Kids Yoga Stories 2016 Year in Review
Thank you so much for helping to make 2016 so rewarding for everyone at Kids Yoga Stories!
Last year, sales and traffic to the website both grew by 150%, and we gave away more than 150 free yoga books. Our yoga products have been sold into 44 countries worldwide and 49 states in America. Thank you for believing in our kids yoga resources and for reading our weekly Kids Yoga Stories newsletter.
Trish’s Fall Photography was released early in the year. Four other yoga books were in production last year, and we’re hoping to release them in early 2017. Watch for Sally’s Visit to the Farm, Emily’s Day in the Desert, Michelle’s Mountain Hike, and The Grateful Giraffe. I wrote a karate yoga book in the summer and am currently working on a zoo yoga book. Digital yoga cards are in the works, as well.
I love writing our weekly free content and have heard success stories from readers in homes, studios, and classrooms around the world. My mission is to bring education, health, and happiness to children everywhere, and I love learning how teachers and parents are integrating yoga into their children’s lives. I’m constantly inspired by how people are planting the seeds of a yoga life to children everywhere.
Below, you will find our 2016 year in review with links to our most popular yoga stories and kids yoga sequences:
Yoga Book Award
Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats won the Family Choice Award 2016, one of the most coveted and well-respected recognitions for family-related products in the United States today.
The award-winning book, Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats, is a kids yoga story that highlights friendship, happiness, and acceptance. The story follows Anna, who is hard of hearing, as she tries to win the acceptance of the kids at her new school by sharing her creativity through yoga.
“As a retired school librarian, I appreciate books that can be used to introduce multiple ideas. In addition to the yoga component, this story includes some academic concepts as well as emotional intelligence. There is much to learn and discuss in this deceivingly simple-looking book!” – Eve Panzer, Barefoot Librarian
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Images from Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats
Top 4 Kids Yoga Books
The most popular yoga book this year was the award-winning Rachel’s Day in the Garden. In this garden yoga book, a girl and her beloved dog search for signs of spring in her yard. Kids and adults crawl, buzz, and flutter through the story, laughing, moving, and learning words while encouraging teamwork, easing tension, and encouraging positive thinking.
“Shardlow has mastered the art of integrating yoga, art, education, and story into engaging books that promote movement, relaxation, literacy, and connection. Rachel’s Day in the Garden is no exception and, in fact, might be the best one yet! The Kids Yoga Stories series belongs in the hands of every child, parent, and educator!” – Lisa Flynn, ChildLight Yoga
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Images from Rachel’s Day in the Garden
Top Yoga Cards for Kids
The most popular yoga cards for kids this year were the Yoga Poses for Kids Cards. Children mix and match twenty-five yoga poses with twenty-five illustrated keywords (categories are Travel, Earth, People, and Animals). The yogi kids are multicultural from seven different countries. Pose index and pose instructions are included. Active and creative play that’s fun for all ages.
Denise says:
“I used the cards yesterday as I was teaching a summer camp, and they already had the theme of kings/queens/gnomes. After acting out a yoga story about the kingdom, we played a game of memory, and I pulled some of the cards that we acted out in the story. The kids had a blast. Such good fun!”
Read about How to Play with Yoga Cards for Kids here.
The second deck, More Yoga Poses for Kids Cards, were released in September, 2016, and includes another twenty-five yoga poses matched with twenty-five keywords (categories are Travel, Camping, and Animals).
 Yoga Poses for Kids Cards |
 More Yoga Poses for Kids Cards |
Top Yoga Book Packs for Kids
Feedback from readers told us that customers wanted to find yoga gift ideas for the little people in their lives. We put together these yoga book packs to bundle our yoga books for kids to make the ever-expanding Kids Yoga Stories shop easier to navigate. The top yoga book packs this year were:
 #1: Popular Yoga Books Pack |
 #2: Seasons Yoga Books Pack |
 #3: Toddler Yoga Books Pack |
 #4: Australia Yoga Books Pack |
Top Digital Yoga Products for Kids
Due to customers requesting digital products—to avoid international shipping costs and to have digital content for on-the-go yoginis—we’ve been producing more digital content that is easy to download immediately after purchase on our Kids Yoga Stories Shop. The top 4 digital products in 2016 were:
 #1: 58 Yoga Poses for Kids Images |
 #2: Monthly Kids Yoga Themes PDF Download |
 #3: Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga MatsPDF Download |
 #4: Sophia’s Jungle Adventure PDF Download |
Top 10 Kids Yoga Stories Posts of 2016
According to Google Analytics, our top 10 most-viewed Kids Yoga Stories posts this past year were:
Top 4 Roundups of Kids Yoga Sequences
For your convenience, find loads of thematic kids yoga lesson plans and sequences in these popular four roundups:
 #1: Seasonal Kids Yoga Lesson Plans |
 #2: Monthly Kids Yoga Themes |
 #3: Kids Yoga Class Ideas |
 #4: Holiday Yoga Lesson Plans |
Kids Yoga Stories Social Media Channels
As you probably know, we are active daily on a variety of social media channels to spread the word on the benefits of yoga for children. I spend most of my time engaged on Facebook, but I also love researching on Pinterest. Come join our growing community:
Facebook Fans: 9700+
Pinterest Followers: 7000+
Twitter Followers: 2000+
Google+ Followers: 700+
Instagram Followers: 1000
Our 2016 top social media referrer for website traffic was Pinterest. Check out our boards here:
Follow Kids Yoga Stories on Pinterest
Looking Ahead to 2017
Don’t forget to subscribe to the weekly Kids Yoga Stories newsletter to get up-to-date information with this year’s content and newly released yoga books. We are planning a few things in the coming months:
- Release of a new yoga books for kids, which are currently being illustrated:
- Emily’s Day in the Desert
- Sally’s Visit to the Farm
- Michelle’s Mountain Hike
- The Grateful Giraffe
- Release of new digital products:
- Arctic Animals Yoga Cards For Kids
- North American Animals Alphabet Yoga Cards for Kids
- LOVE Yoga Cards for Kids (in time for Valentine’s Day)
- Find illustrators for Katie’s Karate Class and Justine and Joey’s Day at the Zoo
- Start of a monthly Chair Yoga Poses theme project
- An ultimate kids yoga product giveaway and a few flash sales
- Attending the Yoga in Schools Symposium, Yoga Reaches Out Yogathon, and National Kids Yoga Conference
As always, please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions for Kids Yoga Stories. We are constantly looking ways to grow our community and help serve you with yoga tips and kids yoga resources.
Thank you for your love and support. Here’s to another amazing year bringing the benefits of yoga to children!
Past Years in Review
 2015 Year in Review |
 2014 Year in Review |
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