• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kids Yoga Stories | Yoga and mindfulness resources for kids

Yoga cards, mindfulness resources, yoga books, yoga resources for kids.

  • Home
  • START HERE
  • BLOG
  • *FREE Resources*
  • ABOUT
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Graduate-Level Professional Development
    • Media Kit
    • Sign Up for Newsletter
    • Printing Instructions
    • Download Troubleshooting
    • Kids Yoga Monthly FAQ
    • KYM Login
    • Guest Posts
    • Privacy Policy
  • SHOP NOW
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Yoga and Speech Therapy

Giselle · April 12, 2016 ·

Yoga and Speech Therapy | Kids Yoga Stories

“Yoga disguised as pretend play!”

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email that brought tears to my eyes. Gail, a speech-language pathologist, wrote to tell me about her success with incorporating yoga and speech therapy into her integrated preschool classroom. The miracle of yoga is everywhere.


Who was involved in this collaborative yoga and speech therapy activity?

Gail is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in an urban school in New England. She provides inclusion language therapy activities on a weekly basis to students from Pre-Kindergarten (PK) to Grade 6. Gail collaborated with the PK teacher, the instructional assistant, the physical therapist, and several physical therapy graduate students for this yoga book lesson.

The Pre-Kindergarten is an integrated classroom, including children who are developing typically and others with special needs, as well as several English language learners.


DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE POSTERS NOW

Free Yoga Resources for Kids, Mindful Classrooms | Kids Yoga Stories

Download Your Free Resources

How do you integrate yoga and speech therapy?

THE YOGA BOOK

Gail bought our Jenny’s Winter Walk yoga book because she wanted to introduce the thematic topic of a winter nature walk and integrate the learning with yoga activities.

Jenny's Winter Walk yoga book by Giselle Shardlow of Kids Yoga Stories

OPENING THE YOGA BOOK LESSON

Prior to reading the winter yoga book, she asked the children guiding questions to obtain information on their background knowledge. First, she asked if any of the children had gone on a nature walk with their families or teachers, and what they had seen or heard on their adventure.

Then she asked the children if they had gone on a nature walk specifically in winter and what they had seen or heard on their walk. This led to a conversation on snow, snow on trees, snow on rocks, animals that do not hibernate in the winter (connecting to a previous lesson), and animal footprints in the snow.

Cards for Yoga Poses: Yoga and Speech Therapy | Kids Yoga Stories
Language cards created to supplement the children’s comprehension of the story.

READING OF THE YOGA BOOK

The speech-language pathologist led the activity focusing on story comprehension and language expansion, while the physical therapist led the yoga and gross motor activities.

Gail read the story, giving the children plenty of opportunities to make predictions and inferences. She supported story comprehension with Boardmaker picture communication symbols, to allow to maximize access to the content.

As she read the winter yoga book, she stopped on pre-selected pages to allow the physical therapist to provide verbal directions and visual demonstrations of each of the six yoga poses that had been previously selected (based on the specific gross motor needs of the two students on her caseload). Her directions were concise and developmentally appropriate, given the gross motor development of the PK children.

Yoga poses included stretching and holding poses, as well as breathing techniques. The PK teacher and the instructional assistant provided verbal prompting and physical support for anyone struggling with yoga poses. Several physical therapy students from a local college were shadowing the physical therapist, and a newly hired SLP (a new graduate) observed this collaborative activity. These adults demonstrated the yoga poses, as well, and helped the children.

Practicing yoga poses: Yoga and Speech Therapy
The therapists demonstrated the yoga poses during the book reading.

What were the benefits of integrating Yoga and Speech Therapy?

Gail says that the children benefited from this collaborative activity:

  • Expanding language skills
  • Practicing and improving gross motor skills
  • Practiced mindfulness

The children enjoyed being trees (Tree Pose), climbing over logs (Warrior 2 Pose), and walking like foxes (Extended Cat Pose). At the end of the activity, the children understood that yoga is fun and practicing yoga makes bodies stronger. They have since asked to do more yoga!

