Birthday Yoga!

This week was my birthday and I had to teach a bit so I figured I may as well have fun with it. I made the classes about my birthday which made me happy, was super sweet and the kids really liked it. I did this with my 20 min and 30 min Pre-k and Kindergarten classes.

1) Sun Warmup: We start the class using our suns to warm up our bodies. It is fun to explain to the kids about how the Earth circles the sun every 365 days which is a full year until it is your birthday again! It’s such a cool concept to teach and the kids really enjoy learning that.

2) Butterfly Pose: Next it’s time to make a birthday cake. We bring our toes to kiss to make our bowl. Each child has a chance to add an ingredient to the mix. We take our spoon and stir it up!

3) Seated Forward Bend: We straighten our legs in front of us and push that cake into the oven by holding our toes. I ask “how long do we need to bake our cake?” of course the kids share all kinds of answers. My favorite was 25 weeks! Together we count to ten, then open our legs (still holding onto our toes if we can!) and check our cakes. Not ready yet! Bring legs together and count to ten again.

4) Table Pose: The cake is ready! Take it out and put it on your table. We add frosting and sprinkles and of course a candle on top.

5) Crab Walk: It’s more fun to eat together so we walk our tables together and form a giant table! On the count of 3, we make a wish, inhale and blow out the candle.

6) Walk back to the mat and have a seat. We cut the cake by scissoring our legs up and down really fast.

7) Rock the Baby: Then we lift our foot to our mouth and eat some cake! Delicious!

8) Yoga Freeze Dance: Celebrating a birthday is not complete until we have a dance party. We play yoga freeze dance to one of my favorite songs Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti. Everyone needs a dance party on their birthday!

9) Relaxation: It’s time for my relaxation routine which consists of roly poly, birthday candle (of course!) and happy baby. This time I also add in a little Twisty T which is a lying down twist to help release some toxins. Then it’s time to chill and think about how special we are with a little love meditation.

I’ll be teaching a yoga birthday party for my niece Noa this weekend and we’re going to make the glitter calming jars. I’ll definitely share how it went!

I based this class off of the Birthday Party Yoga lesson plan from Next Generation Yoga which you can purchase here.