We are so excited to be part of the inauguaral Mums & Kids IN.CO BAGS.
Unboxing our IN.CO BAG
As soon as we received our IN.CO BAG, Mia was so excited to look through its contents. The first thing that Mia noticed was the Little Yogi Mat and immediately asked “Is this mine Mummy?” Mia currently practices yoga at her daycare, so she knows what a yoga mat is and she has also seen Mummy go to the gym with her yoga mat, so she was really excited when I responded “Yes Mia, this is your very own yoga mat!” I loved the design and pattern of the Little Yogi Mat. Unlike normal yoga mats, this is in an oval shaped mat and the designs on the mat is kid friendly. As we continue going through the contents of the bag, we realise the theme of this IN.CO BAG.
Yoga for kids
Next out of the bag was the two boxes of Creative Yoga Games for Kids. I was absolutely intrigued by the contents of the box as I have always wanted to do yoga with Mia but needed some guidance on what poses are suitable for kids. I quickly looked into Volume 1 which consists of 48 cards with different yoga postures. Each card has a child doing the posture as well as a step by step guide to help the child get to that posture. The cards are also grouped in different colours of 5 or 6 cards to create a yoga sequence. I looked through the cards and so many of the postures are ones I do and that I have seen Mia show me. I was so excited at the prospect of doing yoga together!
The other box is Volume 2 of Creative Yoga Games for Kids. Here is another 50 yoga postures (different to volume 1). Both boxes are accompanied with a booklet to help guide you as the parent on how to help your child through the poses as well as some game ideas to practise with your child. I was reading through some of the game ideas and I can’t wait to put them into practise with Mia.
The final item in the bag was a DVD ‘From Yoga to Dance for Kids‘. The DVD has children doing yoga sequences as a group. I love that they go through the yoga sequence the first time in a very detailed manner so that kids can learn each posture. When the sequence is run a second time round, it is done along with music and as a flowing sequence. This then encourages you and your child to do yoga with music, which is a fabulous idea because kids love and respond to music.
Why teach kids yoga?
When I first heard that yoga was being taught to children as young as 2 and 3 (like at Mia’s childcare) I initially gave a little chuckle and thought “what a cute idea”. But when I looked into the reason behind introducing yoga to kids at such a young age, I was blown away by the amount of benefits. In a nutshell what yoga can do for your kids:
- Develop body awareness
- Learn how to use their bodies in a healthy way
- Manage stress through breathing, awareness, meditation and healthy movement
- Build concentration
- Increase their confidence and positive self-image
- Feel part of a healthy, non-competitive group (when practised in a group setting)
- Have an alternative to tuning out through constant attachment to electronic devices
Our first Mummy and daughter yoga experience
On a beautiful Saturday morning, Mia and I got changed into our yoga gear. I grabbed my yoga mat and Mia grabbed her Little Yogi Mat and off we went outside to do some yoga together using the Creative Yoga Games for Kids cards. We started off with some stretches together to warm up and off we went and grabbed card number 1 which was the Butterfly pose.
I showed the picture of the card to Mia and she quickly was able to copy the pose with no issues. We moved on to card number 2 which was the Starfish pose. Again I showed the picture of the pose to Mia and she was able to copy it easily enough. So far so good! We got to card number 3 and as I showed the picture to Mia she looked at me and said “Mummy I can’t do it.” Aha! This is where the step by step instructions come into play.
As I read the instructions out loud to Mia and helped her manoeuvre her feet and hands, before we knew it she was doing the Table pose! I said “There you go Mia, you did it!” She beamed with happiness as she was able to do the pose. Poses 4 and 5 also required us going through the step by step instructions as Mia said she couldn’t do those either. We had done 5 postures! There was lots of giggling and laughter during the poses and I loved being able to do something I enjoy with Mia that well didn’t involve playing with Barbies or watching another episode of Peppa Pig. We were doing something that Mummy and Mia could enjoy together and reap a ton of benefits from it as well.
I didn’t want to overload Mia on her first time doing yoga with Mummy. Once we completed each pose, we tried to do a sequence together. There was lots of laughter as we would forget what pose was next! Overall, the cards is fantastic in introducing yoga to kids. The combination of the picture of the pose plus easy step by step instructions means that as a parent you can easily teach your kids yoga and as kids, it’s easy for them to follow.
So would we do it again…
Now that question was totally up to Mia. I would never force her to do something she didn’t want to do. So I asked “Mia, did you like doing yoga with Mummy?”. As we walked back home together, with Mia’s Little Yogi Mat tucked under her arm, she looked at me and said “Yes Mummy! I had fun!” So I asked “Do you want to do it again?” Mia immediately responded “Yes Mummy. Can we do it again tomorrow?”
It’s great to know that Mia will be learning life skills as well as increasing her physical abilities. I love that we also get to spend some quality one on one time.
Shop
Little Yogi Mat – www.littleyogi.com.au
Creative Yoga Games for Kids cards and DVD – www.yogaeducationresources.com
IN.CO BAGS – www.influencercollective.com & www.popupcollective.com.au