How do I create a kids yoga lesson plan for different age groups?

Start with our lesson plan template, which includes the full Grounded class arc: Theme, Heart Action, Yoga Philosophy, Alignment Action, Tune In, Warm-Up, Sequence, Cool Down, Rest, Elevate, and Sprinklings. This arc applies across age groups — you just adjust how it’s delivered. For preschoolers and young kids, use more repetition, songs, and visual cues. Keep pose instructions short and playful, and limit sequences to 4–6 poses. Plan for a 30-minute class. For elementary students, add longer flows and integration projects such as art that helps emphasize the theme or creating a mini flow based on what they are working on in their own lives. With tweens and teens, increase complexity, emotional reflection, and opportunities to co-lead. The structure stays consistent — the rhythm, pacing, and tone evolve with the child.

Where can I find printable or downloadable yoga lesson plans for kids?

Grounded Kids Yoga offers physical and printable lesson plans and visual class templates in our trainings, products, and downloads. Our 11-part lesson plan format is used across all age groups, and you’ll find themed sequences in our 6 Essential Lesson Plans and Videos, all of our curriculum, and training manuals. Use our templates to build custom flows or pull ready-made plans like our Focus in Time, My Breath Flow, or Charlie and the Chakra Factory. These are ideal for teachers, therapists, and parents who want to guide meaningful classes using real methodology.

How do I build a weekly or monthly yoga curriculum for children?

Use the 5 Elements Bundle or the Grounded in Color Collection to structure a full year of monthly themes. Choose a focus like Trust, Power, or Compassion, then design a class around each using poses, breathwork, and heart actions. Right there you have one year of monthly classes that build on one another so your students keep coming back. Other ideas for monthly or weekly series include repeating mini-flows and adding complexity to build skill and confidence. Offer experienced students what we call Ground Breaking options as challenges to go deeper into poses. Perhaps align each class with a season, SEL goal, or developmental milestone. The Pose Cards and Lesson Plan Template as well as all of our curriculum make it easy to organize class arcs around purpose—not just movement.

How do I sequence yoga poses for kids in a safe and engaging way?

Grounded pose flows follow a full-spectrum sequence: Centering → Breathwork → Warm-ups → Strengthening → Balance → Cool Down → Rest. Each category includes poses that build stamina, confidence, and self-awareness. Use mini-flows like “Charge Your Power” or “Feel Your Breath” to layer repetition with creativity. Add transitions like “Don’t Rock the Boat” or “Because I Said So” to maintain flow and focus. Sequencing should match the age, mood, and setting of each class. You can also use ready-made flows from our Focus in Time Kit, which includes five printable yoga sequences between 4 and 10 minutes long — ideal for movement breaks, transitions, or short, structured practice sessions.

How do I use children’s books and storytelling in kids yoga lesson plans?

Use each page of the book as a yoga prompt, or let the kids act out the story using poses. Choose books that match your theme and heart action. For example, a story about bravery can become a Warrior flow. After reading, repeat the poses, reflect, and let kids create new movements based on the story. Storytelling builds literacy, self-expression, and body awareness. It’s not just enrichment — it’s core to how children learn through yoga.

What are the essential parts of a well-structured children’s yoga class?

Every Grounded Kids Yoga class follows a clear rhythm that creates safety, consistency, and flow. We use a structured 11-part format that includes: Theme, Heart Action, Yoga Philosophy, Alignment Action, Tune In, Warm Up, Sequence, Cool Down, Rest, Elevate, and Sprinklings. The sequence is flexible, but the flow matters. You start by setting the energetic tone, then layer in poses, transitions, stories, breathwork, and activities that match your group and theme. For younger kids, you might emphasize repetition and ritual. For older students, you can expand into co-creation, reflection, and stillness. What makes the structure “essential” is how it helps children feel safe enough to explore and elevate.

How can I align yoga lesson plans with SEL or homeschool learning goals?

Grounded lessons integrate Social Emotional Learning through heart actions, breath-based regulation, and connection-centered pose flows. You can map each class to CASEL core competencies using our themes: Trust (Self-Awareness), Power (Self-Management), Compassion (Relationship Skills), and so on. For homeschoolers, our Homeschool Yoga & Mindfulness Toolkit and Printed Homeschool Yoga Starter Pack offer ready-to-use curriculum, printable tools, and regulation sequences designed for home-based learning. These resources provide structure and self-reflection while meeting movement, mindfulness, and literacy standards. The Curriculum & Lesson Plans Collection also includes options aligned with common core and SEL goals. Each lesson can incorporate journaling, reading, or expressive art during the Elevate phase of class. Grounded yoga sequences are an approved activity for Physical Education credit in many states.

What should a beginner-level kids yoga curriculum include?

Start with repetition-based flows, basic alignment cues, and visual aids like Pose Cards or floor markers. Each class should include a Theme, Heart Action, Alignment Action, Tune In, Pose Flow, Rest, and Closing. Stick to foundational poses like Mountain, Tree, Down Dog, Cobra, and Resting Pose that you can use in each class. Our Solid Ground Flow is a kid-friendly sun salutation perfect for beginners. Use our Lesson Plan Template and pre-made mini-flows to build consistency. Over time, add co-leading, story elements, and effective rituals to deepen engagement.

