Yoga

 Yoga with toddlers!

So I know that doing yoga with your toddler is not a new idea by any means...but it is valuable even if you're not really into yoga.  I was having so much fun doing yoga with my daughter the other day, and was so impressed by some of her poses that I felt the need to write about it.

Kids love Yoga because it lets them be goofy and physical.  Also, often they're better than you are at many of the poses (which they get a kick out of).  It's exercise which is great and you can do some silly bonding.

 

These flash cards are pretty great because it gives us the opportunity to do yoga and talk about abc's/phonics. They're "The ABCs of Yoga for Kids Learning Cards" by Teresa Anne Power,(link to amazon.com if you're interested).  I focus on the letter of the week both at home and in my classroom with the yoga flashcards.  In my classroom I laminate color copies of the cards and put them in a basket on the shelf along with a pint-sized yoga mat.  The children get the work out and practice their yoga.  With older children they can take off their shoes while doing this (an extra special addition).

 But you don't have to limit yourself to yoga to combine physical activities with learning.  You can roll a ball or throw a ball back and forth.  While doing so you can count (I've found that kindergarten and older kids LOVE playing catch and counting up to 100+ each time the ball is caught). You can also say the ABC's with each letter with each roll or, for older kids an object, food, animal, etc for each letter (Alligator, Baboon, Cat...) in the order of the alphabet.  These activities are nice because you can do them indoors and still get some large muscle/exercise in.  Remember dancing! Dancing while holding, lifting, etc. your child is great exercize for you too.  Try to get them exercise during the Winter months when they're unable to go outside because of weather.