Teaching Yoga to children can be a challenging and fun experience. Although first-time instructors can be overwhelmed by the incredible amount of energy a room can hold, preparing ahead of time can make a Kids Yoga class much less intimidating for the teacher.

Stories as a Focusing method

An excellent way to tame active and energetic children is to use yoga stories as a tool to guide students through the session. Stories can serve a variety of purposes, including getting a child’s attention, correcting misbehavior, teaching an important moral or character lesson, setting the pace of the class, and giving young minds interesting material to latch onto.

how to tell stories

Some Yoga instructors tell stories, at the beginning of the class, to attract attention, or at the end of the class, as a call to relaxation; other instructors prefer to weave stories throughout the session. The method a yoga teacher chooses will likely reflect the length of the class, the energy of the instructor, the average age of the youth, and the level of student participation.

Stories should be tailored to the age of the class, as younger children will benefit from simpler, more interactive stories, and older children will prefer more detailed stories that they can apply to their own lives.

One of the best things a Yoga instructor can do with stories is to use props. Kids love tactile, hands-on helpers like Hoberman cushions, blankets and spheres. They can also have a wonderful time with less practical accessories, such as hats, jewelry, feather boas, flowers, leaves and branches. A clever way to use these items is to pass them out and have each student demonstrate the use of the accessory during a certain point in the story.

Most youngsters have no problem following the instructor’s direction in the asanas during storytelling, but visual aids can also be a great resource for keeping children’s attention. An easy way to do this is to bring colorful picture books to display, reserving a story page for each pose.

Create incentives like positive reinforcement

Another fun way to enhance the story is to find a felt board, which is available at any teacher supply store, and enlarge pictures of some of the students in their asanas. Then create fun alternative names for the poses and display the new names, corresponding to the story, on the graphic board, along with an image of different children performing a variety of yogic techniques. The children will be proud to have their pictures on the storyboard and will enjoy coming up with new names for the stories you tell.

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