Family Yoga in Outer Space Lesson Plan

We hear lots of requests for family yoga ideas, so we are excited to share this Family Yoga Outer Space lesson plan with you. Robyn Snow is a kids yoga teacher and owner of Glow Yoga Kids from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Family Yoga is AMAZING!

We live in such a fast-paced world, where our busy schedules make for frantic days and nights that leave us feeling exhausted and disconnected. Family yoga is the perfect way to unplug, reconnect, and spend loved-up, joy-filled quality time together.

Warm–Up Poses

How do we even get to outer space? It’s easy! First, we need to put on our space gear. Check out the poses below as seen in our new book, “A Yoga Adventure Through Space” or create your own as you get yourself astronaut ready!

Now hop into your spaceship and start the countdown…. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF!

Connection Poses

Try this Sun Salutation facing one another to help build connection with your kiddos.

Stretch up high and wave to the stars: Standing tall in mountain pose, reach your arms up and wave.

Hang down low and twinkle, twinkle your toes: Fold forward, reaching down towards your toes, and tickle them.

Jump back into your spaceship: Bend your knees, place your hands down, and jump or step your feet back into a plank.

Belly on the ground, ride your spaceship around: Bending at the elbows, lower your body down to the ground.

Look up at the moon: Press your hands into the ground to straighten your arms into Cobra Pose.

Now back at the earth: Come up to all fours, with your knees under your hips, curl your toes under and shift into Downward Dog.

And breath, and breathe, and breathe: Take three big breaths in through the nose and out through the nose.

Jump up out of your spaceship: Hop your feet forwards into a frog squat.

Hang down low and sweep the moon dust away from your toes: Fold forward, reaching down towards your toes.

Stretch up high and wave to the stars: Coming to stand, reach both arms up and wave.

Now moon pose: Using your breath, inhale, bring your palms together, and lean over to one side, making the shape of the moon with your body.

Fun fact: Earth has just one moon—a rocky, cratered place, roughly a quarter the size of Earth and approximately 238,855 miles away. The moon can be seen with the naked eye most nights as it traces its twenty-seven-day orbit around our planet.

Breath Work

There is zero gravity in space, which means we float everywhere we go! Make yourself light with a belly breath to float even higher. Place one hand over the other on top of your belly. Breathe in big, filling your belly with air, and then breathe out, making your belly fall flat.

Fun Fact: Gravity is the force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. The force of gravity keeps all the planets in orbit around the sun.

Now try walking like an astronaut in space. Breathe in and slowly lift an arm and a leg, breathe out and slowly take a step forward.

Planet Exploration

There are so many cool things about outer space! Let’s explore some of the planets together. Deepen your outer space practice by checking out our new book, A Yoga Adventure Through Space. Each copy of the book comes with a link to a yoga-along video with Robyn Snow, the author of the book and of this article.

Mercury:

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, and it’s made of rocks! Try Child’s Pose by yourself or together with your family. This pose works best as a partner pose if parents are on the bottom and kiddos are on the top.

Fun fact: Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet. It’s red because of rusty iron in the soil.

Mars:

NASA has said that there is a real possibility of life-forms on Mars! Do you believe in aliens? Come into reverse tabletop pose and walk around like an alien.

Fun fact: NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA does a lot of different things. NASA makes satellites, which help scientists learn more about Earth. NASA sends probes into space and studies things in the solar system.

Saturn:

Saturn has thousands of rings, and it is a “gas giant.” Spin around your child like the rings of Saturn.

Fun fact: The rings we see around Saturn are made of tiny fragments of ice and rock caught in Saturn’s gravitational pull.

Neptune:

Neptune has a strong magnetic pull that draws things toward it. Bring your palms and your kiddo’s palms together without quite touching. Then try moving them as one, like they are magnetic. Move up, down, to the side, and back to the middle. You might even notice that your hands start to feel magnetic.

Fun fact: There are also supersonic winds on Neptune that reach speeds of 1,100 miles per hour, which is 1.5 times faster than the speed of sound.

Yoga Games

When it’s time to head back to Earth, play this super fun game! It’s called “Move as if.” Think of all the things you can that live on the Earth. Take turns calling them out and creating movements for each thing! If it’s a dog, walk and bark like a dog; if it’s a tree, stand strong and tall. This is where you and your kiddos can be creative and explore the many possibilities of yoga!

Here are some more great examples of things on the Earth to try moving like:

Sun
Mountain
Fish
Flower
Rock
Frog
Cloud
Grass
Sky
Rain
Ocean
Whale
Tiger
Elephant

Meditation and Relaxation

After a big outer space adventure, you need your rest! Sit criss-cross applesauce and imagine your hands are lit up with stars. Keep your eyes on your stars as you move your hands up and down. This requires a lot of focus! Let’s see how many times you and your kiddo can do it.

Finish your outer space adventure with a meditation on the stars. Sleep tight, little astronauts!

Outer Space Alien Craft

One of my favourite things about outer space is the idea that aliens could be out there. Make your own aliens with this super-fun family craft idea.

Things you might want/ need:

Paper (any and all colours)
White cardstock
Googly eyes
Colouring tools (paint, crayons, pencil crayons, etc.)
Large Popsicle sticks
Glue (hot glue works best—it’s best to help your kiddo with this part)

Instructions:

Cut out the shape of your alien’s head with the white cardstock paper (the weirder your shape, the better).

Colour your alien head with the colouring tool of your choice. Let it dry if needed.

Add as many eyeballs as you want to your alien’s face.

Cut out strips of coloured paper for the tentacles. You can fold the paper like an accordion to make the tentacles look crinkly.

Glue the Popsicle stick to the back of the alien.

Put on a silly alien puppet show.

Looking for a real alien friend for your kiddo? Check out our Alien Book Buddy here.

Outer space theme is one of my favourite classes to teach! I hope you enjoyed practicing along with your family.

Until our next adventure…

Robyn

Xoxoxo

PIN IT FOR LATER

family yoga in outer space | Kids Yoga Stories — Family Yoga in Outer Space Lesson Plan

CHECK OUT OUR OUTER SPACE YOGA CARDS FOR KIDS

EXPLORE SPACE WITH THESE FUN YOGA POSES FOR KIDS.

Pretend to be an astronaut, an astroid, and the big dipper constellation.

Download these 54 Outer Space digital yoga cards to learn through movement in your home, classroom, or studio.

Includes an Index Card, Pose Instructions, 20 Yoga Pose cards, and 20 matching Outer Space cards.

The yoga kids are multicultural from seven countries.

Ages 3 to 8

Download your Outer Space Yoga Cards for Kids here.

outer space yoga kids poses — Outer Space Yoga Cards for Kids

CHECK OUT OUR ADULT-CHILD PARTNER YOGA POSES CARDS

These engaging partner yoga poses are fun for you to do with your kids.

Try out partner standing forward bend, partner extended cat, and partner wide-legged side bend.

Yoga poses for kids often mimic our natural surroundings and may be interpreted in different ways, so please encourage the children’s creativity and curiosity

ADULT-CHILD PARTNER YOGA POSES DECK INCLUDES:

15 colorful and engaging adult-child parter yoga pose cards
15 detailed corresponding description cards
Yoga tips and how to best use these cards
Detailed instructions for each yoga pose provided

No previous yoga experience needed to do these partner poses. Ages 4+.

Download Adult-Child Partner Yoga Poses here.

adult-child-partner-yoga-cards | Kids Yoga Stories — Adult-Child Partner Yoga Poses

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