Gail calls it “yoga disguised as pretend play!” and says that the activity was a hit for all children and staff. Integrating yoga as a multi-modality and kinesthetic approach makes the learning more meaningful to children. The PT graduate students gained a new perspective of physical therapy in a school setting, as well.

The collaborative team plan to implement this yoga book experience every quarter using a different season yoga book. In April, they will read and act out Rachel’s Day in the Garden, and in June, they will share Luke’s Beach Day.

Gail shared this yoga book collaborative activity with her SLP supervisor, who was thrilled to hear of a new idea to share with her team of SLPs. And if the children are saying “More, please!”, I’d say that’s good news for us all!

Teachers practicing yoga in classroom: Yoga and Speech Therapy | Kids Yoga Stories
All the adults and children practiced the yoga poses together during the book reading.

About our Featured Speech-Language Therapist

Gail is an ASHA-certified speech/language pathologist with a B.S. from Indiana University and an M.S. from the University of Michigan. She has over 30 years of experience, the first 5 years working with adults recovering from strokes and head injuries. She worked in a school system in upstate NY before moving to central MA in 1989. Since then, Gail has worked in an urban school system (Worcester). Her present assignment is in an elementary school, where she works with children (PK to grade 6) with communication disabilities. She is married and has two adult children.


MAY WE SUGGEST

Anna and her Rainbow-Colored Yoga Mats | Kids Yoga Stories
A story about acceptance
Jenny's Winter Walk - Kids Yoga Stories
Yoga is for everyone yoga cards for kids | Kids Yoga Stories

SAVE FOR LATER

How to integrate Yoga for Kids and Speech Therapy | Kids Yoga Stories

You might also like

How to Involve Students with Special Needs into the Yoga Class
Therapeutic Benefits of Yoga for Kids
85 Fun and Engaging Yoga Themes for Kids (+ Printable Poster)

 

If you liked this post, share it here:

Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on Email

Filed Under: Kids Yoga Tagged With: yoga books for kids, yoga for speech therapy, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom, yoga speech therapy, yoga therapy for kids

Primary Sidebar

FREE POSTERS

yoga poses for kids, kids yoga, yoga printables

Welcome

Giselle Shardlow Profile Image Welcome to Kids Yoga Stories. To create the yoga books, yoga and breathing card decks, and yoga and mindfulness classroom resources, I draw from my experience as an international teacher, a world traveler, a certified yoga teacher, and a mom to a spirited child. I’ve been practicing yoga practically my whole life, and after I became a mom, I fell in love with the idea of sharing yoga and mindfulness with my daughter. Read more.

Social

  • Facebook 34 K Likes
  • Pinterest 24 K Followers
  • Insta 7 K Followers

Recent Posts

  • 3 Tips for Using Music and Rhythm as Attention Getters in Class
  • Summer Yoga Ideas for Kids (+ Printable Poster)
  • Robot Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Ninja Yoga Poses for Strength, Focus and Calm
  • Teach the Water Cycle in an Active, Engaging Way through Movement: Try Water Cycle Yoga!
  • Pollinators for Kids: Learn about pollination through yoga poses for kids




POPULAR YOGA PRODUCTS FOR KIDS

Yoga Cards Collection Image
Yoga Cards for Kids
Yoga Book Collection Image
Yoga Books for Kids
Yoga Bundles Collection Image
Yoga Bundles for Kids
Teaching Resources Image
Teaching Resources
Yoga Pose Image
Yoga Pose Images for Kids

POPULAR YOGA RESOURCES

Yoga Poses Image
Yoga Poses for Kids
Seasonal Image
Seasonal Yoga Lesson Plans
Monthly Yoga Image
Monthly Kids Yoga Themes
Holiday Yoga Image
Holiday Yoga Lesson Plans
Kids Yoga Class Ideas Image
Kids Yoga Class Ideas

QUICK LINKS

About Us
Contact Us
Store
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Refund Policy

SOCIAL

Link to Twitter Image
Link to Facebook Image
Link to Pinterest Image
Link to YouTube Image

GET FREE UPDATES

Yoga tips and kids yoga resources delivered weekly to your inbox from Kids Yoga Stories!

SIGN UP

Copyright © 2023 · Kids Yoga Stories LLC · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy