Australian Animals Yoga

Welcome to the third post in the Learn Spanish and Kids Yoga through Books monthly series, which Kids Yoga Stories is co-hosting with Spanish Playground. The Kids Yoga Stories blog features books on a particular theme along with matching yoga sequences. On the Spanish Playground site, you’ll find the sequences in Spanish, along with other fun, creative activities to go along with one of the books.

This month’s theme is Australian Animals. Not only is Australia famous for its spectacular beaches, breathtaking forests, and fascinating outback, but the country has some of the most interesting and diverse animals on the planet. Getting to know Australian animals is a treat for any young animal lover. Use the yoga sequences below to teach your children about Australian animals through books, movement, and Spanish activities.

Australian Animals and Kids Yoga

The books below are available in English and Spanish. The yoga poses are from each of the books, and they represent sequences with good flow. See the books for the full stories and sequences.

The ABC’s of Australian Animals
El ABC de los Animales Australianos
By Giselle Shardlow & Emily Gedzyk

Ibis – Dancer’s Pose
(Stand tall with legs hip-width apart. Shift to stand on one leg and reach the opposite leg out behind you. Reach your arm on the same side back. 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. Return to standing and repeat the pose on the other leg.)

Koala – Eagle Pose
(From standing, wrap one leg around the other, bring your bent arms out in front of you. Wrap your arms together, putting the arm opposite your outside leg on the inside, then bend your knees slightly. Pretend that you are wrapping yourself around a tree branch like a koala.)

Dingo – Three-Legged Dog Pose
(Bend forward and place the palms of your hands on the ground. Step back to hands and feet, like an upside-down “V”, and gently lift one leg up at a time.)

Platypus – Locust Pose
(Come down to lie on your tummy, lift your chest and shoulders, look up, and clasp your hands back behind you. Then pretend to glide down the river like a platypus.)

Echidna – Extended Child’s Pose
(From your hands and knees, sit back on your heels. Slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, place the palm of your hands flat out in front of you, and take a few deep breaths.)

Luke’s Beach Day
Lucas en un Dia en la Playa
by Giselle Shardlow & Emily Gedzyk

Kangaroo – Chair Pose
(Stand tall in Mountain Pose with your feet hip-width apart, bend your knees, bring your hands up like paws, and hop like a kangaroo.)

Dolphin – Dolphin Pose
(Come down to your hands and knees, bend your elbows. Then rest your forearms on the ground, with your palms flat, and lift up your knees to straighten your legs. Look forward.)

Seagull – Pigeon Pose
(From all fours, bring your right foot to rest behind your right hand, placing your right foot slightly inward. Perch like a seagull. Return to all fours and repeat on the other leg.)

Shark – Shark Pose
(Lie flat on your tummy, lift your shoulders, and clasp your arms behind your back. Pretend you are a shark gliding through the open waters.)

Crab – Table Top Pose
(Come to sitting with your palms flat on the floor behind you and the soles of your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Lift your buttocks to create a table, then walk like a crab.)

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!

You Might Like our Australia Yoga Book 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

Purchase the Australia Yoga Book Pack:

Spanish Language Activities for Australian Animals Books

Visit Spanish Playground for language activities to go with Lucas en un Dia en la Playa. Activities include identifying words from the illustrations, finding items in the illustrations not written in the text, counting the animals and objects in the images, and identifying body parts and verbs. The suggested activities could be done in English, as well.

Join us next month for kids yoga, Spanish, and farm stories. Check out our schedule for the year:

2013-2014 Spanish and Kids Yoga Monthly Book Themes

August: Bill Martin Jr
September: Latin America
October: Bedtime
November: Australia
December: Farm
January: Africa
February: Zoo
March: World
April: Ocean
May: Asia

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