The _______ at the Zoo

The monkeys at the zoo,
The monkeys at the zoo,
Hi-ho they laugh and play,
The monkeys at the zoo

The monkeys run and hide,
The monkeys run and hide,
They like to play, Then run away.
The monkeys at the zoo!


This is a fabulous simple finger play to try and insert any animal into.
YOu can change the animal and the movement to almost anything!

Bird--fly
Kangaroo--jump
whale--swim

Jump Rope Rhymes

Numbers
I can do a polka, I can do a split.

I can do a tap dance just like this...

1, 2, 3...

Hickety Pickety pop.

How many times before I stop?

1,2,3...

Letters
Yummy, yummy...Vegetable goop.

What will I find in my alphabet soup?

A, B, C,...

Months of the Year

Windy, windy weather...we all go in together.

January, February, March... (Jump in as birthday month is called)

Windy, windy weather...we all go out together.

January, February, March  (Jump out as birthday month is called)

Movement
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear dressed in blue,

can you do what I tell you to:

teddy bear teddy bear turnaround,

teddy bear teddy bear touch the ground.

teddy bear teddy bear do the splits.

teddy bear teddy bear give a high kick.

teddy bear teddy bear go upstairs, (walk toward one end of rope)

teddy bear teddy bear say your prayers. (Kneel)

teddy bear teddy bear turn out the light,

teddy bear say good night. (Exit the jump rope)

Other...

A, my name is Alice

and my husbands name is Arthur.

we come from Alabama,

where we sell artichokes.

B, my name is Bernie

and my wife's name is Bridget.

we come from Brooklyn.

where we sell bicycles.

C, my name is...

and my husband/wife's name is...

we come from...

where we sell...

Rhythm & Dance: Yoga Class

Yoga (& Expression/Interpretation)

• Build awareness of what should be a natural, deep rhythm of breath 
• Feel the in and out flow that happens as we expand and contract for each movement
• Imitate nature and animals around through various poses
• Celebrate new awareness of body's abilities through creation of own poses

This is done through focusing on these basic principles

• Breath & Rhythm
• Balance & Focus
• Observation & Imitation

Class Outline

Intro/Warm Up (circle time)

• Rhythm Walk (gather into circle by parading to match leader's beat with feet)
• Yoga Breaths (belly bubble: in and out)
• Basic sitting stretches through story of season cycle  (rest, awake, energized, tired, rest again)
• Deeper breaths through blowing bubble (which travels around round to introduce main lesson)

Main Lesson (yoga poses & then dancing with them--Can You Hear It Book: picture & song)

• Water Animals: alligator, eel, fish, shark, swan (dance to Carnival of Animals swan or fish)
• Air Animals: bee, bird, flamingo, eagle (dance to "Flight of the Bumblebee")
• Jungle Animals: elephant, cobra, camel, lion, grasshopper (dance to Elephant Waltz)
• House Animals: mouse, cat, dog, cow, horse (dance to horse song)

Cool Down (circle time)

• share favorite pose
• sit/lay down and breathe
• namaste

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Resources:

• Yoga Poses (ABC Yoga Book, Kids Yoga Deck, Cosmic Kids Yoga-Youtube, etc.)

• Can You Hear It Book/CD (imitate and interpret famous songs and art via movement)
• 

Yoga Time

This is a comprehensive list of Yoga sequences and moves I use to tell stories and such. It is a cheesey looking compilation, but it helps me remember them. I'd check out real stuff for details on them. This is just to keep them fresh in your head once you've learned them.
(if you just want something all compiled and easy to use, get the yoga deck for kids or the yoga pretzels.)

Moves

Airplane

Alligator

Arrow

Bee

Bird

Boat

Bridge

Butterfly

Camel

Candle

Cat/Cat2

Chair

Child

Cobra

Dancer

Dinosaur

Do Nothing

Dog

Dolphin

Easy Pose

Elephant

Fish

Flamingo

Flower

Frog

Gate

Grasshopper

Happy Baby

Inhale

Jack-in-the-Box

Kite

Knot or "X"

Lion

Mountain

Mouse

New Pose

Otter

Peacock

Plank

Pretzel

Puppet

Queen

Rocking Horse

Roly Poly

Shark

Slide

Sphinx

Star

Swan

Table

Telephone

Tree

Triangle

Turtle

Unicorn

Volcano

Warrior

Waterfall

Windmill

Yoga

Zero

Sequences
Nature
- Sun Salutation
- Garden
- Flowers:
- Water
- Fruit Tree Harvest
- Leaves

Celebrate:
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- Easter
- Birthday

A good site for detailed explanations: http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/cat.asp
Or videos to practice yoga through cute stories and cahracter development: cosmic kids yoga (on you-tube)

Basic Kids Yoga Outline

YOGA FOR KIDS -Sequence

1. GATHER (greet each other)

Come with me, come with me,

Lets all sit with our hands on our knees.

Come with me, come with me,

Lets all sit with our hands on our knees.

2. BREATHE (pranayama-center on own breath)

- Easy pose (sukhasana-happy pose) inhale/gentle
Let's all sit in Easy Pose,
We'll breathe in and out through our nose.
Legs are crossed and your back is straight,
Breath with me for the count of eight.

