Film Friday – Cosmic Kids Yoga

Have you ever had one of those classes that is just straight up squirrely and can’t find a way to sit and pay attention?  Has there been a moment when you needed something to calm down a class and teach them to relax and refocus?  Do you want to help students control the movement of their body and enhance their storytelling skills and improve creative thinking AND expand their schema?  Do you want to trick them into doing all of these things?  Then you need Cosmic Kids Yoga!

My good friend Jennifer Donovan (who happened to be the movement instructor at my Orff Level trainings), introduced me to this amazing resource at my Level III Orff training last summer.  She said that she put on one of these videos for her kids and they were entranced.  ​ When she showed it to our class we immediately had a ton of ideas for application and usage in the general music classroom.  Since last summer the Cosmic Kids program has put out even MORE videos that are cosmically creative, totally joyful, and absolutely FREE!

As with all things movement, the techniques you learn from yoga shouldn’t be the ONLY thing you use in your  music lessons.  We’re not Yoga instructors after all so yoga shouldn’t be our only aim.  We’ve still got to spend lots of time singing, saying, reading, and playing.  But movement and music and dance and speech are all so intertwined and interrelated.  Teaching a little bit of yoga now and then in our lessons helps students to be more connected with their bodies and move comfortable moving in new and interesting ways.  Want to get students to be more relaxed and open with the idea of creative movement or improvisation through movement?  Try out some yoga!

Cosmic Kids revolves around Jaime, a bright and exciting yoga instructor.  Jaime started by teaching yoga to kids in her area and adding stories and fun games to make the yoga  more interesting for little people. Jaime and some friends decided they wanted to film several of her stories and put them up online.  The response to these videos was overwhelming and since then Cosmic Kids Yoga has really taken off.

The videos are hosted online and you are able to purchase downloads in HD of each of the Cosmic Kids stories but you can also watch full episodes for FREE on YouTube.  The Cosmic Kids website says, “Now we work together every day to build Cosmic Kids, helping kids grow up happy. We are making as much as possible free on YouTube so anyone can do it.”  How cool is that!  They even have several “training” videos for adults to help you learn some strategies for teaching yoga to kids.  Check out the Cosmic Kids website HERE.

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Cosmic kids uploads a brand new adventure to YouTube every month. The episodes or “stories” can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes and each one integrates a fun storyline and crazy characters with basic yoga poses and movements.  Many of the movies are just general yoga poses with a through-line story to pull everything together.  However, some of the videos have a definite theme.  Check out the Cosmic Kids playlists on their YouTube channel.  You can find things like “Positivity Playlist,” “Bravery Playlist,” “Concentration Playlist,” “Confidence Playlist” and more!

Cosmic Kids has also made a fantastic series called “Zen Den” to encourage mindfulness in kids aged 5+ (this is great for calming down those fidgety little kiddos).  “Dream Bubble” is another cool series of guided relaxations and there are plans for a Storytime series.

I love incorporating a little yoga into many of my classes.  If you use some of the shorter videos or even clips from the larger videos you can add a pose a week or include a short routine to use as a little class warm up.  I really like using the “Zen Den” videos.  Check out this great one called the “Candle of Concentration.”  As you watch the video think of all the “teacher” things Jaime is doing.  She’s preparing kids for success, acting with great positivity, scaffolding them through the lesson, keeping them focused, and praising their efforts.

You could also use the stand-alone videos that teach new poses called the “posture of the week.”  If you wanted a “yoga pose of the week” or just need a little brain break to aid with transitions then you should check these out.

One of my absolute favorite videos is the STAR WARS video!  Jamie follows the storyline of the OLD Star Wars movies (you know, Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, etc.)  to teach yoga poses and get kids moving.  She has rolled her hair into two “Leia” buns on the side of her head and marvelously glides kids through the story using yoga poses and even a lightsaber!  One of my favorite parts is when Jaime uses a yoga pose to get the kids to look and sound like R2D2.  It’s amazing!  Check out the video HERE! 

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I hope you’ve found some of this useful (or at least a lot of fun!).  Go and check out the Cosmic Kids YouTube channel now and leave me a comment below if you’ve used Cosmic Kids before or if you have other ideas of how to use this type of yoga in the classroom.  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Also, if you like this video, check out some of the other videos I’ve blogged about by clicking the tag “Film Friday” on the “tags” section below or in the right sidebar!