5 Swamp Books for Kids and 5 Swamp Animals Yoga Poses for Kids

For another interesting kids yoga class idea, why not learn about swamp flora and fauna through swamp animals yoga poses for kids!

Recently, we visited a plantation near Charleston, North Carolina. We were excited to see egrets, dragonflies, alligators, turtles, cypress trees, Spanish moss, great blue herons, moorhens, and butterflies on our swamp tour.

When we got back home, we headed to the library to find some children’s books about the swamp to learn more about this fascinating habitat. We learned that swamps are a warm-air ecosystem with a wet and soggy ground. Most of America’s swamplands are found in the southeast corner of the country.

Other facts that my daughter and I found interesting:

• dragonflies are born underwater and spend their first two years of their lives there.
• alligators are the biggest animals in the swamp and have about eighty sharp teeth.
• cypress trees live in flooded soil and have “knees” at the bottom of their trunks.
• moorhens are also called “swamp chickens.”

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5 Best Swamp Books for Kids

Our five favorite swamp animals books for kids:

The Swamp Where Gator Hides
by Marianne Berkes and Roberta Baird
This is another great book by Marianne Berkes. Following the classic “The House That Jack Built” rhyming pattern, it builds up the alligator as the largest predator in the swamp. A parent-teacher guide lists the swamp animals at the back of the book.

America’s Wetlands
by Marianne Wallace
I love this series of books detailing the flora and fauna of each of America’s ecosystems. These non-fiction books would be great for older children or to use as a parent-teacher reference. I love the double-spread illustration of the swamp animals on the Southeast page.

Swamp Song
by Helen Ketterman and Ponder Goembel
Swamp criminals move and sing to Old Man Gator’s song in this silly, captivating book for young children.

Swamp Chomp
by Lola Schaefer and Paul Meisel
The simple one-line text would make this an easy book to use in a kids yoga class. Each page highlights a different swamp animal along the food chain (illustrated at end of book).

Deep in the Swamp
by Donna Bateman and Brian Lies
This delightfully illustrated book follows the classic “Over in the Meadow” rhyming text detailing animals from the Okefenokee Swamp on the Florida-Georgia border. Also included in an extensive parent-teacher guide with swamp flora and fauna facts.

5 Swamp Animals Books for Kids

5 Swamp Yoga Poses for Kids

After reading the swamp books for kids, make a list of swamp animals. For example, animals that live in American swamps are:

• Rat snake
• Egret
• Dragonfly
• Alligator
• Turtle
• Great Blue Heron
• Moorhen
• Wood Duck
• Otter
• Damselfly
• Bullfrog
• Crayfish
• Swamp Rabbit

Then check out our list of yoga poses for kids for ideas on creating yoga poses matching the swamp animals—or simply follow this swamp yoga sequence below. These yoga poses are specifically sequenced to invite flow from one pose to the next:

1.TREE POSE – Pretend to be an egret. Stand on one leg. Bend the knee of the leg you are not standing on, place the sole of your foot on the opposite inner thigh or calf (just not touching your knee), and balance. Pretend to stand in the shallow water like an egret. Switch sides and repeat the steps.
2. SQUAT POSE – Pretend to be a moorhen. Come down to a squat with your knees apart. Bend your arms, tucking your hands into your arm pits, and pretend to waddle like a moorhen.
3. PLANK POSE – Pretend to be an alligator. From Squat Pose, step back to a plank position on your bent toes. Keep your arms straight and your back long and flat. Pretend to be an alligator gliding through the swampy water.
4. COBRA POSE – Pretend to be a rat snake. Come down to lie on your tummy and place your palms flat next to your shoulders. Pressing into your hands, lift your head and shoulders off ground. Hiss like a rat snake.
5. EXTENDED CHILD’S POSE – Pretend to be a turtle. Press back to sitting on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, place the palms of your hands flat out in front of you, and take a few deep breaths. Imagine being a turtle sunning itself on a branch in the swamp.

What other swamp animal moves did you come up with? What did you learn about swamp life?

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5 Swamp Animals Yoga Poses for Kids

 

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Learn and practice 25 yoga poses for kids!

Mix-and-match twenty five yoga poses for kids with twenty five illustrated keywords (categories are Travel, Earth, People, and Animals). The yogi kids are multicultural from seven different countries. Pose index, pose instructions, and yoga tips included. Target age group: Fun for all ages.

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