5 Safari Animals Yoga Poses Using a Chair (+ Printable Poster)

Welcome back to our chair yoga poses series! This month’s theme features safari animals!

These five safari animals-inspired yoga poses could be done:

during a transition time in the classroom
during a subject change in your homeschool classroom
at home when you’re stuck indoors
when you would like to practice yoga in a small space

Begin your pretend visit to the safari with 123 African Safari, a yoga book about numbers. Imagine all the things you’ll see and do while on safari. Engage the children’s five senses as they bring the safari to life with their minds and bodies.

Clear the space, grab a chair, practice barefoot, and unleash your imagination!

5 Safari Animals Yoga Poses Using a Chair

1. Warrior 1 Pose – Pretend to be a wildebeest: Stand tall with legs hip-width apart, feet facing forward, and straighten your arms alongside your body. Step one foot back, angling it slightly outward. Bend your front knee, bring your arms straight up toward the sky, and look up. Use the chair for support under your front leg if necessary. Pretend to be a wildebeest. Repeat on the other side.
2. Triangle Forward Bend – Pretend to be a zebra: Stand tall with legs hip-width apart in front of your chair, feet facing forward, and straighten your arms alongside your body. Take your right foot back, keeping your ankle bent at a thirty-degree angle. Place your hands on the front of the chair, ensuring that your back is flat and that you are looking straight ahead. Then slowly bend forward as if your hips are a hinge, keeping a flat back and a long neck. Check that your spine is straight. Pretend to be a zebra. Repeat on the other side.
3. Dancer’s Pose – Pretend to be an ostrich: Stand tall in Mountain Pose behind your chair. Then grab the back of your chair with your right hand, stand on your right leg, reach your left leg out behind you, and place the outside of your left foot into your left hand. Bend your torso forward, with your right hand on the chair for balance, and arch your leg up behind you. Pretend to be an ostrich. Switch sides and repeat the steps.
4. Wide-Legged Forward Bend – Pretend to be an elephant: Stand tall with legs hip-width apart in front of your chair, feet facing forward, and straighten your arms alongside your body. Then, step your feet out wide, bend your upper body, and take your hands to the back of the chair. Bend your arms and rest your forehead on the front of your chair. Feel the gentle stretch in your legs. Pretend to be an elephant.
5. Cat Pose – Pretend to be a cheetah: From a sitting position with your feet flat on the ground, round your back and tuck your chin into your chest, stretching your back. Pretend to be a cheetah.

Buy yoga cards for kids here >>
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See more yoga pose descriptions here >>

Download the Safari Animals Yoga Poster

Safari Animals Yoga Book for Young Children: 123 African Safari

Meet various animals on your African safari adventure!

Join Baraka, one of the Yoga Kids, as he goes on a safari with his family around Tanzania, Africa. Drink like a zebra, cruise like an ostrich,
and sleep like a lion. Learn about this spectacular country, explore movement, and practice counting to fifteen! Ages 3+.

123 African Safari

Collection of Chair Yoga Ideas for Kids

Are you looking for easy chair yoga themes for your classroom or homeschool? Click below to see a list of ideas from our chair yoga series:

Collection of Chair Yoga Ideas for Kids

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