11 Tips For Teaching Yoga To Kids

Are you a yoga teacher wanting to specialise in teaching yoga to kids? Or are you a teacher or parent wanting to learn how to teach yoga to kids in school or at home? 

Whatever your aim, this article covers everything you need to know to start teaching children yoga, including:

• 11 Tips For Teaching Yoga To Kids
• Tips For Teaching Yoga To Kids: By Age Group
• Skills Required To Teach Kids Yoga
• How To Start A Career Teaching Yoga To Kids

Before we get started, you can get qualified to lead your own classes by completing a Level 3 Yoga Teacher Training course with OriGym.

More information about this qualification can be found by downloading our FREE course prospectus here!

11 Tips For Teaching Yoga To Kids

Even if you’re already a yoga teacher, there are many ways in which teaching yoga to kids differs from teaching adults. 

With this in mind, here are our top tips for how to teach a kids yoga class!

#1 - Gather Information About Your Students Before Teaching Yoga 

Our first tip for teaching yoga to kids starts is all about being prepared for teaching your class.

If you can, it is a good idea to get other personal information about the children you are going to be teaching, before you start the class. 

This includes information such as:

• The child’s emergency contact name and phone number
• Any injuries you should be aware of
• Allergies
• Any other physical or mental health conditions
• Consent to take photographs (e.g. for your social media) 

If you are teaching yoga to kids in school, you should already have access to this kind of information through the school’s system. 

Plus, if you are already a teacher at the school, you may already be familiar with the children on a personal level, which will help you feel more prepared. 

However, if you are wanting to teach kids yoga elsewhere, the best way to find out this information is to get the parents of the students to complete a form or questionnaire and return it to you before the class. 

The easiest way to do this is to collect this information online, through a form on your yoga teacher website. 

Here is a good example of the kind of form you could have on your website, from a kids fitness company. 

You could also use an online survey software or website, such as Survey Monkey, which you could send out to parents via email. 

Collecting this kind of information electronically is much more efficient than creating a printed form that parents fill out by hand. 

This is because you will receive all of the information you need digitally, making it much easier for you to organise and keep track of. 

For example, if you know that you are going to have a child with a physical health condition in your class, you can make sure to pay extra attention to them, and prepare any variations of poses to give to them. 

Another reason why it is important to get this kind of information before you teach yoga to kids is that, compared to teaching adults, children are less likely to volunteer this kind of information to you themselves- particularly younger children. 

In general, adults are more aware of their bodies and are more able to manage their own physical and mental conditions. 

For example, when teaching an adult yoga class, a good yoga teacher will ask the class if anyone has any injuries you need to be aware of. 

Most adults will then tell you if they have an injury, so that you can then give them any pose variations throughout the class. 

So, by having as much information as you can about your students, you can feel more prepared and confident when teaching yoga to children. 

#2 - Establish Ground Rules From The Start Of Your Class

Once you have gathered all the information you need to prepare, it’s now time to start teaching yoga to kids! 

One of the first things you should do when you begin your class is to establish some ground rules. 

As a yoga teacher, you will need an element of authority and control over the class you are teaching. 

Whilst this is true for teaching adults, it is particularly important when teaching kids yoga, as children generally require more discipline and guidance than adults!

This is a key difference between teaching adults and teaching yoga for kids, as you do not need to establish ‘rules’ with adults. 

But when you teach yoga to kids, establishing some ground rules can benefit both you as a teacher as well as helping your students get the most out of your class.  

Examples of ground rules when teaching yoga for children include:

• Stay on your mat
• Don’t move your mat
• Listen when the teacher is speaking
• Be kind and respectful to others in the class

Establishing these rules should be done straight away, so that you set a tone for the rest of the class. 

You should also try not to spend too long on this. Just 1 to 2 minutes maximum is enough, as you want to keep your class fun and lighthearted, rather than overbearing children with a list of rules! 

Another tip to remember when establishing ground rules is to keep it positive. Children will not respond well to a list of ‘don'ts’.

For example, instead of saying, ‘don’t leave your mat’, you can rephrase this more positively, to ‘stay on your mat’. 

It may seem like a small change, but it will make a huge difference to how children respond to your rules.

