Kids Yoga Starter Kit - Kids Yoga Stories | Yoga and mindfulness resources for kids

Enter the Kids Yoga Starter Kit giveaway below.

“How do I get started with kids yoga?” I hear this question all the time.

If you’re looking to introduce your children to yoga this holiday season, I would love to share with you a few resources to get you started on your own kids yoga journey.

Below, you’ll find ten resources from my favorite kids yoga colleagues and from our own Kids Yoga Stories collection.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

10+ Ideas for your Kids Yoga Starter Kit

1. Kids Yoga Resource Book

Yoga for Children, by Lisa Flynn

This book about yoga for children is a comprehensive resource with practical tips on how to introduce yoga into your everyday life. This book is a necessity for when you want to either relax and unwind, or get moving and laughing with your entire family. You’ll come back to this book time and time again for fresh ideas and inspiration. I love the full-color photos of children practicing yoga throughout the book.

Yoga for Children book

2. Kids Yoga Music
Kira Willey’s CDs (Dance for the Sun and Kings & Queens of the Forest)

My daughter loves Kira Willey’s Dance for the Sun CD. The first song on the CD, “Dance for the Sun,” takes you through a sun salute, which is a great way to start your day. It is a fabulous CD to play during the holiday season to get your family and friends moving, singing, and laughing together. Kira has a gentle, sweet, and soothing voice. The songs are great as both background music and active participation. It’s a rare treat to find a CD that the whole family can enjoy. Her folk-pop music is fun, catchy, uplifting, and captivating.

Dance for the Sun CD

3. Yoga Mat

I love my red Jade Harmony yoga mat, and the company just released yoga mats for kids. My daughter started with a The Little Yoga Mat when she was younger, and recently, I bought her a regular-size yoga mat at a local sports store. A yoga mat is a great way to signal “special yoga time” and offers their own space to practice their yoga. A yoga mat can also be transformed into a magic carpet, canoe, or surfboard for your imaginary yoga journeys.

Yoga mats

4. Yoga Cards for Kids
Yoga Cards, by Kids Yoga Stories

We currently offer four different packs of yoga cards. Two of the yoga card packs match our yoga books (Good Night, Animal World and Sophia’s Jungle Adventure). Our most popular Yoga Poses for Kids Cards (Deck One) and Most Yoga Poses for Kids Cards (Deck Two) are a perfect way to introduce twenty-five of the most common yoga poses for kids. Each yoga pose has a matching keyword (sorted into thematic categories) making it easy to create games and create meaningful connections to your child’s life. I’ve found that yoga cards encourage my daughter to engage in creative and independent play.

Yoga cards for kids

5. Yoga Books for Kids
Yoga books, by Kids Yoga Stories

A yoga book for kids integrates yoga postures and philosophy into a storybook for children. The purpose of our yoga stories is to integrate movement, reading, and fun to foster critically thinking children who are creative, responsible, and globally minded. Children follow the Yoga Kids characters in the books and act out various pretend journeys while learning about different places in the world as well as foreign cultures and new animals. At the moment, my daughter’s favorite yoga book is Good Night, Animal World, which features a bedtime yoga sequence that we practice together before snuggling up in bed. And I wrapped up Jenny’s Winter Walk into her Book Advent Calendar.

Yoga books for kids

6. Mindfulness Book
10 Mindful Minutes, by Goldie Hawn

This inspiring book makes the foundational concepts of Goldie Hawn’s MindUP program accessible to parents and applicable to everyday life. Goldie Hawn weaves in her own parenting experiences into several practical mindfulness techniques that you can start with your child today. With her work firmly grounded in mindfulness research, she offers parents a way to connect with their children to ultimately raise happy, healthy adults. The foreword by Daniel Siegel and multiple references to other brain scientists inspire confidence that mindfulness is not just a passing fad. I love that this book is an easy-to-use guide for introducing mindfulness to my daughter.

10 Mindful Minutes

7. Relaxation Stories
Imaginations, Imaginations 2, and Imaginations 3, by Carolyn Clarke

If you liked the first Imaginations book, then you definitely will love this second and third books, too. Not only will you find another collection of gorgeous relaxation stories, but the layout of these books are stunning. I love the separate parent and child introductions at the front of the books. Also, the yoga prep poses and breathing games are a great resource. My favorite relaxation stories are each of the four seasons. The author also includes lots of fun themes that will easily integrate into your curriculum, such as the garden, weather, butterflies, the desert, and dinosaurs. This is a fabulous guided imagery resource to help children bring calm to their busy lives.