How do I adapt lesson plans for short time blocks like morning meetings or brain breaks?

Use short yoga sequences that follow the Grounded rhythm: Theme → Movement → Rest. Just compress the arc. These micro-flows are ideal for classroom transitions, sensory breaks, and behavior resets — especially when repeated daily. Our Focus in Time Kit was specifically created for this. It includes 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10 minute sequences that are easy to teach with no props and no prior yoga experience required. Lessons like “Prepare to Thrive,” “Time & Again,” and “Strengthen Your Spine” use clear visuals and repeated rhythm to help kids shift state quickly and sustainably. These can be used in schools, therapy sessions, or at home.

What are fun and effective yoga themes to use with children?

Children learn best through themes that feel familiar, fun, and meaningful. Our Grounded Kids Yoga themes combine movement, story, and emotional growth in ways kids remember and love. Examples include: Charlie and the Chakra Factory — explore energy centers through character development and chocolate-factory-style wonder. Yamas and Niyamas — Once you are confident in your understanding of these External and Internal principles, you can teach them in the right setting in age-appropriate ways to even the Pre-Grounded kids ages 3 to 6. Pizza Party — layer poses and breath like ingredients to build focus, connection, and body awareness. Superhero Alignment — embody grounded strength, flexibility, and compassion through themed flows tied to the chakras. Inner Fire — ignite confidence and personal power through breath, balance, and movement. My Breath Flow — use visualization and rhythmic movement to build awareness and regulation. Each theme is mapped to alignment actions, heart virtues, and developmental goals — making them ideal for school settings, enrichment programs, or therapy-based sessions.

The Grounded Kids Yoga Blog

Welcome to the Grounded Kids Yoga Blog, Media and Press page—your go-to resource for everything kids yoga, mindfulness, and educator inspiration. Explore interviews, podcast appearances, press features, and practical tips for teaching grounded, joyful yoga to kids of all ages. From movement games to meditations, classroom rituals to research-backed techniques—we’ve got tools you can use right now

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Practices & Philosophy

How does a 4th grader live her yoga? Thoughts on “I Am What I Am”

Kelli Love is a Certified Grounded Teacher working as a yoga specialist full time in a NYC charter school. Watch this video clip and then read on to learn how she seamlessly weaves best teaching practicies with yoga. {“video”:”https://vimeo.com/grounded/review/84695368/c9ea1579f2″,”width”:”400″,”height”:”300″}

Practices & Philosophy

Why Grounded Kids is the Best Kids Yoga Teacher Training Program

Grounded Kids Yoga is widely regarded as the premier children’s yoga teacher certification training in the field, and for good reason. This comprehensive school of yoga goes beyond just teaching yoga; it empowers you to make a real impact on children’s lives through yoga, mindfulness, and social-emotional learning. Here are 11 reasons why Grounded Kids…

Interviews & Features

Yoga for the Youngest Generation-Our Feature in Natural Awakenings

Amy Haysman shares the origin of Grounded Kids Yoga in this Natural Awakenings interview. Discover what sparked the movement.

Practices & Philosophy

The Ground Truth

Have you ever head the term “The Ground Truth”? Spies say it when they want to know what really went down, no cover-ups and no interpretations. Apparently in life or death spy situations it’s important to know the ground truth in order to move forward in the mission. In NASA, the ground truth is part of the calibration process where a person on the ground makes a measurement of the same thing the satellite is trying to measure at the same time. The two answers are then compared to help evaluate how well the satellite instrument is performing.

Children in superhero yoga poses representing the chakra system

Practices & Philosophy

Chakras & Superpowers: A Blissful Yoga Adventure for Kids

Inspired by Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes, a kids yoga teacher created a chakra-based superhero series that helped young students tap into their inner powers. Through movement, imagination, and mindfulness, children explored each chakra and discovered how to balance energy, boost confidence, and find their bliss

Practices & Philosophy

Count On Meditation to Be Your Best Self

It’s true that meditation helps children to feel better, know better and do better. That’s because meditators are in touch with their best self. If we’ve neglected to stay in touch with that part of ourselves, then how can we introduce that self to others? When access to our best self is as close as our next inhalation and expressing our best self is as easy as the next exhalation, then showing up to school, tests, parties, conversations, and even to do your chores as your best self feels natural. If your best self feels like a stranger, this meditation will help you tune in to your goodness and integrate that energy into your being

The Grounded Kids Yoga Blog

Categories

Interviews & Features

Parent & School Insights

Homeschooling Resources

Practices & Philosophy

Research & Resources

Teaching Tips & Training Quips

Why Grounded Kids is the Best Kids Yoga Teacher Training Program

Yoga for the Youngest Generation-Our Feature in Natural Awakenings

The Ground Truth

Chakras & Superpowers: A Blissful Yoga Adventure for Kids

Count On Meditation to Be Your Best Self

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