As well as establishing ground rules verbally, you could also create a poster or leaflet, such as the one below. 

This could then be displayed in your yoga class, or handed out to children to read during the class and/or to take home with them.

Not only do ground rules help your class run smoothly, but they can also help you reinforce the more philosophical elements of yoga to your students.

For example, a rule such as ‘be kind and respectful to others in the class’ aligns with the principles of karma yoga, which is all about helping others around you. 

The nature of rules in general also teaches children about discipline- another core principle of yoga! 

#3 - Make Teaching Yoga To Kids Fun! 

A major difference between teaching adults and teaching yoga to kids is that there should be a greater focus on making it as fun as possible. 

This is essential if you want to keep kids engaged and interested in your class!

After all, you don’t want to alienate children with the more ‘serious’ elements of yoga that you may include in an adult yoga class, such as long periods of meditation. 

An easy and effective way to make your yoga classes fun is to base your class around a theme. 

Some themes for teaching kids yoga ideas include:

• Space
• Animals
• The sea
• Holidays e.g. Christmas, Halloween etc.
• Weather 
• Sports 

Having a theme not only makes yoga more fun for your students, but it also makes life easier for you as a teacher, as it gives you a structure to plan your class around. 

For example, say you are planning a class with an animal theme. You can focus on animal poses, such as lizard, butterfly, cat and downward dog, or breathing techniques such as lion’s breath.

You could also create some animal-themed visuals and even audio to use in your class!

For some inspiration for how to structure your yoga class for kids around a theme, we recommend checking out Cosmic Kids. 

Their aim is to make yoga and mindfulness fun for kids, and have a whole range of themed yoga class videos that could give you some ideas for your own classes.

You can also check out our list of yoga class themes for some more teaching kids yoga ideas!

#4 - Vary The Structure Of Your Class When Teaching Kids Yoga

Another way to keep your students engaged when teaching yoga to children is to vary the structure of your class.

When teaching yoga to adults, you may be used to your class being structured around a set sequence or flow, especially if you usually teach vinyasa or ashtanga yoga. 

But when teaching yoga for kids, try to vary the structure of your class. 

This is because children generally have a shorter attention span than adults, so may struggle to follow a flow or sequence for a whole class. 

Some good ways to keep vary the structure of your class when teaching yoga to children include:

• Include games and group activities 
• Base the class around a story with a start, middle and end
• Switch up the pace between fast and slow
• Include partner or group poses
• Have children move around the room

As you can see, many of these ideas go against the typical rules of yoga etiquette that you may be used to when teaching adults, such as moving around the room during class. 

But when wondering how to teach kids yoga, remember that the same rules don’t always apply! 

Here is an example of a class structure you could use when teaching yoga to kids:

• A breathing activity 
• A grounding pose
• Warm up movements
• A game or story 
• Balancing pose 
• Cool down
• Savasana 

As you can see, this structure includes a variety of high and low intensity activities- which leads us onto our next tip for teaching children yoga!

#5 - Schedule Plenty Of Breaks When You Teach Yoga To Kids 

As part of having a varied structure to your yoga class, you should also remember to incorporate plenty of breaks.

When teaching yoga to kids, it can be easy to try to pack in as many activities as possible. But whilst kids certainly have lots of energy, they also get tired easily too!

When children are tired, they are less likely to be engaged and responsive to your teaching, and more likely to be grumpy and uncooperative. 

To avoid this, simply remember to schedule in short 1 or 2 minute breaks in your class- or at least mix up higher and lower intensity activities. 

For example, if you have just done a game with your students, you could follow it up with a seated breathing exercise, before starting the next part of the class. 

#6 - Demonstrate When Teaching Children Yoga

If you already teach yoga to adults, you may be used to staying at the front of the room for the duration of the class, occasionally walking around the room to make adjustments or desmonstate poses.

You may also not always demonstrate every single pose to your students and sometimes just give verbal instructions. 

You may even simply state the name of the pose, particularly if you are teaching more advanced yogis. 

However, if you’re wondering how to teach a kids yoga class, you should be much more involved in the class, and always demonstrate poses. 

This is because children generally need more visual cues than adults when learning how to do something- particularly younger children. 

Children have a lot of energy, so giving them something visual to copy can help keep them focused.