Imaginations relaxation books

8.Yogic Breathing
Hoberman Sphere

A Hoberman Sphere is a great way to introduce deep yogic breathing to children because it imitates the inflating and deflating of their lungs as they breathe. During my daughter’s intense tantrums last year, we introduced the Hoberman Sphere to help bring awareness to her breath in hopes of planting a seed for self-soothing. Having a visual representation of the breath has proved to be an invaluable tool to encouraging her to inhale and exhale.

Hoberman sphere

9. Kids Yoga Lesson Plans
Free Kids Yoga Lesson Plans, by Kids Yoga Stories

Download one, or all, of our free thematic kids yoga lesson plans to help inspire you on your kids yoga journey. Each lesson plan includes an opening, a kids yoga sequence, a closing, and extension ideas. Choose from our list of Holiday Yoga Lesson Plans, Season Yoga Lesson Plans, Kids Yoga Ideas Using Children’s Books, Fun Kids Yoga Class Ideas, or Monthly Yoga Themes (PDF Download). Children learn best when the learning experience is meaningful and relevant to their lives. Adding movement is an extra bonus. Choosing a thematic kids yoga lesson plans is a great start to getting your children actively engaged in the yoga session.

Download free kids yoga ideas

10. Mala Beads

My daughter and I have a sacred space for meditation, which includes a wooden Buddha statue, a cushion, towels, blocks, chime, and mala beads. When I sit silently each morning, I hold the mala beads in my right hand and count my breath with the beads. I bought my daughter her own custom-made mala beads, as well, to plant the seed of her meditation practice in the future. She loves to wear her mala beads on special occasions, and she holds them when she sits on my lap during meditation.

Mala beads for your morning ritual

11. Eye Pillow
Namaste Eye Pillow, by Ogopogo Land

Our Italian friend, Jenny, from Ogopogo Land designed and handmade these beautiful Namaste eye pillows especially for our community. Jenny makes each eye pillow with organic cotton, organic rice, and lavender from France. My daughter uses the eye pillow before bedtime to calm her body. I also take the eye pillow to my yoga class to use during the final resting pose.

Namaste Eye Pillow

These kids yoga resources are meant to inspire and educate parents and ignite your imagination. However, all you really need to get started with practicing yoga with your children is curiosity, enthusiasm, and a “just do it” positive attitude.

We would love to hear what your favorite Kids Yoga Starter Kit ideas are, too! Please reply in the comments below.

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Kids Yoga Starter Kit

KIDS YOGA STARTER KIT GIVEAWAY

We are excited to announce our Kids Yoga Starter Kit Giveaway with generous donations from our fellow kids yoga colleagues. Click on the button below to enter your name in a random draw on Friday, December 16th, 2016. Contest rules are below.

The winner of this Kids Yoga Starter Kit giveaway will receive:

1 – Yoga for Children, by Lisa Flynn

1 – Dance for the Sun, by Kira Willey

1 – Sun Mat or Tree Mat, by The Little Yoga Mat

1 – 10 Mindful Minutes, by Goldie Hawn

1 – Imaginations 3, by Carolyn Clarke

1 – Namaste Eye Pillow, by Ogopogo Land

1 – A Yoga Book of Your Choice, by Kids Yoga Stories

Contest Rules:
1. Entries are open worldwide.
2. You can be any age to enter.
3. Participation in the contest constitutes that you agree to the Contest Rules.
4. Please enter using the Google form.
5. No purchase is necessary.
6. Kids Yoga Stories and the other product owners accept no responsibility or liability for any injuries or losses that may result from practicing the yoga poses. Please ensure your own safety and the safety of the children.
7. You must enter the contest giveaway with a valid e-mail address. The winner will be notified by e-mail, and at that time, we will request a mailing address. The winner must respond within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen.
8. If you have any questions, e-mail Giselle directly at giselle at kidsyogastories dot com.
9. All entrants will be e-mailed with the result of the giveaway. Therefore, your email will be automatically subscribed to our weekly Kids Yoga Stories newsletter. You may unsubscribe at any time if the content isn’t a good fit for you.
10. The contest closes on Thursday, December 15th, 2016, midnight EST.

Other Gift Guides for Kids

You might also like these other gift guides:

Ultimate Yoga for Kids Gift Guide	Mindfulness and Meditation for Kids Gift Ideas
Kids Yoga Gifts for Toddlers	Fun Gifts for Toddlers

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Other Holiday Gift Guides

This list above is part of the Gift Guides for Kids created by over eighty other mommy bloggers. Find lists organized by gender, age, interests, educational products, toys, and books. Check out the Gift Guide for Kids Pinterest board for your holiday gift inspiration.