Why Meditation Should Be Included In the Education of Our Youth

 At first glance, Quiet Time – a stress reduction meditation strategy used in several San Francisco middle and high schools, – looks like something out of the om-chanting 1960s. Twice daily, a gong sounds in the classroom and rowdy adolescents, who normally can’t sit still for 10 seconds, shut their eyes and try to clear their minds.

The practice of meditation in schools deserves serious attention from parents and policymakers. An impressive array of studies shows that integrating meditation into a school’s daily routine can markedly improve the lives of students. If San Francisco schools Superintendent Richard Carranza has his way, Quiet Time could well spread citywide.

CLEANSING TROUBLED MINDS

What’s happening at Visitacion Valley Middle School, which in 2007 became the first public school nationwide to adopt the program, shows why the superintendent is so enthusiastic. In this neighborhood, gunfire is as common as birdsong – nine shootings have been recorded in the past month – and most students know someone who’s been shot or did the shooting. Murders are so frequent that the school employs a full-time grief counselor.

In years past, these students were largely out of control, frequently fighting in the corridors, scrawling graffiti on the walls and cursing their teachers. Absenteeism rates were among the city’s highest and so were suspensions. Worn-down teachers routinely called in sick.

Unsurprisingly, academics suffered. The school tried everything, from counseling and peer support to after-school tutoring and sports, but to disappointingly little effect.

Now these students are doing light-years better. In the first year of Quiet Time, the number of suspensions fell by 45 percent. Within four years, the suspension rate was among the lowest in the city. Daily attendance rates climbed to 98 percent, well above the citywide average. Grade point averages improved markedly.

About 20 percent of graduates are admitted to Lowell High School – before Quiet Time, getting any students into this elite high school was a rarity. Remarkably, in the annual California Healthy Kids Survey, these middle school youngsters recorded the highest happiness levels in San Francisco.

Reports are similarly positive in the three other schools that have adopted Quiet Time.At Burton High School, for instance, students in the program report significantly less stress and depression, and greater self-esteem, than nonparticipants. With stress levels down, achievement has markedly improved, particularly among students who have been doing worst academically. Grades rose dramatically, compared with those who weren’t in the program.

LESS STRESS, MORE PASSION

On the California Achievement Test, twice as many students in Quiet Time schools have become proficient in English, compared with students in similar schools where the program doesn’t exist, and the gap is even bigger in math. Teachers report they’re less emotionally exhausted and more resilient.

The research is showing big effects on students’ performance,” says Superintendent Carranza.

“Our new accountability standards, which we’re developing in tandem with the other big California districts, emphasize the importance of social-emotional factors in improving kids’ lives, not just academics.

That’s where Quiet Time can have a major impact, and I’d like to see it expand well beyond a handful of schools.”

While Quiet Time isn’t the final solution for a broken education system, it’s a game-changer for many students who otherwise might have become dropouts. That’s reason enough to make meditation a school staple, and not just in San Francisco.

Source: https://educateinspirechange.org/spirituality/meditation-included-education-youth/

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Researchers Reveal Kids Who Get More Hugs Have More Developed Brains

 There’s nothing like the warmth and security of a loved one being enveloping you in their arms.  The simple act of giving and receiving genuine hugs can completely change your mood.  You feel loved, cared about, safe, and unique.  I’m not sure there is a single action that can replicate the feeling of giving and getting a hug.

It’s a good thing that giving is the same as receiving when it comes to hugs, right?  Now, science says you can be smarter for it. If you were about two feet long and weighed roughly 10 pounds, your brain would develop better.  Researchers reveal kids who get more hugs have more developed brains.

BABIES AND THEIR BRAIN DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TOUCH

When we think about learning, we consider reading, studying, using our hands, calculations, and other processes.  We started, as babies, we began exploring by touching things.  Of our five senses, touch is the first to develop.  From this, a newborn baby must navigate their new world.

According to an article from Stanford’s Medicine, Dr. Susan Crowe, an obstetrician, and director at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, outlines the nine instinctual stages right after birth.

“Birth cry, relaxation, awakening, activity, resting, ‘crawling’ (a shifting movement toward the breast), familiarization, suckling, and sleep.”

As soon as physically safe for both mother and baby, it’s time for skin-to-skin contact and guiding the baby toward breastfeeding.

