Aren’t we all worried about the future of our kids? If you introduce concepts like mindfulness to your kids from an early age, along with activities like yoga, they can transform into peaceful, calm, and level-headed individuals. Apart from this, you will also be encouraging your kids to live a healthy lifestyle, something they eventually develop a habit of.
Fighting and overcoming everyday problems, which are evolving with time, becomes incredibly easy for individuals who are peaceful from within.
That is why, in this article, I have listed down 10 top yoga books for kids that can help you perform and teach yoga poses to your kids in a fun and creative way.
Age Range: 2+ years old
Written By: Uliana Klepinina and Argo Brothers
Why this book?
Number one on our list is Yoga and mindfulness for kids. It instructs parents and teachers on how they can teach kids to cope with confusing feelings, emotions, and avoid distractions. This book also encourages kids to focus, regulate emotions, manage stress, and sustain positivity. The readers of this book commented that their kids developed and exhibited a renewed sense of gratitude, contentment, and appreciation.
Inside this book, you will find:
25 yoga activities to practice
Video Tutorials how to perform poses
Exciting games and activities
Attention to the present through organic and mindful activities
Ways to incorporate yoga in both your life and your kid’s daily life
The best part of this book is the “parent side” and the “kid’s side,” which further enlightens the difference between both posses. The kid side has colorful, creative, and beautiful illustrations while the parent side has high-quality photos of yoga poses. The book also offers encouragement and motivation throughout the pages to both parents and kids. The attention to simplifying it and making it a part of your life is why this is the perfect book for your family.
Written By: Susan Verde
Age Range: 3 to 9-year-olds
Why this book?
The second on our list is the book “I Am Yoga,” written by Susan Verde, a certified yoga instructor and illustrated by the talented Peter Reynold because of its ability to transform a person from scene to scene.
This book focuses on strengthening the capacity of creative and imaginative thinking in little kids as well as developing and enhancing the power of self-expression in them. Even with an age range of 3 to 9 years old, all age groups can enjoy this book.
Inside The Book:
Within this book, you will find an extraordinary illustration of yoga posses depicting powerful emotions and state of mind. The book revolves around the story of a girl in the midst of difficulties and follows her movement as she evolves into a more self-regulated state. Each poses the girl performs; for instance, the tree pose, the camel pose, and the relaxation pose, is accompanied by tranquil and impactful words.
Written By: Christiane Engel
Age Range: 3 to 8 years old
Why this book?
Number three on our list is the simply ingenious book ABC Yoga by Christiane. The author simplifies yoga poses with creative and colorful illustrations for children. The book accompanies illustrations with alphabetic animals and objects. In addition, the book also features playful rhymes that further explain the movements of each pose.
For example,
"Hooty owl in the trees. Look straight ahead. Sit on your knees."
Clever rhymes like these encourage movement, enhance mental health, and incorporate healthy habits in your kids as early as their toddler age. This book also serves as a good introduction to different kinds of animals.
Inside The Book:
The inside of this book gives the adult reader a nostalgic feel of their childhood as they go through the alphabets, this acts as a guide for the parents to teach their young ones the basic yoga poses in a fun way. Poses like crawling like a crocodile, hoping like a grasshopper, and stretching like a fox mimic the natural movement of animals and make doing yoga even more fun for the kids.
As the count of alphabets, the book depicts 26 yoga poses under simplified names for easy remembrance and recognition. It transforms common asanas or yoga names like,
A downward-facing dog becomes Dog
Bridge pose becomes Whale
Cow pose becomes Yak
Extended child pose becomes Armadillo
The cobbler pose becomes Butterfly
There is also an index provided at the end of the book for the parent to know the correct name of each asana.
Written By: Mariam Gates
Age Range: 5 to 8 years old
Why this book?
Mariam Gates, in her book Good morning Yoga, inspires kids to start their day with energizing exercises. The book depicts bold illustrations that encourage and teach kids how to regulate their energies throughout the day, so they go from fiery to calm and still. At the end of the book, there is a breakdown explanation of the visualization and breathing exercises featured in the book.
This book is an excellent way to teach your kids yoga through movement cues and to teach them about nature. Even with an age range of 5 to 8 years old, this book is appropriate for all elementary grades.
Written By: Mariam Gate
Age Range: 4 to 8 years old
Why this book?
Goodnight Yoga is another one of Mariam Gate’s masterpiece book for kid’s yoga with amazing illustrations that depict nature in astonishing ways.
This book focuses on teaching kids the flow of yoga poses inspired by nature like “Cloud Gathering,” “Sun Breath,” and “Ladybug & Butterfly.” Techniques like these help soothe and relax the mind and body as well as bring the focus back to attention.
Goodnight Yoga also helps the parents teach their kids confidence, ways to get a restful sleep, and overall healthy well-being.
Written By: Rebecca Whitford
Age Range: 1 to 4 years old
Why this book?
The book is the perfect introduction to yoga with simple and easy nine yoga posses. The book contains colorful, creative, and playful illustrations of kids performing the poses with playful animals. The book also features tips, guides, and photos for the parents for them to help their kids.
This book will help you develop the perfect base of yoga in your kids. This book is unlike any other because of its direct aim towards the preschooler in a colorful, fun, and accessible way.
Written By: Rebecca Whitford
Age Range: 1 to 4 years old
Why this book?
Sleepy Little Yoga won the title of Best Children’s Book of the Year in 2008. This book helps kids wind down from a long day before bedtime. The simple nine yoga poses and exercises help soothe the mind and body, resulting in relaxed and restful sleep.
Sleepy little yoga has practice tips, detailed information on each pose (for the instructors and caregivers), and photos of kids doing the poses on each page to help kids easily copy them. When you look at those poses and pictures, it is very easy to conclude that inspiration for those came from nighttime animals like bats and owls, even bunnies.
Overall, sleepy little yoga is a colorful, accessible, and bright book that helps younger benefit from yoga.
Written By: Taeeun Yoo
Age Range: 3 to 5 years old
Why this book?
From an award-winning artist and writer, this book if great, especially for younger children, because it encourages them to enjoy animal yoga poses by imagining themselves as those animals. The readers of this book have noticed an increased sense of imagination, flexibility, and focus on their kids. The kids like role-playing animals so much that they initiate each day’s yoga sessions.
Written By: Kathy Beliveau
Age Range: 3 to 7 years old
Why this book?
Even though Kathy specified the age range of this book to be 3 to 10 years old, it is suitable for children of all ages since it invites the reader to connect with the sea. The refreshing exercises and the rhyming riddles create a rich experience for both the children and their caregivers.
Written By: Kathy Beliveau
Age Range: 3 to 7 years old
Why this book?
Last but nowhere near the least, is Kathy Beliveau’s book, “The Yoga Game in the garden,” with the alliance of the illustrator Denis Holmes. It shows yoga poses with the theme of the garden.
The book features yoga posses, like “hum like the bee” or “grow like the tree,” that enable kids to be more attentive to their surroundings. The book also has many creative riddles and rhymes on each page, asking children to guess which pose they are in.
These books provide your kids with the perfect balance of fun and creativity with health and mindfulness. The books mentioned here are so wholesome and in sync with the natural need of the human nature that you will witness your kids obsess over it right in front of your eyes.
There’s no better way to bring up your kid than to give them the gift of good habits that they’ll carry on with his life.
