and less yoga mats to stan on, more sharing is needed! Play until everyone is doing tree pose on one single yoga mat!

If everyone had loads of fun, play again with a different pose!

One of my favorites here is to play with a simple crossed legged sitting pose… Only one bum is allowed on the mat… So as the game progresses, everyone needs to sit one on top of the other – AWESOME!

5 Minutes


Yoga Limbo

Roll a yoga mat lengthwise and have two people holding the edges. Everyone lines up and dance and limbo their way under the rolled up yoga mat trying to keep their pose and not touching the yoga mat.

You can play the traditional limbo here of back banding while walking forward under the yoga mat or make it more yoga by passing under the yoga mat in yoga poses.

Do taller poses (such as Warrior, Airplane or Chair pose) when the mat is higher and lower and lower poses (such as Down Dog, Table, Frog, Cat Pose)… All the way to the ground (such as Snake, Locust, Boat Pose)… A you lower the yoga mat down.

5 Minutes


3 Yoga Mats

Place three yoga mats on the floor in a horizontal way with about two feet space between them:

Have everyone lined up on one side, and one at a time run and jump 3 jumps between the yoga mats, without touching the mats, to reach the other side.

Once everyone had a turn, space the yoga mats farther and play again.

Every round bring the yoga mats a bit more apart until even the most agile child can’t make it through without touching the mats. 

Repeat a couple of times.

5-10 Minutes


Yoga Mat Hopscotch

  1. Design a Hopscotch space with the yoga mats. Here is an example, but you can vary it as you wish:

  1. Throw a small beanbag or an animal plush toy or anything else you have (this is your marker) to land on mat one. It has to land inside the mat without touching the border or bouncing out. If you don't get it within the lines, you lose your turn and pass the stone to the next person. If you do get it, however, go on to the next step.

  2. Hop through the squares, skipping the one you have your marker on:

  • Do poses with two feet on the mat on yoga mats that are lengthwise

  • Do poses with one foot on the mat on yoga mats that are widthwise. You can’t have more than one foot on the ground at a time on those mats

Always keep your feet inside the appropriate mat; if you step on a line, hop on the wrong mat, or step out of the mat, you lose your turn.

  1. When you get to the last number, turn around (remaining on one foot) and hop your way back in reverse order. While you're on the mat right before the one with your marker, lean down (probably on one foot still!) and pick it up. Then, skip over that square and finish up.

  2. If you completed the course with your marker on square one (and without losing your turn), then throw your marker onto square two on your next turn. Your goal is to complete the course with the marker on each square. The first person to do this wins the game!

10 Minutes


Fantastic Poses To Do With The Yoga Mat

Magic Carpet – Sit crossed legged at the edge of your yoga mat, hold the corners of the front of your mat and lift the edge of the mat just over your knees. Roll back and forth all while keeping your legs crossed and holding the edges of the mat.

Canoe – Sit with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Lift the side edges of the yoga mat with your hands to form the canoe. You can go down rapids by bending forward and enjoy a very turbulent ride!

Superman/Superwoman – Start standing up while holding the yoga mat with one hand like a cape around your neck. Now lean forward into Warrior 3 or Airplane pose with one hand stretched forward to come into this Superman or Superwomen Pose!

Tablecloth – In pairs or small groups, one partner comes into Crab Pose/Table Pose while the other places a yoga mat on them like a tablecloth. Using your imagination, set the table nicely with plates and cutlery and even candles. Sit in Chair Pose and enjoy the meal using your imaginary knife and fork… It can tickle the Table a bit!

Bust – Standing, wrap the yoga mat around your legs and waist and with the top part of your body make different faces and hand gestures to imitate important people’s busts in a museum.

Tipi Tent – Place the yoga mat across your bum and come into a Downward Facing Dog Pose to become a Tipi Tent!

Partner Poses with The Yoga Mat – In groups of 2 or more, try different yoga poses while connected with the yoga mat… Trees, Warriors, Lunges, Dancers… Anything is possible!

Co-Create the class with the children and have each of them choose in their turn what kind of other poses we may be able to do using the yoga mat in a creative way.

Please also write back to me with your AWESOME suggestions!


15 Minutes

Yoga Mat Rollup Self-Massage

Have each child roll up a yoga mat tightly and lie down, facing up, on the rolled-up yoga mat rolling on the mat with their back or legs or bum to massage themselves by giving their full weight to the rolled-up yoga mat. 

This feels great and it helps to release the facia and the muscles.

5 Minutes


Caterpillar to Butterfly Relaxation

Lie down on the edge of the yoga mat perpendicular to it, hold the edge with one hand,  and roll yourself up into the yoga mat becoming a caterpillar.

Now close your eyes and imagine yourself being a caterpillar in a cocoon all snuggled up tight.

Using your imagination, let your caterpillar body slowly transfigurate into a beautiful butterfly… 

Start with your toes and feet and legs and see and feel them becoming the butterfly legs… 

Let your body slowly be transformed into a butterfly body, lean and strong… 

Let your head change gradually into a butterfly head and grow long and sensitive antennas… 

Let your eyes change into butterfly eyes and start to see the world more like a butterfly would…

Finally, let your arms transfigure into amazingly beautiful wings… You can’s see their full glory yet because they are still all curled in, but you can feel them shimmering and shivering with butterfly magic!

When you feel like you can’t hold this magic in anymore, start wriggling your new butterfly body inside your cocoon… Wriggle until you role all the way out of the cocoon still keeping your eyes closed.

When you have totally unwrapped yourself, let your wings open slowly… Eyes still closed… Enjoy the feeling of opening up again!

Use your imagination to see all of the amazingly beautiful sparkling colors of your fresh butterfly wings… Flap them gently and get use to them and the freedom that they can give you.

And only when you are ready slowly sit up all renewed and ready for a beautiful day.

5 Minutes

 

 

Want to learn how to share yoga and mindfulness with your children at home or with your students at school?

Join one of our Rainbow Kids Yoga Teacher Trainings today! Click here to sign up!

2 comments

Natasha

Thank you! Love the music that goes along with it….I will try this in my kids class this week! thank you!!!

Gilbert

This is amazing, thank you for sharing 💫

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