Just the holding of the baby within the first hour, regardless of breastfeeding, can help in normalizing the baby’s body temperature, heartbeat, and pattern of breathing.  For many babies, it also decreases the amount of crying.  Simultaneously, the mother releases more relaxation hormones.  This also becomes the bonding time for mother and baby. Should the partner of the mother also hold the baby, it begins the bonding time for them as well.

BENEFITS OF INFANT MASSAGE

Infant massages could be integrated into this bonding experience, as well.  The same article in Stanford’s Medicine notes a wide array of benefits. According to Maureen McCaffrey, a certified infant massage instructor at Packard’s Children Hospital, these benefits consist of:

• Better sleep patterns for the baby
• Baby appears more aware of being loved, secure, and accepted.
• Improved digestion and bowel movements
• Babies demonstrate more comfort by less fussy behavior
• Weight gain improves
• Mother and baby appear more relaxed
• Neurological function in babies is improved

Another study done at the University of Washington aimed to locate the area of the brain in which a baby registers both “felt” touch and “observed touch.” This study proves babies can discern between an actual physical touch vs. an image of a hand touching another person.  The study found that by seven months old, a baby can not only understand the concept of their “self,” but also knows their body is separate from another person.

THE POWER OF TOUCH FOR BABIES

That knowledge is what established the foundation for mimicking others’ behavior as well as developing empathy.  The researchers discovered through specialized imaging that touch registers in the somatosensory cortex.  Depending upon if it was an actual touch, what part of the body the contact occurred in, or if it was an image, the location, and strength of the signal within the somatosensory cortex in which it was registered changed.

What was also fascinating was recognizing that the baby, before it can speak or know the words for body parts, already understands that their hand or foot moves similarly to another person’s.  Through imitating how the other person moves, the baby is also able to move.  It is this process which makes both imitations, and later, empathy, possible.

In a study of the opposing focus, researchers learned of detriment to children who don’t receive touch.  A report in Pediatrics Child Health, published in PMC, outlines the results of various studies, one of which was the result of providing touch to children who were previously deprived.  The study focused primarily on limb movement as a form of sensory stimulation.  They discovered that with 10 minutes a day of handling, over ten weeks, babies “spit up” less.

The babies with 20 minutes of daily tactile stimulation, over ten weeks, increased in their developmental scores.  In the case of premature babies, stroking their limbs, and mild limb movement demonstrated weight gain, longer alertness, more mobility, better adaptation to repeated stimuli, and awareness of their bodies. After a year, they scored high on weight and growth and motor skills and had reduced mild neurological dysfunctional symptoms.

OXYTOCIN AND HUGS

Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter produced in our hypothalamus and released from our pituitary gland.  Its levels increase during breastfeeding, orgasm, and hugs.

In regards to the effect on babies and their development, oxytocin encourages bonding between a mother and her baby.  This might explain why breastfeeding increases a woman’s hormone levels. It tends to foster feelings of trust, closeness in relationships, and maternal instinct or care.  Ironically, this hormone was discovered by scientists at the Weizman Institute to be the construction crew for its own future paths of blood vessels while in an embryonic brain.  Therefore, it facilitates the baby’s ability to produce oxytocin after the brain, his or her brain, fully develops.

While oxytocin has been nicknamed the “love hormone” or the “hug hormone,” it is more complicated than what was initially perceived.  It originally was recognized as the hormone that, when released in our blood, aids in uterine contractions during childbirth and induces labor.  Over time, it was discovered that it has a different reaction when it is released into the brain.  It then has variable effects on our cognitive, emotional, and social behavior.

MORE EVIDENCE

In the journal Nature, an article was published with outlined various studies which have been performed attempting to single out the role of oxytocin on our behavior.

The study focused on the response of female mice, who had never birthed, toward crying babies.  Initially, the female mice had little to no reaction toward the babies.  They then injected the mice with oxytocin, and they began responding as a mother would.  Interestingly enough, before the injection, their brain neurons were a bit scattered and unfocused.

After the injection, the neurons came together in focus as a maternal mindset would. Additionally, researchers noted that oxytocin appeared to decrease specific neurons. While hearing the cries, the oxytocin enhanced the cries and made them more important.  The scientists theorize this may be related to why some mothers claim they can distinguish their baby’s cry from another.

Another study posted in the American Psychological Association tested women at various stages of their pregnancy – the first trimester, the third trimester, and the first month after birth.  What they discovered was that more women with high levels of oxytocin in the first trimester bonded better with their child.  The women who maintained high levels of oxytocin throughout the pregnancy and the month after developed a closer relationship with their children.  They tended toward singing special songs, using more personal, specific ways to feed or bathe their baby, etc.

