Throughout the country, as the warm weather settles in, schools are beginning to wrap up their academic year. Excitedly, we as teachers welcome the final months of the school year and our children are equally as enthusiastic, becoming increasingly antsy in their seats as they await the final day of class. Whether your child loves school or not, almost every student can identify with the mounting anticipation that comes with the start of the warmer weather and end of the year routines.
As yoga teachers, what can we do to manage this excited energy and channel it into a creating a productive class?
Here are a few tips for the final month of your school-based yoga classes.
- Take it outside. Depending on school layout and approval, perhaps you can bring your students outside for the final class. Weather permitting, changing the setting would be a great treat for both you and the kids.
- Make something. If you have used props during the year such as a glitter jar or mini inflatable balls, bring supplies for your class to create their own. Allow students to focus on assembling and/or decorating something that they can bring home and use over the summer.
- Challenge them. If your students have mastered certain poses, such as tree or warrior, challenge them to try the poses with their eyes closed. Sure, there will be laughter and wobbling, but more often than not when put to a more difficult task, the chatter and distractions will be minimized.
Teachable Tip:
If you have been doing yoga with children throughout the year, take this time as an opportunity to revisit exciting poses or explore new ones. Provide your students with a chance to celebrate what they have learned up until this point and if you have the space and feel that this can be done safely, spend the last class or two in more liberating poses such as wheel or headstand. At the very least, introducing the preparatory steps for these poses will help your students feel one step closer to mastering a more difficult pose. Should they be ready to attempt and conquer a more challenging pose, the sense of accomplishment after doing so will be a wonderful way to round out your year and will certainly leave them excited to learn more next year.