by Maia
Having kids at home with you all day can be a lot to manage, but playing yoga games at home can help.
These yoga games are great for kids to learn how to do new yoga poses, or simply to get moving while stuck at home.
In these current times of COVID-19, many of us are unexpectedly spending a lot more time at home.
Yoga games might be the perfect solution if you have kids at home and you need them to get off their screens and do something a little more movement-based that doesn’t include running laps or jumping on furniture.
If you are just starting to do yoga at home with your kids, check out these tips on how to start practicing yoga at home with your kids.
Make sure you establish the space, routine, and explain why you do yoga!
Remember also that kids yoga is NOT always the same as adult yoga.
Here are some fun yoga games you can play with your kids at home with minimal extra supplies.
Yoga Memory
Either get this set of kids yoga cards that have two copies of each pose, or make your own!
Or, get a printable set of kids yoga cards and print each card twice.
Then set up the game of yoga memory.
- Lay each card facedown on the floor or another surface.
- Turn over two cards.
- Do each pose for five breaths. I
- f they are two different poses, turn them back over where they were.
- If you get a match, you get to keep the cards and take another turn!
- Once you’ve made all the matches, count up who has the most for the winner.
Dice Game with Yoga poses
Grab my printable free version from the Kids Freebie Library, get the full printable set from my store, or make your own by writing the numbers 2-12 on a paper and assigning a pose to each number. All you need then is a dice or two.
Roll the dice, count them up, and do the corresponding pose.
Hold each pose for 5 breaths, and make sure to take turns.
Yoga Spinner Game
Get the printable spinner game from my shop, or make your own yoga spinner.
- Draw a circle and divide it up like a pizza, putting a yoga pose in each triangle.
- Use a pencil and paperclip to make a spinner in the middle.
- See what pose it lands on and do the pose for five breaths.
Yoga Twister
If you have an old game of twister lying around this is a fun one.
- You need a few yoga cards, and a spinner with colors (comes with the game).
- Instead of hands and feet, you name a pose and then call out two colors.
- You call the pose and the colors, and the player has to do the pose on those colors.
- You might need to change the directional plane of the pose (tree can be horizontal instead of vertical, boat can be on your side instead of your seat) which makes it more challenging and fun!
(I also found this fun yoga twister inspired yoga mat while perusing the internet today!)
Yoga Board Game
Create your own board game by drawing on some paper or an empty unfolded cereal box. Or, print out my yoga game here, comes with a blank version to create your own as well!
This is another fun yoga game for an at home option from Amazon.
- Play the game by rolling dice or creating a spinner, move markers like coins or other small figures.
- Each time you land on a pose, do the pose for 5 breaths!
- Make it more challenging by closing your eyes while you hold each pose, or doing the poses on blocks or with a partner.
Fortune Teller Yoga
Another classic game that can be adapted for yoga (and mindfulness!) at home.
- Start with a square piece of paper and follow the folding directions to make a “fortune teller” (or cootie catcher as they were called in my day).
- Write words or colors on the outside flats, numbers in the next layer, and yoga poses in the middle.
- Do the selected pose or breathing activity for five breaths.
Get my printable version and directions here.
Partner Pose Create
Start with a deck of yoga cards and draw one out at random.
Figure out a way to make it into a partner pose to help your partner stretch or strengthen or balance more.
OR draw out two cards of different poses and find a way to make them connect!
Check out other partner poses in this post for doing yoga at home with kids here.
Yoga Storytelling
This is a fun one where you can use just your knowledge of poses. Or, you can grab a handy set of yoga pose cards.
Take turns naming a pose (or drawing a pose card) and incorporating it into a story.
Example: Once there was a dog. The dog met a frog and they started to play chase. Suddenly a volcano exploded. But luckily a huge eagle came swooping over them and saved them. They flew all the way up to a star. But a warrior saw the eagle and shot an arrow at it. Thankfully the eagle dodged the arrow and landed next to a cobra. They all went and hid in a tree.
This yoga storytelling can get weird and silly but it sure forces you to be creative! It helps to go through the deck and make sure you have names for poses that can allow them to be in the story (i.e. change Triangle to Shooting Star or Curtsying Princess or something).
Jenga Yoga
I just played this game with my students the week before COVID-19 happened. It was so much fun!
You do need a set of Jenga to play. Take a permanent marker and write a pose name on each block (or a mindfulness breathing technique).
You can also draw stick figures if your kiddo is still learning to read.
As you play this classic game of concentration and mindfulness (bonus attribute!) with each block you successfully extract, do the pose named for 5 breaths. We did the poses all together to keep us all active.
Try to (mindfully) get your tower super tall before it crashes!
I hope these fun kids yoga games at home help you entertain your kids and keep them active and moving during times stuck at home.
Whether it is a rainy day, a snow day, a sick day, or a pandemic, I hope you stay entertained and do yoga together!
Don’t forget to check out my printable yoga games for kids here with 5 of these games ready to play with beautiful poses and descriptions all included.
Also take a look at this post for how to set up a yoga space and introduce yoga to kids at home.