UNDERSTANDING OXYTOCIN AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

The general understanding of how oxytocin affects our emotional and social behavior is a bit complex.  Essentially, if you are with an individual or group of individuals, and experience an interaction that triggers higher levels of oxytocin as a positive experience, then you will view those individuals as safe, trustworthy, and develop affection toward them.  Conversely, your brain will then see others who are different than those individuals as less credible, not safe, and you will be more guarded.  This is one method in which you establish your “tribe” of friends and establish who your family is.

Additionally, it may play a role in your social memory.  Through the release of oxytocin, your memory views a specific event more favorably than one where it didn’t release oxytocin.

What does this have to do with hugging your child and brain development?  Researchers continue to study oxytocin due to its very complex nature. However, it’s important we understand that how we perceive friends, family, and strangers and interact emotionally with each other is definitely a factor in our memory and behavior.  This holds true for a baby who is newly forming their understanding of the world based on how they interpret the actions of those around them.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON HUGS AND CHILDREN

Science may still be struggling to find the formula for why touch is so important and how our brain assimilates it in regard to our development, but most parents seem to understand it regardless.  The results from hugging a baby, a child, your teenager, or your spouse are ones most of us can recognize.

We all crave a sense of safety, trust, love, and importance. And a simple hug fosters those feelings in all of us. Plus, you can’t give a hug without getting a hug!  That is wonderful all on its own!

 

Source: https://www.powerofpositivity.com/research-reveals-kids-more-hugs-more-developed-brains/

 

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What to do indoors with our kids?

 

1. Bake a Batch of Cookies

Get your child involved by having him or her help you out in the kitchen. If you are a baking maestro, whip up the dough from scratch. If you are culinary-challenged, there is no shame in buying a premix. Kids will have plenty of fun with this indoor activity for kids you can do at home. Plus, you get to eat the results too!

2. Read a Book Together

There is no more-classic indoor activity for kids that you can do at home than reading a book together. Cuddle up with your favourite tome and spend time reading together.

3. Play a Tabletop Game

Personally, one of our favourite games for younger children is Monopoly Junior. There is no need to be uber competitive, it is just a bit of fun. With older ones, try games like Sushi Go or Saboteur if you have enough people available.

4. Make Popcorn and settle down for a Family-friendly Show

Family movie night (or day) can be a thing. Elevate the experience by popping some popcorn and having everyone settle down with some cushions to watch the show. If you have Netflix, we have some suggestions of shows to watch.

5. Compete in a LEGO Face-Off

Pull out your LEGO bricks and have a building competition. Set a theme and give five minutes to come up with the most creative interpretation of the theme. How about trying themes like “flying machine” or “friendly monster”?

6. Have a Home Treasure Hunt

Take a small trinket and show it to everyone so that they can identify it. Next, the Treasure Hider will have 20 counts to hide the trinket around the home. After that, it is a game of “hide and seek” as the Treasure Hunters go in search of the Home Treasure trinket.

7. Have a Campfire Night

At night, create a “campfire” by lighting a small scented candle or just switch on a torchlight while all the rest of the lights in the house are off. Add on some shadow play and silly songs. You can also narrate stories to your children off the top of your heads. For added points, break out the bag of marshmallows.

8. Make Food Paints

With some salt, flour, water and food colouring, you can make your own food paints. Half the fun is in the making as kids get to concoct their own colours. The other half of the fun is in using them to make something colourful and creative.

9. Water Bottle Bowling

Take spare water bottles you have at home and half-fill them with water. Alternatively, you can use paper cups turned upside down for stability. Next, line them up like bowling pins and use a ball to knock them down. Strike!

10. Create a DIY Home Obstacle Course

Find a corridor or spot at home which isn’t too wide and crisscross the spac with some string or raffia to create an obstacle course. Kids can imagine it is a laser maze that they have to get across without getting zapped by the laser. Mission Impossible!

11. Make a Rube Goldberg Machine

When it comes to indoor activities for kids that fuse creativity with perseverance, let your imagination run wild by creating a Rube Goldberg Machine at home. Make use of household objects in completely unnecessary ways to perform a simple task.

12. Experiment with Oobleck

You can whip up a batch of oobleck at home and experiment with the non-newtonian fluid. Kids will be amazed as it oozes about when grabbed with the hand and yet acts like a solid when it is smacked.