3. STRETCH

Stretch with me, Hands in the air

Count to three...Hold it right there

Now Stretch up high up to the trees

Stretch out wide-- fly in the breeze

look up to the ceiling, then down to the floor

Then side to side slowly From the wall to the door

We've just warmed up. so Are you ready today? 

Are you ready To love and play?

lets greet each other: hands together and say....

(What's the special word?)...

namaste. (The spirit in me greets the spirit in you)

3. SUN SALUTATION ( greet the sun)

-2x as story

Now it's time to explore a new pose. 

Watch my body as it bends and folds

And I transform into what, you suppose?

.....(new pose name)

4. ASANA (new poses to explore)

Now it's time to relax and rest.

Lets feel our hearts and think our very best.

So quiet now until we are through.

Lets find our inner space. The space inside of you.

5. DYANA (close/focus/relax)

- meditation/breathing practice: 

a) inner space (story and rhyme)

b) sun and moon

c) humming bee

- focus: 

a) object (color, texture, shape)

b) number cards (1-10, reverse. 30 seconds)

c) candle (2 minutes; blow out and visualize. Repeat)

Jump or Jiggle

Frogs jump
Caterpillars hump

Worms wiggle
Bugs jiggle

Rabbits hop
Horses clop

Snakes slide
Seagulls glide

Mice creep
Deer leap

Puppies bounce
Kittens pounce

Lions stalk---
But...I walk!

by Evelyn Beyer

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This is a good simple poem about how animals move. You can act them out at the end and test recall. Or act them out between to try different movements and coordination.

Leap Frog

Leap frog, leap frog,
Easy as can be,
I'll leap with you,
And you leap with me.

Leap frog, leap frog,
On your lily pad.
You can leap father,
And you're so glad.


---
This is great for a leap frog game.

Halloween Imitations

• fly like a bat
• roll like a pumpkin
• crawl like a spider
• prowl like a cat
• sway like a scarecrow
• fly like a witch
• hoot like an owl

It's great to incorporate movement into the holiday activities. Here are some Halloween themed movements that imitate animals and other things relevant to the holiday.

Yoga Sequence: Sun Salutation

We like to do this sequence and tell a story. I normally just wing it about saying hi to the sun and then smelling the grass and then looking up at an animal passing by and getting up to watch a bird fly back up in the air. Something simple but helps the poses feel like they flow together.

love this cute little graphic I'm borrowing from the website shown in the graphic.

Yoga Sequence: Halloween

I like to tell a Halloween story like the following, but you could really use any poses and make up your own. This one is very cheesy, but the rhyme keeps it flowing a little....you don't even need it to rhyme to get the story across.

(poses in brackets)

POSES:

[MOUSE]: There was a sleeping cat who awoke from his nap, 

[CHILD]: The cat stretched it's paws in front

[DOG]: and then his bum in back

[CAT-legs out]: Then one by one he stretched his legs until he saw a sight...

[CAT-back arch]: something orange out in front gave him quite a fright. [ "Meroooow! Hiss!"]

[GATE]: For over by the garden gate upon the garden wall,.

[ZERO]: the cat saw a pumpkin that looked just like a ball!

[BUTTERFLY]: and as the wind blew...the pumpkin started to sway.

[ROLY POLY]: It fell off the wall and then it rolled away.

[stomp/hop around]: A boy found it when it came to a stop, and he jumped upon it with a Hop, Hop, Hop.

[mix with hands]: He mashed it into pumpkin smoosh--mixed in a bowl where he stood.

[PEACOCK]: And made himself some pumpkin pie. And boy was it so good!

Kids Yoga Asana: Easy Pose/Inhale

Basic Cross-legged position with hands rested on knees.

Inhale
One of the most important parts of any yoga pose,
Is remembering to breathe deeply by inhaling through my nose.

Easy Pose
I like to relax in Easy Pose,
Taking deep breaths in and out through my nose.
With legs crossed and my back straight,
I continue to breathe while counting to eight.

--------
We love this pose and start every yoga session by clapping and saying "come with me...sit down with hands on your knees." And then we start with Easy Poses and breathing in and out. The breath in and out your nose is super important to do regularly so children don't learn the bad habit of shallow breathing, which most people get accustomed to doing being in our fast-paced society.
If we aren't breathing well, then our body isn't getting the oxygen (and filtered air via nose) it needs to most beneficially run our body and it's systems. (it's the same with hydration)



*from ABC Yoga Book

Kids Yoga Asana: Gate

Gate


Starting on All Fours,
One leg bends
While the other extends.
Keeping my front arm straight,
My body begins to form a gate.
Sending my opposite arm up in the air,
I now balance in Gate Pose with Care.

Kids Yoga Asana: Grasshopper

Grasshopper


In yoga, my body can be many things.
Now I want to be a Grasshopper with wings!
Lying on my belly with my chin to the floor,
I take a moment to simply rest, nothing more.
Next I bend my arms and raise one leg straight off the ground.
I bring my leg back down and switch sides--all without a sound.



*this poem is from the ABC yoga book.