Picnic In The Park

This is a perfect class for the younger children as the park is a place they are familiar with. There is lots to explore with plants and animals to imitate in yoga poses and the varied activities people to at the park. So much fun!

There are a few songs here to make the adventure extra fun and engaging for this age group.

Bring: Leaves from nature, fan or a piece of cardboard, essential oil of any flower

 

Waking Up

Sitted in the circle, all pretend to be sleeping by making a pillow with their hands to rest their head on and leaning to the side over their friend’s leg or shoulder. Snoring really helps to sleep too!

Then Stretch and yawn and say good morning.

Angel’s Breath - Spread your arms out to the sides like big angel’s wings. Breathe in deeply when you raise your wings up, and breath out when you lower your wings down. Making your breath audible will help the kids breath more deeply... so inhale loudly and exhale with a big sigh.

2 Minutes

 

Sun Dance with Song

Try this one by Kira Willey https://youtu.be/V_SZ0A7iXA8 

Best to learn and sing and do with the kids (rather than playing it on the stereo).

Sun Salutation, Dance for the Sun,
Sun Salutation, Dance for the Sun,

Sun Salutation, Dance for the Sun,
I can do it, You can do it, We can do a Sun Salutation!
Stretch up high, (into the sun)
Hang down low, (tickle your toes)
Feet jump back, (just like a frog)
Belly on the ground, (just like a snake)
Look at the Sun,
Now Downward Dog.
And Breath, (and breath)
And Breath, (and breath)
Feet jump up, (just like a frog)
Hang down low, (tickle your toes)
Stretch up high, (into the Sun)
Mountain Pose. (look what you've done)

5 Minutes

 

Who’s Calling?

Sit in the circle...

Babe in arms - Sitted, hold your the lower part of your leg between your elbows like you would hold a baby. Rock your baby gently, pet it, smell it... even kiss it!
You have twins so put that baby down for a moment and wick up the other, repeating.

Yoga phone - The yoga phone is ringing, so answer it putting your foot to your ear!
There is a call on the other line, so put this phone down and answer the other one by picking up your other foot to your ear... It is your friend... talk to them for a while... they are inviting you to go with them to the park, YAY!

3 Minutes

 

Bus or Train Ride to the Park

Bus/ train - Sit in a line one after the other with legs wide apart and straight. Drive up the hill (lean backwards), drive down the hill (fold forwards), turn (lean to the right/left)... play with this for a while!

Bus Song:

The wheels on the bus go round and round.
round and round. round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town!
The door on the bus goes open and shout.
open and shout. open and shout.
The door on the bus goes open and shout.
all through the town.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish.
swish, swish, swish. swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,
all through the town!
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep.
beep, beep beep. beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep.
all through the town!
The people on the bus go up and down.
up and down. up and down.
The people on the bus go up and down,
all through the town!
The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa.
waa, waa, waa. waa, waa, waa.
The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa,
all through the town!
The mummies on the bus say shh shh shh
shh shh shh. shh shh shh.
The mummies on the bus say shh shh shh
all through the town!

● Massage train - Stop at your favourite stop (the Spa of course!) and massage each other down the bus line... head, shoulders, back, karate choops...

● Broken Telephone / Chinese Whispers game - Pass a word or a short sentence (something positive and cheerful or funny) down your line by whispering it to the person at the back. Each person in line passes the word or sentence to the person in front of them. When it reaches the very front say it our load and check how similar or different the word or sentence is from what they were at the start. It is even funnier when they are not the same!

5 Minutes

In the park

Rolling on the grass - With your knees tucked into your chest, roll side to side, or forward and back (remember that most children under the age of 4 cannot roll forward and back). Or make your body straight like a stick and roll sideways as if you are rolling down a hill.

● No handstand - If you can roll forward and back, see if you can roll all the way to
standing without even touching the ground with your hands. Wow!
● Rolling into yoga poses - Keep rolling forward and back, but then call out a pose (mountain, tree, frog, butterfly...) and roll forward straight into that pose. Fun!

Now, let’s watch nature transform:

Seed - Child Pose. Everyone can rest here for a while and wait for the teacher to come by and water the seeds with rain, tapping fingertips up and down their backs, and warming them up with sunshine, brushing and caressing their backs.

Seedling - Squat or balancing on toes

Tree - Tree Pose... If balancing on one foot is challenging, which it is for children under the age of 4, do a double tree facing each other in pairs and holding hands or side by side holding each others’ waist. A Forest Pose is also awesome, the whole group standing in the circle holding hands!

Tree song -

To be a tree is easy as pie,
To be a tree you should also try,
Just try to stand, just try to stand,
Just try to stand on one leg.
Just try to stand, just try to stand,
Just try to stand on one leg.

This is my song... so ask me for a recording ;-)

Flower - Sit on the bum, kneed bent, feet and knees apart, place your hands between your legs and under your knees. See if you can lift your hands and feet up and balance on your bottom.

● Group flower - As above but in a group. Start with everyone in a circle crossed legged, knees touching neighbours’ knees. Place your feet on the floor, hands between your legs and under your knees. Hold hands with neighbours on both sides. Lift everything up to balance on bums to have a beautiful big flower! The flower can also close, bringing the feet and heads down and open back up as many times as you would like!

Crooked branch - Lie down on your back like a straight stick first. Then bring your knees to your chest and your arms to your sides. Now let your knees fall to one side to make a crooked branch. Remember to be crooked to the other side too so that you don’t stay crooked for the whole day!

Let’s take our dogs on a walk...