13. Make an Origami Jumping Frog

Ribbit, ribbit. Using some paper, you can make your own origami jumping frog. Once the frogs are assembled, see which one can jump the furthest. Get the instructions here.

14. Build a House of Cards

This indoor activity for kids will take plenty of patience. Find out how high you can make a house of cards go.

15. Toothpick Tower

A simpler alternative to stacking a house of cards is to put together a toothpick tower. What you’ll need are some toothpicks and plasticine. Use the plasticine to join the toothpicks together. Set a challenge for kids to reach – for example the height of a bottle.

16. Play Five Stones

Introduce your kids to the classic childhood game of five stones.

17. Make Fingerprint Cards for the Next Holiday

Craft a card to give away to family and friends for the next holiday. You can use paints to make simple fingerprints on the cards and turn them into figures. Decorate them appropriately with holiday greetings.

18. Craft a Bookmark

Encourage kids to read by getting them to make their own personalised bookmark. All it takes is some card and a bit of string or ribbon to attach to one end.

19. Paper Helicopter

Another easy indoor activity to do with kids is to make a paper helicopter. With a few simple snips and folds, you can watch as the paper helicopter floats down spinning away. Alternatively, experiment to see who can fold a paper aeroplane that flies the furthest.

20. Create Your Own Board Game

To stir up your child’s creativity, help him or her make a brand new board game. First, brainstorm about the theme. After that, create the gameplay board and come up with the rules on how to move around the board.

21. Build a Blanket Fort

A blanket fort is a chance for kids to exercise their creativity and their imagination in one activity. It is super-adventurous to be able to crawl inside and pretend to fend off the monsters outside. Something that parents can enjoy and bond over with their kids too.

22. Music Listening and Movement Activities

Staying at home presents a good opportunity to engage in some listening and movement activities to encourage your child to imagine, play and move. Not sure what to listen for? This story by The Music Circle shows you how.

23. Instruments of the Orchestra

Staying with theme of music, you can engage with your child by play-pretend that he or she is in the orchestra. The Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music is an ideal piece of music to use. Find out how here.

24. Simon Says

Young children never tire of Simon Says – that’s why it is a classic! Simon Says touch your toes; Simon Says spin three times. It all works until Simon Says, “Go to bed”.

25. Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Ground

This one is self-explanatory. Blow up a balloon and pass it from one person to another and see how many times it can be passed around before the balloon touches the ground.

26. Exercise with GoNoodle

GoNoodle is a YouTube channel with plenty of movement and action videos. Rather than passively watch videos, get kids moving and grooving with this channel.

27. Welcome to the World of Household Chores

Perhaps it is time to introduce the kids to ways they can help around the house. Show them some age-appropriate chores and get them to help out. Give them a role to be responsible for and let them take ownership!

28. Learn to Do the Vanishing Coin Trick

Want to give kids something to work on, introduce them to the Disappearing Coin trick. It requires a bit of practice and also help to develop fine motor skills. Once they have mastered it, they can impress their friends.

29. Try Science Experiments

Stay at home, kids can still carry out hands-on activities to learn about science. For simple science projects, check out Science Sparks for ideas at the Early Years and Primary levels.

30. Learn to Play an Instrument

For older kids, being stuck at home could be just the right opportunity to get them learning an instrument. Some that you can start off with are the ukulele or the cajon. There are instructional videos online which can get them started.

31. Create a Mini Terrarium or Potting

With the right container or pot along with some soil, you can get your mini garden going at home.

32. Make a Pizza

Kids love pizzas. Have them make their own from scratch. This activity allows them to learn more about how food is made.

33. Start a Family Newspaper

This is a fun way to get kids to apply themselves and practise some writing too. The family newspaper need not be a long one – it can just be an A4 sheet folded into two. Get them to include pictures too!

34. Make a Collage

Want creative indoor activities for kids? Take out some old magazines and get them to cut out the pictures to create a collage. Set a theme such as a “picnic” to get started.

35. Have a Freeze-Dance Party

Another fun and silly thing to do is to have a Freeze-Dance Party. Get your favourite music blasting on the speakers and when the music stops, everyone must freeze! Watch out for all the funny poses and get ready for some silly laughs.

36. Paper Mache Mask

Using some flour, water and old newspaper, you can easily create a custom paper mache mask. After it has dried, be sure to paint it together.

37. Animation Flip Book

Take an old book and show the kids how to create their own animated story by drawing on the edges. All it needs is a pencil and some creativity.