Plus, demonstrating poses along with the children in your class helps to build a good teacher-student relationship, as it makes you appear more ‘on their level’. 

This will then make them more responsive and engaged in your class! 

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#7 - Adapt Your Language When Teaching Yoga To Children 

If you are already an adult yoga teacher, you may need to adapt the language you usually use when you teach kids yoga. 

The main thing you may need to change is your use of Sanskrit (the language of yoga used to name poses and sequences). 

For example, instead of saying baddha konasana when teaching yoga to kids, use its English translation - butterfly pose. 

That said, if you are teaching yoga to children who are older such as from the ages of 12 onwards, you do not need to shy away from Sanskrit completely! 

For example, you could introduce one new Sanskrit word each class. This helps children start to get a deeper insight into the history of yoga, without overwhelming them with lots of words they don’t understand! 

#8 - Make The Most Of Props And Equipment When Teaching Yoga To Kids

Whilst props and equipment are used in all types of yoga class, they are particularly beneficial when it comes to how to teach a kids yoga class.

This is because props and equipment give children something tangible to hold and use, which can help them stay focused and engaged. 

Plus, they also serve the same purpose of using props with adults- to help students modify poses. 

This is particularly important for kids, as it can help them build confidence in achieving certain poses.

However, when teaching yoga to kids, try to use props and equipment in a more creative and unusual way. 

For example, you could have children build a fort out of yoga blocks, or pretend that the yoga mat is a magic carpet as part of a story. 

When teaching yoga for kids, you can also think outside the box and use equipment that isn’t traditionally used for yoga, such as:

• Beanbags and balls to hold during poses
• Flashcards related to the theme of your class, or with the names and a diagram of poses on
• Books if following a story in your class
• Eye masks and blankets for savasana 

You may have also heard of a Hoberman Sphere, or a ‘breathing ball’, which is a popular tool used by kids' yoga teachers. 

This can be used to visually demonstrate how breathing works, and can be used to help guide breathing exercises (when you open the ball up, children take a breath in, when it closes, they exhale). 

Whichever type of props you choose to use, try to keep it to 2 or 3 different props maximum for each class, and make sure that they are actually going to be used. 

Having too many pieces of equipment in the room can have the opposite effect and just distract children instead!  

#9 - Give Plenty Of Praise When Teaching Yoga For Children

Another difference between teaching adults and teaching yoga to kids is that you should try to give them regular praise and positive feedback. 

Many studies, such as this one from Brigham Young University, have shown that praising children in a classroom environment has a positive impact on their performance. 

And the same goes for teaching kids yoga! 

As well as giving general praise to the class, it is also a good idea to give children more specific positive feedback on an individual level- more so than you would with adults. 

This is because children’s performance is much more reliant on positive feedback than adults. 

Children like to know that they are doing something well, as it makes them more likely to continue to work hard if they know that they will be rewarded. 

For example, if you notice a child is working particularly hard, or if they have done well in a particular element of the class- let them know! 

Here are some examples of the kinds of praise phrases you could use when teaching yoga to kids. As you can see, they focus on a specific element of the class. 

“Your downward dog has really improved since last week!”

“Great job holding that tree pose for so long!”

“You did really well staying so focused during mediation today!”

#10 - Interact With Their Parents, Or Other Teachers

Part of being a good yoga teacher extends beyond the yoga class itself- and the same goes for teaching kids yoga. 

If you are teaching yoga to kids outside of a school environment, it is likely that children will be dropped off by their parents or carers. 

We recommend arriving at the class venue 10 -15 minutes before the class starts, so that you can chat to their parents before they leave their children. 

If you can, you should also wait 10 -15 minutes after the class has finished, while children are picked up again. 

Since kids yoga classes have risen in popularity fairly recently, parents may have questions or concerns about the class. 

Arriving early therefore allows you to answer these questions, giving parents confidence in your teaching ability. After all, you are going to be responsible for their children for a period of time!

If you are teaching yoga to kids in school, make an effort to interact with the other teachers in the school. 

This could be with the teachers in the sports department, or just smiling and chatting with teachers in other departments who you may pass on the corridor, for example.

Again, this all helps you to build good rapport and present yourself as a confident and someone they can trust with their students! 