Dog Pose - Plant your hands and feet on the ground, push the floor away and lift your hips up. Stretch a bit like a dog would, exploring a bit of movement here. Then also try to be still for a short while.

Dog song -

I have a dog his name is Rags;
He eats so much his tummy sags,
His ears flip flop his tail wig wags
And when he walks, he walks zig zag
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
I love Rags and he loves me!
My dog Rags he loves to play,
He rolls around in the mud all day.
I whistle, he won't obey,
He always runs the other way.
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag;
I love Rags and he loves me!

Listen to it here:
https://www.lyricsondemand.com/miscellaneouslyrics/childsongslyrics/mydogragslyrics.html

● Pet the dog - Go around the circle and pet all the dogs telling them “good dog” and “cute puppy etc”. This will help them to stay for longer in the pose.
● Wagging tale - Lift a leg up and wiggle it. But remember that yoga dogs have 2 tales, so switch legs too!
● Dog breath - Stick your tongue out and breath like a dog.
● Taking the dog for a walk - In twos, the person takes the dog on a walk... maybe jog together... you could also commend them to fetch, roll over etc... scratch their tummies and whatever other dog things you can think of.

15-20 Minutes

Time to Play

Rock Tree Flower Bridge Dog, Frog game - This is like a walk in the park... The name of the game is the poses it consists of and you can, of course, change it and add to it if you would like.

Always have one less pose then there is person or pair. This version has 6 poses so it is for 7 children, or 14 children if you double up each pose and have 2 rocks 2 trees etc at each station, or 21 if you tripple it. Adjust the number of the poses to fit your group.

The first child or children start in Child Pose, the second child or children jump over the rock and stand in Tree Pose (they can hold each other), the third jumps over the rocks hug the trees and come into Flower Pose etc.

The last person or group goes through the whole path but ends up as the first pose (Rock pose), then the very first person or group goes gets up and goes through the whole path again... they were rocks before, but now they are trees! THIS IS AWESOME! It has lots of poses and the children stay in them for a long time!

● Rock (jump over)
● Tree (hug)
● Flower (smell)
● Bridge (crawl under)
● Dog (pet)
● Frog (kiss)

With the younger children, don’t expect this game to go perfectly... just have as much fun as you can while doing as many yoga poses as you can!

5 Minutes

 

Picnic Time

Tables and chairs - Some children can be tables (Tabletop / Crab Pose) and the other’s in Chair Pose around them. Play placing table clots and beautiful food on the tables and eating with a knife and for - It tickles a bit when you do it! Switch roles.

For the older kids:
● Rocking chair - From chair pose, roll back onto the mat and then roll back to chair pose. Try to use your momentum, and no hands!

● Back to back chair - Stand back to back with a friend with your elbows interlocked with each other, take a step away from each other while keeping your hips and shoulders touching. To balance here, you will need to lean back toward each other pouring your weight and falling backwards toward your friend.

● Stacked tables - In pairs, one partner is the base and starts in Tabletop/Crab pose. Before going up, the other partner (the flyer) checks that the base is stacked (knees above heels and palms under shoulders. To be more steady the base pushes the floor away with their hands and feet and keeps their hips lifted. The flyer now faces back towards the base, places their hands on the bases shoulders, one foot on the bases thigh, and then the other foot on the other thigh, and voila! You have stacked tables!

Basket - Bow Pose
Sandwich - Sitted Forward Bend. Put your favourite spreads and condiments on the bread before closing the sandwich!
Popcorn - Start sitting hugging your knees. Ruttle and shake like popcorn cooking, and eventually pop all the way to standing with your legs and arms wide apart (Star Pose).

Banana - Stand tall with your arms raised and bend you banana body to one side... and the other side too of course. You can also peel the banana by bringing your hands down

Banana Song:

Form bananas,
Form-form bananas!
Form bananas,
Form-Form Bananas!
Peel bananas,
Peel-peel bananas!
Peel bananas,
Peel-peel bananas!
Chop bananas,

Chop-chop bananas!
Chop bananas,
Chop-chop bananas!
Smash bananas,
Smash-smash bananas!
Smash bananas,
Smash-smash bananas!
Mix bananas,
Mix-mix bananas!
Mix bananas,
Mix-mix bananas!
Eat bananas,
Eat-eat bananas!
Eat bananas,
Eat-eat bananas!
GO BANANAS!
GO-GO BANANAS!
GO BANANAS!
GO-GO BANANAS!

If you have a few more minutes, you can co-create the class with the children and ask them what else would they like to eat on the Yoga Picnic?

10-15 Minutes

Relaxation

Lemonade - Siting, hug your knees to your chest. Squeeze everything like squeezing a lemon, scrunch up your face making it all sour... even scrunch up your nose! When you can’t squeeze it any tighter, let your lemon explode and lie down on the floor with your arms and legs apart, all ready for relaxation.

Imagery - Now imagine that you are lying down on the grass in the park, feel the warm breeze caressing your skin (use a fan or cardboard to make gentle wind to blow on them), listen to the wind rustling the leaves in the trees (rustle leaves to make the sound. You can also leave some leaves on them as a memory/gift from the class), take deep breaths and see if you can smell the beautiful flowers in the park (pass by each of them with a bottle of essential oil, encourage them to close their eyes and breath deeply)... with every breath you feel more and more calm and quiet and relaxed.

(After a minute or two) Now let a smile form on your face, make it bigger and bigger with each breath! Stretch your arms over your head and make yourself longer. Yewn and stretch, and slowly sit up, all ready for another beautiful day :-)

5 Minutes