38. Fix a Jigsaw Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles can range from the simple to the super-complicated. 10 pieces to 1000 pieces. Depending on what type of challenge you are up for, take your pick.

39. Clear out the Cupboard

Perhaps there are toys or old items in the kids’ cupboards that you haven’t seen for ages. If you are at home with the kids, use the opportunity to have them sort through the items together. Who knows, you may come across some hidden treasures.

40. Make Upcycled Toys

Teach kids about how items can be reused and upcycled. For example, you can turn a milk carton into a boat.

41. Make Your Own Play Dough

Making your own play dough isn’t that difficult and can be made with simple items found at home.

42. Sensory Play

For those with young children looking for indoor activities for kids, sensory play at home is something easy to do. Create your own sensory bottles or use coloured rice for little ones to get scooping and pouring. Find out more here.

43. Make Slime

The slime craze may have died down a little but kids will still jump at the opportunity to make their own slime at home. It is one of the indoor activities for kids they will jump on.

44. Create a Routine

Get the kids to help make a routine for their week. This not only helps to ensure that they don’t miss what they need to get done but also involves them in the decision-making process. Find out how here.

45. Compile a Family Recipe Book

Together with the kids, compile a book of recipes that the whole family can try. Use the opportunity to also teach them about healthy eating habits.

46. Start a Family Scrap Book

Memories are too often kept in the digital realm nowadays. Start a family scrap book to not only hold pictures of precious milestones but little pieces of memorabilia too.

47. Make a Learning Shelf

Why not create a corner where you can fill with learning materials for kids to learn about different topics and subjects. Don’t waste the opportunity to spend some quality times bonding and teaching them new things too.

48. Make a Fruit Loop Necklace

For young children, stringing together Fruit Loops is a chance to practise their fine motor skills. Once they are done, it is a colourful necklace they can munch on.

49. Stage a Musical

Take a classic story and turn it into a musical. Kids can let their creativity flow, rehearse it and stage it for the family to enjoy!

50. Make Cute Bentos Together

A good excuse to play with food and prepare a meal at the same time.

51. Create a Countries of the World Book

Choose a country and create a thematic scrap book based on the country. Together with your child, you can work through topics like its location, geography, language, traditions and landmarks. It is a great way to learn about another culture. It can even lead to trying out the foods from the country or even visiting it in the future.

 

Source: https://www.littledayout.com/2020/01/29/50-indoor-activities-for-kids-ideas-of-what-you-can-do-at-home/?utm_source=Little+Day+Out+eNewsletter&utm_campaign=67ea8914d1-eNewsletter_20200130_374_EnrichmentClasses&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f391a0af31-67ea8914d1-99520073

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6 Yoga Poses for Kids (Plus How to Make Them Extra Fun!)

 These six yoga poses for kids are classical yoga postures with a fun twist to keep your kiddos excited to practice!

1. Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Let’s try it:

• Begin in a cross-legged seated pose (Easy Seat/Sukhasana)
• Root down through your sitting bones and lengthen your spine
• Bring the soles of your feet together, allowing your knees to fall to the sides
• For a deeper stretch in your hips, bring your heels closer to your body
• To make the pose more gentle, slide your heels farther away from your body

 
How to Teach Bound Angle in a Yoga for Kids Class:
In an adult class, our bodies are typically still in this pose. But with kids, encourage them to find some movement and be playful.

Play With “Butterfly Pose”

• Make your legs look like butterfly wings
• “Flap” your butterfly wings by moving your knees up and down
• Ask the students where they would fly to as a butterfly
 

Sit in a Car/Bus/Plane

 

• Use this pose at the start of class and say you’re taking a trip (for example, for a beach-themed class, say you’re on your way to the beach!)
• Say it’s a bumpy ride, and move your knees up and down and gently rock from one side to the other

 

2. Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Let’s try it:

• From a table-top position, tuck your toes and lift your hips
• Press into your palms and straighten your legs as much as you comfortably can
• Align your ears with your biceps
• Lift your hips toward the sky

 
How to Teach Downward Facing Dog in a Yoga for Kids Class:
Downward Facing Dog typically comes with a lot of cues, which could become confusing – or boring – in a kid’s class. But it’s a great pose to teach kids a little bit about “grown-up” yoga.