So, why is this so important? Interacting with parents and teachers before and after you teach kids yoga is a great way to improve your yoga teacher marketing. 

This is because if you are friendly, approachable and chatty with parents and other teachers, you are helping to build up your brand identity, making them much more likely to hire you again. 

This all helps to increase your client retention and ultimately your success as a yoga teacher! 

#11 - Make Sure You Teach Kids Yoga Safely 

Our final, but arguably most important tip for how to teach kids yoga is to make sure that your students’ safety is a priority. 

This is an important thing to consider for all types of yoga teachers, but particularly when teaching kids yoga. 

This is simply because as the responsible adult for a group of children, you have a ‘duty of care’ over them. In other words, whilst you are teaching kids yoga, you are responsible for their safety and wellbeing. 

That said, you should also make sure that you have the right yoga teacher insurance so that you aren’t financially liable in the event of an injury or accident. 

If you’re wondering how to teach yoga to children safely, the best thing you can do is get to know children’s anatomy and how it differs from adults. 

For example, they have less spatial awareness, less muscle strength and lower endurance than adults. Doing your own study or reading books for yoga teachers will help with this. 

Being aware of this will help ensure that you don’t push your students too much by teaching them poses that you would usually teach to adults, which may lead to injury! 

As well as this, there are other measures you can take to ensure the safety of the children in your class, such as:

• Choosing an appropriate space for your class with plenty of space and minimal obstacles
• Making sure that children are spaced out enough in the class
• When teaching yoga to children under 5, you may want to consider practising on a carpeted rather than hard floor, to reduce the chance of injury if they fall over during the class

Tips For Teaching Yoga To Kids: By Age Group

The tips we have given so far apply to teaching children yoga of all ages, from around 3-12 years old. However, there is a lot of differentiation within this age range to consider. 

But when thinking about how to teach yoga to kids, it can be easy to generalise ‘kids’ as simply anyone who isn’t an adult. 

But in fact, different ages of children are at different stages of development, both physically and mentally. 

Compared to adults, age differences are much more important with children, since their development happens so quickly. 

For example, there are not huge differences in physical and mental development between a 30 and 35 year old adult. 

But this 5 year age gap between two children- for example between a 3 and 8 year old, is much more significant! 

With this in mind, being able to adapt your teaching style to the exact age of the children in your yoga class is important. Here are is a general guide to teaching yoga to children of various ages:

How To Teach Yoga To Kids Aged 3-4

At this age, children are able to copy physical actions, but their verbal skills are still not very well developed. 

The focus here should be on simply helping children start to build a sense of spatial awareness of their surroundings. 

Since their attention span is very low at this age, you should also keep your class to 30 minutes maximum.

Some good poses for this age group include:

• Solid poses such as standing mountain pose
• Full-body poses such as downward dog
• Spinal-focused poses such as cat cow 

How To Teach Yoga To Children Aged 4-6

At this age, children are starting to really develop their imagination. So it is a good age range to include lots of games and story-based activities in your class, as we discussed in tip 3. 

They are also more able to isolate specific body parts, as well as having better hand-eye coordination and balance. 

Some good poses for this age group include:

• Any animal-related poses they can act out, such as frog, locust, cobra etc.
• Gentle balances such as modified tree pose
• Movements such as crawling and jumping

How To Teach Yoga To Kids Aged 7-8

At this age, their balance and coordination is even more developed. They are therefore better at copying movements more accurately.  

With this in mind, you can include poses such as:

• Warrior 1 and 2
• Balances such as tree poses
• You may want to introduce flows such as Sun Salutations A and B

You can also start to increase the duration of your class when teaching yoga to children of this age, to around 45-60 minutes, as their attention span will be longer. 

How To Teach Yoga For Children Aged 9-11

With their coordination, balance and comprehension skills more developed, you can put greater focus on a faster, flow-based class.

They are likely to be more willing to challenge themselves and more confident to try new poses. 

Some good poses to work on with this age group include:

• Low lunge to increase hip flexibility 
• More advanced balance poses such as wild thing and dancer pose

How To Teach Yoga For Children Aged 12+

If you are teaching yoga to children over 12, remember that this age is significant for their emotional and social development. 

As they approach teenage years, they will want to be treated more like adults than kids! 

