I'm halfway through the summer when it comes to my yoga camps! It's been exciting, exhausting, and extremely rewarding to host these classes for your little yogis. It stretches my skills to learn more about yoga for kids, and how to adapt what I'm used to (which is teaching traditional yoga classes to adults) for a younger set of students.
I have a lot of fun coming up with games and poses to go along with the themes I've chosen for each week. And as a reminder, there are two camp days per theme, and each day has varying curriculum and a different art project. I want you to get the most for your money, and make the classes unique and engaging for the little yogis!
Since my last update, we've had Wizard-themed camp, and animal-themed camp. Our art projects have included dragon eggs and mala bead pipe cleaner animals. My 4-year-old says he likes the art projects the best, but I usually end up doing most of the work for him ;)
Some of my other campers have shared that their favorite part is being able to play and relax in yoga camp. One mother let me know that during an anxiety episode for her camper (while at home) she had him practice one of our breathing exercises and it helped him regain control of his emotions and feel better. THAT is a major reason why I do this! Kids need these skills, which I do my best to teach them through play.
For the upcoming week, we'll focus on AIR. It's an important element, and breathwork is vital not only to yoga, but to just living life, right?! I'll be helping the kids make air-powered rockets, and we'll read the beautiful book "
My Magic Breath". We'll also do some pom-pom play, and paint with our breath so the kids can actually see how important breathing is. It's so powerful, and I hope to teach them that through various methods. Many of our poses will also fall into the "air" category of yoga... meaning they're poses meant to balance the air element in our bodies. It'll be subtle for the kiddos, of course, but it's something we studied in depth in my yoga teacher training.
This camp has been a huge success this year, because kids are having fun and learning life skills in the process. I'm currently in discussion with the Murray Rec Center to bring a preschool yoga class to their schedule throughout the next school year. I'd also like to see a class for school-aged kids perhaps once a month, so I'll keep you updated on that opportunity.
I do still have some openings for camp this summer, so check out Murray registration
HERE. For Sandy camp, head to the Yin website and register using the
MindBody calendar (scroll down a little bit on that web page to see the calendar).
