This list of kids yoga poses serves as an inspiration guide, but please encourage the children’s creativity. Kids yoga poses often mimic our natural surroundings and may be interpreted in different ways. Feel free to adapt or change the yoga poses to suit your needs. Our Kids Yoga Stories‘ characters, Sophia and Luke, demonstrate the kids yoga poses in the list below, followed by the yoga pose name, possible keywords, and descriptions.
A List of Kids Yoga Poses:
Boat Pose:
Boat, Ship, Canoe, Kayak
(Balance on your buttocks with your legs up. Then rock in the water like a boat.)
Bow Pose:
Fish, Whale
(Lie on your tummy, bend your knees, lift your chest, and reach your arms back towards your toes)
Bridge Pose
Bridge
(Come to lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Rest your arms down alongside your body, tuck your chin into your chest, and lift up your buttocks to create a bridge.)
Cat Pose:
Cat, Tiger, Lion, Sheep, Jaguar
(On all fours, tuck your chin into your chest, and round your back.)
Cow Pose
Cow
(On all fours, look up, open your chest, and arch your back.)
Child’s Pose:
Mouse, Mole, Urchin, Rabbit, Rock, Snail, Hedgehog, Seed, Ladybird, Turtle
(Come to sitting back on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, rest your arms down alongside your body, and take a few deep breaths.)
Cobbler’s Pose:
Butterfly, Book
(Sit on your buttocks with a tall spine, bend your legs, place the soles of your feet together, and gently flap your wings like a butterfly.)
Cobra Pose:
Snake, Cobra, Sphinx, Seal, Swan (bend legs)
(Lie on your tummy, lift head and shoulders off ground, place palms flat next to your shoulders, and hiss like a snake.)
Chair Pose:
Kangaroo, Chair, Farmer on tractor, Skier, Horseback rider, Thunderbolt, Baseball Player
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose with your feet hip-width apart, bend your knees, and hop like a kangaroo.)
Dancer’s Pose:
Crane, Flamingo, Brolga, Stork, Ibis, Ballerina, Super Hero
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose, stand on one leg, reach the opposite leg out behind you, place the outside of your foot into your hand, bend your torso forward with your arm out in front for balance, and arch your leg up behind you.)
Dolphin Pose:
Dolphin
(Step back to your hands-and-knees, bend your elbows, rest your forearms on the ground, with your palms flat, lift up your knees to straighten your legs, and look forward.)
Downward-Facing Dog Pose:
Dog, Bear, Roof, Mountain, Mayan Ruins
(Step back to hands and feet, and walk like a bear.)
Eagle Pose:
Eagle, Koala
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose, wrap one leg around the other, bring your bent arms out in front of you, wrap your arms together the opposite way, and slightly bend your knees. Perch on a tree like an eagle.)
Easy Pose:
Resting, Cloud
(Sit comfortably cross-legged, and rest your hands on your knees.)
Extended Child’s Pose:
Echidna, Turtle, Polar Bear, Armadillo
(Come to sitting back on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, place the palm of your hands flat out in front of you, and take a few deep breaths.)
Extended Cow Pose:
Goanna
(Come to all fours, extend one leg out behind you, and look forward.)
Extended Mountain Pose:
Giraffe, Saluting the Sun
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose, look up, and reach your arms up to the sky.)
Flower Pose:
Flower, Anemone
(Come to sit on your buttocks with a tall spine, lift up your legs, balance on your sitting bones, touch the soles of your feet together, and weave your arms under your legs.)
Gyan Mudra
Badger, Fox, Raccoon
(Sit on heels, with both hands in A-Okay sign over eyes to look like the badger’s eyes.)
Happy Baby Pose:
Bear Cub, Bug, Otter, Pig
(Lie on your back with your chin tucked in, hug your knees into your chest, then grab the outer part of your feet with both of your hands, and rock like a happy baby.)
Hero Pose:
Owl, Rabbit, Hedgehog, Bee, Bunny Breath, Lion’s Breath
(Come back to rest upright on your heels, and twist your upper body like an owl. Turn one way and then the other.)