That said, whilst you can make the poses more advanced, remember that they are still children, so keep an element of fun in your classes too.

Some good poses for this age group are:

• Sun Salutations A and B
• More advanced balanced such as half moon pose
• More strength-building poses such as plank and side plank 

At this age, children will also be able to focus for longer. You can therefore start to focus more on the philosophical side of yoga too, for example by introducing more mindfulness exercises into your classes.

Skills Required To Teach Kids Yoga

Now that you have some practical tips for how to teach yoga for children, there are also some more holistic skills that make a good kids yoga teacher.

A lot of the skills that make a good yoga teacher for adults apply, but there are also more specific skills that are required for teaching kids yoga, which we will outline below!

#1- Confidence

If you’re wondering how to teach yoga to kids, the key is to be confident!

When teaching yoga to adults, you will need to be confident enough to teach a room full of people. But it arguably requires even more confidence to command a room of children.

This is simply because as we have said, children are more likely to lose focus, stop listening and misbehave. And being able to deal with these things requires confidence! 

Plus, children more than adults can sense when a teacher does not have control over their students, and they can take advantage of this by misbehaving. 

Whilst some people are naturally more confident than others, developing this skill often simply takes time and practice. The more experience you get teaching children, the more confident you will feel!

Another way to feel more confident when teaching yoga to kids is to be as prepared as possible. 

If you are organised and have a clear plan for your class, you won’t have to worry about the structure of your class, so you can simply focus on your teaching. And this will all help you feel more confident! 

Check out our list of essential yoga teacher resources to help you stay organised and teach yoga to kids with confidence.  

#2- Creativity

As we have mentioned in our tips, making your class fun and varied is important when you teach kids yoga- and this requires creativity!  

Whilst this is an important skill for any yoga teacher, it is even more important when teaching yoga to kids.

This is because compared to adults, children generally have a shorter attention span. They therefore need more variety and stimulation to stay engaged. 

You may be used to following a fairly rigid structure when planning a yoga class, such as a vinyasa flow. 

But when teaching yoga to kids, being creative will allow you to create interesting classes that include fun and engaging games and activities. 

Plus, this skill is particularly important if you are teaching yoga to kids in school. It is likely that their other classes in school will be fairly structured, so a yoga class is a chance for them to do something a bit different and fun! 

#3 - Patience

Patience is an important skill for any kind of yoga teacher, but particularly when teaching yoga to kids. 

When teaching an adult yoga class, most of your students will have done some form of yoga- or at least stretching before.

Even if they have never done this, it is likely that they will have done some form of fitness or exercise class. 

However, it is much more likely that yoga will be a completely new experience for most children. 

You will therefore need to be patient when explaining things to them, and if they don’t understand your instructions the first time round. 

You should therefore be prepared to have to explain things several times to children, without getting frustrated!

#4 - Friendly And Approachable

Being friendly and approachable is a good skill for any yoga teacher to have, but especially if you are wondering how to teach children yoga. 

This is because in general, children are less likely to have the confidence to ask questions during a class than adults. 

So as a yoga teacher, you should make an effort to appear extra approachable and friendly, so that kids feel comfortable approaching you with their problems. 

Whist a lot of this skill is down to having a naturally warm and kind personality, there are also some things you can do to build rapport and make yourself appear more approachable to children, such as:

• Starting the class with an icebreaker activity to get to know your students
• Telling the class about yourself
• Talking one-on-one with children
• Emphasising that they can ask you questions at any time throughout the class
• Open body language such as smiling and not crossing your arms

These things may seem small, but they are often overlooked when people are wondering how to teach children yoga!

#5 - Flexibility And Adaptability 

Although we have said that having a plan for your class is important, an equally important skill for teaching yoga to kids is to be able to adapt and change your plan!

In other words, although you may have planned a structure for your class, you should also be prepared to change it if needed. This is because more so than adults, children can be unpredictable. 

For example, you may find that children are particularly struggling with a certain pose that you did not expect. 

Although you may have scheduled a certain amount of time in your class to teach this pose, you may find that it is more beneficial to work on it for a few minutes longer than you planned, rather than rushing on to the next part of the class.

