Introducing children to yoga and mindfulness has all sorts of positive results. It helps them ride out their “big emotions.” Mindfulness helps children exercise their compassion muscles. And both yoga and mindfulness help kids focus so that they’re more ready to learn. But that doens’t mean that yoga for kids can’t be fun!
Here are some of our family’s favorite children’s books and activity decks that help kids discover the fun and peace of yoga and mindfulness.
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Best books about mindfulness and yoga for kids
My Daddy is a Pretzel: Yoga for Parents and Kids by Baron Baptiste and Sophie Fatus
Join a group of children who are sharing what their parents do each day during circle time. One of the kid’s dads is a yoga teacher.
As the other children share their parents’ occupations, this child thinks about how sometimes his daddy is something similar. For example, Niki’s mummy is a gardener. Sometimes his daddy is a tree. The next two pages show kids how to do the tree pose.
There are easy to follow step by step instructions, with a picture for each step of the pose. There’s also a short description about how each poses helps children’s minds and bodies.
I recently read this book to the children at my church and did almost all of the poses in the book with them. Most of the kids had never done yoga before and had a great time streteching and playing. (Recommended for ages 3+)
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Yoga Pretzels: 50 Fun Yoga Activities for Kids and Grownups by Baron Baptiste and Sophie Fatus
If you enjoy the nine yoga poses in My Daddy is a Pretzel, you can give kids a much bigger toolkit of poses, breaths, and even partner activities in the Yoga Pretzels activity deck. These sturdy, laminated 5 inch by 7 inch cards are perfect for the classroom or home. Once you help a child learn the pose, they’ll be able to use the step by step pictures on the cards to remind themselves of how to do it.
These yoga for kids activities are divided into sections including balance, twisting and stretching, standing, forward bend, back bend, breathe, game, and partner.
Above you can see one of my Barefoot Books customer’s doing a pose with her daughter (but rest assured most of the poses are very simple!) (Recommended for ages 4+)
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Harini and Padmini Say Namaste by Amy Maranville and Tim Palin
I love how this story captures the playfulness of yoga for kids, while also introducing them to the spiritual roots of yoga. At her first yoga session, Padmini learns from her teacher that when they greet each other with the word “namaste,” they are saying that “the divine in me bows down and recognizes the divine in you.” She also learns that the physical poses (asanas) will help her tune into her body.
Whether children have tried any yoga or not, they will enjoy Harini’s facial expressions as she tries each pose (including a lot of mistakes!) This story is a great one to spark kids curiousity about trying yoga. (Recommended for ages 5+)
Related Post: 7 ways to teach mindfulness to toddlers and preschoolers
Download a Mindful Kids activity pack from my free Resource Library
A Morning with Grandpa by Sylvia Liu and Christina Forshay
This story captures the loving, playful relationship between a girl and her grandfather as they try tai chi and yoga.
When Mei Mei asks her Gong Gong about the slow, deliberate movements he’s making, he tells her he’s practicing a martial art called tai chi. Mei Mei’s imitates him, but her movements are bouncy and quick. Though they have little resemblance to what her grandfather is doing, he assures her that she’s getting it right.
Mei Mei then decides it’s time to teach Gong Gong something she’s good at: yoga. When he tries to do downward dog, “he wobbled like an old dog, creaky at the knees.” But Mei Mei reassures him that he’s doing it perfectly.
The end notes include a few different practices from both tai chi and yoga for kids to try. (Recommended for ages 4+)
Good Night Yoga: A Pose by Pose Bedtime Story by Mariam Gates and Sarah Jane Hinder
If your children have difficulty settling down for the night, Good Night Yoga could be just the book you need.
As children hear about events that signal the day is done, they do a corresponding yoga pose. For example, as the sun goes down in the sky, children lift their arms to the sky and then lower them like sunrays.
The dreamy illustrations, gentle words, and soothing poses combine to help children prepare for sleep. (Recommended for ages 4+)
Mindful Kids: 50 Mindfulness Activities for Kindness, Focus, and Calm by Whitney Stewart and Mina Braun
This activity deck of simple mindfulness activities that children can do alone or as a group is similar in format to the Yoga Pretzels deck above. When Barefoot Books introduced it in October, teachers and parents were so excited that it sold out in just six weeks! There are sets of activities for starting and ending the day, finding calm in the midst of big feelings, developing focus, opening your heart to others, and rest and relaxation.
You can read my full review of Mindful Kids here, and be sure to download my free sample pack of activities by subscribing to my free Resource Library. (recommended for ages 4+)
Related Post: Fun Activities to Help Kids Become “Smart at Heart”
I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds
People of all ages can benefit from mindfulness, but children especially need it because the waves of emotion they experience are so strong. This simple story follows a child who is so worried that the thoughts in the child’s head feel like rushing water carrying them away.
Kids watch as this child settles into the here and now, letting worries float away and then pop like bubbles. They learn what it means to connect to others and to nature, so that in this moment “I am peace.” (Recommended for ages 5+)
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