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Christmas in Australia

As many of you know, my hubby is Australian, but we currently live in the United States. And Christmas is another opportunity for us to talk to our daughter about her Australian heritage. This year, we’ll be using yoga and books to discuss the upcoming holiday, Aussie-style. For a lot of animal or nature books, we read through the books first then act out a few of the animals in kids yoga poses.

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Two Australian Christmas books that we love are The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas by Michael Salmon and Santa Koala by Colin Buchanan and Glen Singleton. The books not only teach about various Australian animals, but also provide pictures of the hot summery Christmas season in Australia, which is a contrast to the snowy winter holiday in North America.

Christmas in Australia through kids yoga and children’s books

This Christmas in Australia yoga sequence is inspired by The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas. After reading the book, act out these twelve kids yoga poses. Don’t get caught up trying to practice perfectly aligned poses. Have fun with the movement. You don’t have to practice each pose, either. Just follow your child’s interest and energy level. The twelve animals and yoga poses are:

The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas Yoga for Kids

12. Twelve Possums

How to practice eagle pose. Stand tall in Mountain Pose. Wrap one leg around the other, bring your bent arms out in front of you, wrap your arms together the opposite way, and bend your knees slightly. Pretend to wrap yourself around a branch like a possum.

Eagle pose | Kids Yoga Stories
Eagle pose

11. Eleven Lizards

How to practice horse stance. Stand with your legs apart, with your feet facing slightly outward. Bend your knees and stand firm like a horse. Bend your arms and raise them up to look like a frilled-necked lizard.

Horse Stance for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Horse stance

10. Ten Wombats

How to practice child’s pose. Come to sitting back on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, rest your arms down alongside your body, and take a few deep breaths. Pretend to rest like a wombat.

Child's Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Child’s pose

9. Nine Crocodiles

How to practice plank pose. Come down to a plank on your hands and toes like a crocodile lingering by a river’s edge.

Plank Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Plank pose

8. Eight Dingos

How to practice three-legged dog pose. Step back to hands and feet, like an upside-down V. Then gently lift one leg up at a time, like a dingo stretching its legs.

Three-Legged Dog Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Three-legged dog pose

7. Seven Emus

How to practice dancer’s pose. Stand tall in Mountain Pose. Stand on one leg, reach the opposite leg out behind you, place the outside of your foot into your hand, bend your torso forward with your free arm out in front for balance, and arch your leg up behind you. Pretend to be an emu standing tall.

Dancer's Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Dancer’s pose

6. Six Sharks

How to practice locust pose. Lay flat on your tummy, lift your shoulders, and clasp your arms behind your back. Imagine gliding through the water like a shark.

Locust Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Locust pose

5. Five Kangaroos

How to practice chair pose. Stand tall in Mountain Pose with your feet hip-width apart, bend your knees, and hop like a kangaroo.

Chair Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Chair pose

4. Four Lyrebirds

How to practice lunge pose. From Mountain Pose, step back with your right foot, bend your right knee, and rise onto your right toes. Come to a right lunge with your arms stretched out behind you. Pretend to be a lyrebird stalking through the bush.

lunge pose | Kids Yoga Stories
Lunge pose

3. Three Galahs

How to practice warrior 3 pose. Stand on one leg. Extend the other leg behind you. Bend your torso forward and take your arms out in front of you to pretend that you are flying through the sky like a galah.

Warrior 3 Pose | Kids Yoga Stories
Warrior 3 pose

2. Two snakes

How to practice cobra pose. Lie on your tummy, lift your head and shoulders off ground, place your palms flat next to your shoulders, and hiss like a snake.

Cobra Pose for Kids | Kids Yoga Stories
Cobra pose

1. One Kookaburra

How to practice pigeon pose. From Downward-Facing Dog Pose, bring right foot to rest behind your right hand, angling your right foot slightly inward, and perch like a kookaburra on a tree branch.

Pigeon Pose | Kids Yoga Stories
Pigeon pose

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas in Australia through books and kids yoga. How else could you bring Australia to your Christmas celebration?

Christmas in Australia book
The Twelve Days of Australian Christmas

Check out our Australia Yoga Cards!

Australia is a beautiful country with a vast array of interesting animals, sites and traditions.

Go on your very own adventure and pretend to be a frilled-neck lizard, a kookaburra, or ride a horse in the Melbourne Cup!

Download these 53 Australian digital yoga cards today!

yoga cards australia, australian yoga poses for kids | Kids Yoga Stories

Australia Yoga Books Pack

Enjoy an Australian adventure!

Come along with Luke as he hops like a kangaroo, perches like a sea gull, and rests like a sea star on an Australian beach. Then curl up like a koala, hop like a kangaroo, and waddle like a wombat as you act out an Australian animal for each letter of the alphabet. Finish up by coloring in the Luke’s A to Z of Australian animals book. Age group: Preschoolers to Early Primary ages 3 to 7.

The Australia Yoga Pack includes:
Luke’s Beach Day
The ABC’s of Australian Animals
Luke’s A to Z of Australian Animals Coloring Book

Australia Yoga Pack (English) - Kids Yoga Stories

Australia Yoga Books Pack

Other Australian-related articles that you might like

Australian Animals Yoga

12 Children’s Books about Australia

Australia in Action: A Yoga World Cultural Tour for Kids


Christmas in Different Lands

This post is part of the “Christmas in Different Lands” series by Multicultural Kid Blogs. Join us each day up until December 25th to learn about how Christmas is celebrated in various countries around the world through food, craft, kids activities, and traditions. You can also link your Christmas post on the MKB host page. Merry Christmas!


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Yoga for Christmas in Australia | Kids Yoga Stories

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