Horse Stance:
Horse, Bench, Frilled-Necked Lizard, Cowboy, Weight Lifter
(Stand with your legs apart, with your feet facing slightly outwards, bend your knees, and stand firm like a horse.)
Kneeling:
Fox, Seahorse, Penguin
(Come to kneeling on your knees, open your chest, look up, and reach up to the moon like a fox.)
Locust Pose:
Shark, Scuba Diver, Swimmer, Stingray, Airplane
(Lie on your tummy, lift your chest and shoulders up, look up, clasp your hands back behind you, and glide through the water like a shark.)
Lotus Mudra
Hedgehog, Porcupine
(Sit on heels, stretch fingers out in front of you, and place heels of palms together in mudra to represent spines of hedgehog.)
Lotus Pose:
Resting, Meditating
(Sit with a tall spine, cross your legs, and rest the palms of your hands on your knees. Relax and breathe.)
Mountain Pose:
Mountain, Cactus, Helicopter (swinging arms), Bird (flapping arms)
(Stand tall with legs hip-width apart, feet facing forward, and straighten your arms alongside your body.)
Pigeon Pose:
Sea Gull, Blue Jay, Stingray
(From Downward-Facing Dog Pose, bring right foot to rest behind right hand, placing right foot slightly inwards, and perch like a bird.)
Plank Pose:
Surfboard, Bridge, Lizard, Alligator, Crocodile
(Come down to a plank on your hands and toes like a surfboard.)
Resting Pose or Do Nothing Pose:
Sea Star, Star Gazing, River
(Lie on your back with your arms and legs stretched out. Breathe and rest.)
Seated Forward Bend:
Octopus, Clam, Rowing, Sandwich
(Come to sitting on your buttocks, with your legs straight out in front of you. Bend your torso forward while keeping your spine straight. Dangle your arms in front of you like the tentacles of an octopus.)
Shark Pose:
Shark, Swimming
(Lay flat on your tummy, lift up your shoulders, and clasp your arms behind your back.)
Staff Pose
Train, Rowing a Boat
(Sit with a tall spine with your legs straight out in front of you. Use your hands to mimic the wheels of the train going around and around.)
Standing Forward Bend:
Waterfall, Jellyfish, Gorilla, Ragdoll, Monkey, Elephant, Diving
(From Mountain Pose, bend your upper body, reach for your toes, and sway your arms like a jellyfish.)
Squat Pose:
Duck, Monkey, Frog, Ape
(Come down to a squat, and waddle like a duck.)
Table Top Pose:
Crab, Table, Slide (legs extended)
(Come to sitting with your palms flat behind you and the soles of your feet flat in front of you. Lift your buttocks to create a table, then walk like a crab.)
Three-Legged Dog Pose
Donkey, Dingo, Dog
(Step back to hands and feet, like an upside-down “V”, and gently lift one leg up at a time.)
Tree Pose:
Tree, Flamingo
(Stand on one leg, bend your knee, place the sole of your foot on your inner thigh, and balance. Sway like a tree.)
Triangle Pose:
Sailboat, Stick Insect
(From a standing position, step one foot back, placing the foot facing slightly outwards, take your arms up parallel to the ground, bend at your waist, tilt your upper body, reach your front hand to gently rest on your shin, and reach your other arm straight up.)
Upward-Facing Dog Pose:
Sea Lion, Walrus
(Lay on your belly. Place the palms of your hands next to your shoulders and look up. Then straighten your arms and expand your chest.)
Warrior 2 Pose:
Surfer, Archery
(From standing position, step one foot back, placing the foot so that it is facing slightly outwards. Take your arms up in parallel to the ground, bend your front knee, and look forward.)
Warrior 3 Pose:
Submarine, Scuba Diver, Bird, Airplane, Swimmer
(Stand on one leg. Extend the other leg behind you. Bend your torso forward and take your arms out in front of you to pretend that you are gliding through the water like a submarine.)
The images come from Luke’s Beach Day, Sophia’s Jungle Adventure and Good Night, Animal World.
Come back regularly or sign up for our weekly Kids Yoga Stories Newsletter (place your name and email address into the box below) to find out when this page of kids yoga poses is updated. Hope you find this list of kids yoga poses useful for bringing yoga into your home, classroom, or studio.
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