Saying Goodbye

It’s the end of the school year and I’m saying goodbye to loads of kids that I’ve been working with for weeks, months, and even years! Some of my preschool kids I’ve been teaching since they were 2 or 3 yrs old and are now 5 & 6 yrs old going off to Kindergarten. Some schools I taught all spring, or all year and I’m teaching my last classes there these next few weeks. I’m not one who loves saying goodbye, but it’s part of this job. 

There are a few really fun activities you can do with the kids to wrap up the end of your time with them in a giant bow! I love finding out from kids what their favorite poses are, somehow I’m always surprised at what they pick. It’s also a way to get them to reflect on their time with you and what they’ve learned. Tree & butterfly seem to be the most common favorites as well as Sleeping Bunnies, but then you get the kids who think outside the box and choose giraffe, ostrich or a partner pose like lizard on a rock! I love when kids dig deep. There are many ways to do this with games and art. 

Here are a few simple ideas for end of the yoga year/session activities:

1) yogi’s choice — each child gets to choose a pose and teach it to the group. If they don’t want to teach it, that’s fine- I teach it to them. You never know what they’ll say, but that’s what makes it so much fun!

2) Jenga Yoga– Each of the jenga pieces has a yoga pose written on it. The children go around and each get to pick a block and say the name of the pose. Then everyone does the pose! The pic I’m using is from my friend Nicole who just did this to end one of her classes. 

3) musical mats — In this version, no one gets out!  I place yoga pretzel cards & some animal cards (that I made) on each of their mats. With music playing, the children dance around the mats. When the music stops, each child must find a mat and do one of the poses on their mat and then freeze. You can also play a variation where you don’t use any cards and when the music stops, they need to pick their favorite pose to freeze in. 

4) obstacle course — set up the room using all kinds of props into stations, allowing kids to move through one at a time. Each station should have a specific pose/activity attached to it. Kids can help you come up with the activity involved at each station. I like to incorporate all the favorite poses and activities we’ve done in our time together.  

5) yoga freeze dance — play music and the children dance. When the music stops, they freeze in their favorite yoga pose. 

6) Art! — ask the kids to draw their favorite yoga pose and then share their drawings with the group. Do each of the poses that the kids shared. 

What are activities you do to end your time with the kids? How do you say goodbye? I would love to hear some other ideas! Please share them here if you can!