Visualize a Rainbow

• Explain that their bodies resemble a rainbow in this pose, with their hands and feet as the big, puffy white clouds at the base
• If coming into the pose multiple times, ask the students to envision a different color of the rainbow each time

 
Play With Your “Down Dog”

• Use this as a teaching moment . . . but make it fun!
• Tell the kids, “In grown-up yoga, we call this pose Down Dog. What sound does a dog make?”
• Bend into one knee at a time to “take the dog for a walk”
• Ask the children to give their “Down Dog” a name

 

3. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

Let’s try it:

• Walk to the top of the mat and place your feet hip-width apart
• Neutralize your pelvis
• Spread your fingers wide and activate your arms
• Slide your shoulder blades down your back

 
How to Teach Mountain Pose in a Yoga for Kids Class:
Mountain Pose is a great way to bring students to stillness and draw attention to their breath. A strong, grounded Mountain Pose could be helpful to encourage focus just before a balance pose.

Be a Superhero

• Have students bring their hands to their hips and stand tall like a superhero
• Ask them who their favorite superhero is or to come up with a superhero name of their own

 
Imagine: Here Comes the Sun

• Describe an outdoor scene and tell the students they are looking up at the sun
• Allow the students to feel the warmth of the sun and look at the sky, envisioning different clouds

 

4. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Let’s try it:

• From all fours, bring your two big toes together to touch and widen your knees to the outer edges of your mat
• Sit your hips back toward your heels
• As your hips sink back, allow your torso to move closer to the mat, bringing your forehead as close to the mat as possible
• Actively reach your fingertips to the top of the mat with your palms face down

 
How to Teach Child’s Pose in a Yoga for Kids Class:
Most children have a lot of energy, so it could be a challenge for them to quiet their minds and bodies. Child’s Pose is a useful tool to use when teaching children if the energy level is getting high and you want to bring it down.

Envision the Sun and Moon

• In the beginning of class, describe the beginning of a new day, with the student’s bodies shaped like the sun; describe the feeling of warmth they are creating in their bodies
• At the end of class, the students are now shaped like the moon, signaling that it’s time to get ready to rest, the same way we do at nighttime

Play Mouse

• Ask the students to make their bodies small and their voices quiet – just like a mouse

 

5. Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana 2)

Let’s try it:

• From Mountain Pose, step one foot toward the back of the mat
• Pivot your back foot about 45 degrees and align the heel of your front foot with the arch of your back foot
• Bend your front knee so your knee stacks over your front ankle, tracking your knee toward the pinky toe side of your foot
• Press into the outer edge of your back foot
• Knit your lower ribs in and down to engage your core
• Bring your arms out to a T-shape, with your palms facing down, and relax your shoulders
• Gaze out past your front fingertips

 
How to Teach Warrior 2 in a Yoga for Kids Class:
Warrior 2 is a fun and powerful way to ground children and bring their focus to their bodies!

Become a Sail Boat or Surfer

• Have the students rock their bodies and arms up and down, envisioning the waves moving the boat or surfboard

 
Take a Ride on an Airplane

• Imagine that the children’s arms are wings and they are flying through the sky
• Ask the children to share where they would fly to

6. Cat and Cow Poses (Marjaryasana and Bitilasana)

Let’s try it:

• Start on your hands and knees
• Align your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips
• Lengthen through the back of your neck and gaze down between your pointer fingers
• Begin with Cow Pose: inhale to lower your belly down toward the mat, lift your gaze, and arch your back
• Move into Cat Pose: exhale to push through the palms of your hands, round your back, and release your chin
• Following the sound of your breath, move through the poses five to 10 times

 
How to Teach Cat and Cow in a Yoga for Kids Class:
Like with Down Dog, Cat and Cow Poses fit nicely into a children’s class as they’re already named well. But don’t let that be the end!

Play With Cat/Cow

• Ask the children to share the sounds made by cats and cows, and give names to their own cat and cow

 
Become an Apple and Banana

• While their back is rounded in Cat Pose, tell the kids to imagine their back as round as an apple
• When they arch their back in Cow Pose, imagine they are shaped like the curve of a banana

   

The Importance of Yoga for Kids

Kids today have a lot of commitments. With technology always available at their fingertips, obligations for school, and extracurricular activities, it’s just as important for kids as it is for adults to be reminded every now and again to slow down and breathe.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to find good yoga poses for kids. All it takes is a little bit of playful creativity to make kids fall in love with yoga.

While it may not always be as conventional or structured as a class for adults, introducing the concepts of yoga at a young age provides children with lifelong tools to maintain mindfulness and connection to their breath.

 

Author: Katie D'Onofrio

Source: https://www.yogiapproved.com/yoga/teach-yoga-for-kids/

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