Similarly, children are more unpredictable than adults. When teaching a kids yoga class, you are more likely to encounter things disturbances that could disrupt your class plan, such as:

• Injuries
• Children arguing amongst each other
• Children losing focus 
• Children misbehaving 

When teaching yoga to children, you should therefore be able to remain calm if these things happen, and simply adapt your teaching around them. 

How To Start A Career Teaching Yoga To Kids

If you aren’t already a qualified yoga teacher and want to get into teaching yoga to kids in school, home or elsewhere, this next section is for you!

Qualifications Required To Teach Kids Yoga

If you’re wondering how to teach yoga to kids, the first thing you will need to do is become a qualified yoga teacher. 

We have a whole article detailing exactly how to become a yoga teacher here. 

But in short, you will firstly need to take a Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Yoga. Upon qualifying, you will have all the skills, knowledge and experience to start teaching yoga to kids!

Although you may have come across specific courses for starting a career in teaching kids yoga, you do not technically need this. 

In terms of education, all you need is an Ofqual-regulated Level 3 yoga teacher qualification- such as OriGym’s. 

Having this Ofqual regulation is important, as it is a ‘stamp of approval’ that the course meets the highest industry standards of education.  

In addition to this, you will need a DBS check. This is the most detailed and in-depth criminal record and barring check that can be carried out in the UK. It is required for the majority of jobs that involve working with children- including being a kids yoga teacher.

The enhanced check is used to vet people for roles that involve working with children or vulnerable adults, similar to if you were to become a personal trainer for kids. 

You cannot apply for a DBS check individually- your employer must apply with your consent. So while this may not be something you have to think about until you’re employed, it’s still something important to keep in mind if you’re wanting to teach yoga to kids. 

Check out our complete guide to how to become a kids yoga teacher [add link when live] for more detail about how to teach yoga to kids!

Benefits Of Teaching Yoga To Kids

If you’re not already convinced, here are 3 great benefits of teaching yoga to kids. 

#1 - Teaching Yoga To Children Is A Rewarding Career

Perhaps the biggest benefit of teaching yoga to kids is that it is a highly rewarding career! 

If you’re already working as a yoga teacher, teaching yoga to children is an opportunity to pass on your passion for yoga to the future generation. 

If you’re a teacher wanting to get into teaching yoga to kids in school, it is also a great way to help your students’ personal and emotional development beyond the typical classroom curriculum. 

Whatever your aim for teaching yoga to kids, being able to inspire the next generation of yogis is undoubtedly highly rewarding!

#2 - Teaching Yoga To Kids Is A Lucrative Career

As well as being rewarding, teaching yoga to children is a highly lucrative career. 

According to Indeed, the average yoga instructor salary in the UK is £29.91 an hour. 

If you are teaching yoga to kids, you can therefore expect to receive a salary like this- or even more! 

For example, if you choose to work on a freelance basis and teach yoga to kids in schools, you could increase this salary, as you will have the freedom to set your own rates. 

With the benefits of yoga for children becoming increasingly well-known, many parents are willing to pay a lot for their children to go to yoga classes. 

For example, as you can see from the pricing listed below by kids yoga company, Kids Love Yoga, they are charging as much as £80 for a 45 minute session! 

#3 - Teaching Yoga To Kids Opens Up Lots Of Career Options  

One of the best things about teaching yoga to kids is that there are lots of opportunities for career progression. 

There are a whole host of avenues you can pursue that are related to teaching kids yoga, such as:

• Online kids yoga teaching 
• Starting your own kids yoga studio
• Teaching yoga to children with disabilities
• Parent and child yoga  

Once you have gained experience teaching yoga to kids, you could then even get into other areas of children’s fitness, such as:

• Personal training kids
• Pre and post-natal fitness
• Kids dance classes
• Teaching at kids summer camps
• Family fitness classes 

Before You Go!

So, we hope that our guide to how to teach yoga to kids has left you eager to inspire the next generation of yogis! 

What are you waiting for? Start a rewarding career as a kids yoga teacher today with OriGym’s industry-leading yoga teacher training course! Enquire today, or download our free prospectus to browse the full range of courses we offer. 

References

https://news.byu.edu/intellect/praising-students-in-a-classroom-setting-has-big-impact-on-their-behavior