You don’t need to know hundreds of poses to bring kids yoga into your classroom or home. Just a few well-chosen, beginner-friendly poses can create more focus, calm, and connection right away.

Most educators, therapists, and caregivers already know (or have heard) about the benefits of kids yoga. The question is: How do you bring those benefits to your students?

Here’s the good news…teaching kids yoga doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need months of training, a special studio, or perfect form to make a positive impact.

That’s why we’re sharing our Top 5 Easy Yoga Poses for Kids that support balance, strength, focus, and flexibility! Plus one essential relaxation pose to help little bodies and minds reset.

These poses are fun, accessible, classroom-friendly, and research-based, aligning beautifully with social-emotional development strategies. Our goal? To make it simple for you to bring movement, mindfulness, and calm to your group…without overwhelm.

Let’s dive in!

Don’t feel like reading? Watch our vlog on YouTube!

The Top 5 Easy Yoga Poses for Kids

These easy-to-follow instructions will help launch you on your kids yoga journey from wherever you are!

1. Motivate in Mountain

Mountain Pose is like "home base" in yoga. Our sun dance starts and ends in mountain pose, as do most balancing poses and movement sequences. It may seem simple but there is actually a lot going on in this one.

Why we love it: Mountain pose builds balance, focus, and body awareness. It’s a powerful starting point for centering, grounding, and practicing stillness.

How to teach Mountain:

Stand tall with feet hip-width apart
Keep your feet parallel to each other, like the number 11
Arms by sides, fingers long
Allow your chest to expand as you relax your shoulders down
Keep your neck in line with your spine, chin parallel to floor and gaze forward

Kid-friendly tip:

Ask kids to close their eyes and feel the ground under their feet. Add fun affirmations like: “I am strong”, “I am steady” or “I stand tall!”

Try mountain pose at the beginning and end of our Yo Re Mi Sun Dance!

Learn more Mountain Pose tips and variations.

2. Twist & Focus

Seated Twist Pose is a perfect way to gather and ground a group while activating core muscles and strengthening and lengthening the spine.

Why we love it: Twists support digestion, spinal mobility, and help calm the nervous system. They’re also great for teaching kids about the “four directions of the spine.”

How to teach Seated Twist:

Sit cross-legged or in a chair
Inhale: reach arms high
Exhale: twist to one side, placing one hand behind and the other on the opposite knee
Inhale tall, exhale twist deeper
Return to center and repeat on the other side

Kid-friendly tip:

Ask: “What can you see behind you?” Or practice seated twist with our fun helicopter activity.

Learn more about the benefits of Seated Twist along with more fun variations!

3. Create Calm with Cobra

Cobra pose, aka baby cobra pose or snake pose, is one of the most frequently practiced yoga poses. It’s a great beginner backbend that helps lengthen and strengthen the spine!

Why we love it: This gentle backbend provides an opportunity to gently warm up and strengthen the back muscles while stretching the front of the body, chest and shoulders. Cobra pose also stretches and strengthens abdominal muscles, providing a gentle core work-out that improves posture!

Because we are lying prone with our bellies on the floor, cobra is one of our favorite yoga poses that calms the nervous system, stimulating the parasympathetic “rest and digest” response. It is a wonderful pose to help us feel calm, grounded and safe.

How to teach Cobra Pose:

Lie on your belly, hands under shoulders
Inhale: lift chest, look forward
Elbows stay bent, feet on the ground
Say: “Hiss like a cobra!”

Kid-friendly tip:

Try pairing breath with movement in a Cobra Flow. Inhale to lift up and then hiss all the way back down. Adding a hiss breath focuses and lengthens the exhale, which is a breathing technique in yoga that also quiets the mind while balancing our nervous system.

Practice Cobra Pose in Spanish with our La Serpiente song!

Dive deeper into Cobra Pose and practice some fun variations!

4. Get Down with Downward Dog

Dog Pose, aka Downward Facing Dog, is one of the most widely recognized yoga poses. It is a foundational pose that shows up in nearly every yoga class. Dog pose is also super accessible to children as most kids innately move through this pose when they are transitioning from crawling to standing.

Why we love it: It’s energizing and strengthening! Downward Dog improves flexibility, tones the whole body, and is great for sensory integration.

How to teach Downward Dog Pose:

Start on hands and knees
Tuck toes and lift hips to form a triangle
Spread fingers, press through palms and heels
Gaze between legs or toward the floor

Kid-friendly tip:

Add animal sounds! Bark like a dog, pant to add a breathing exercise or lift one leg up and wag that tail.

This versatile pose is perfect for imagination play! You can practice downward dog to represent a tent, a backhoe, or even an inchworm!

5. Try Tree Pose

Perfect for all ages, tree pose builds strength, promotes good posture, and stimulates vestibular and proprioceptive systems.

Why we love it: Tree pose builds balance, focus, and confidence. It’s also a brain-body connector that’s especially helpful for concentration.

How to teach Tree Pose:

Stand tall, shift weight to one foot
Place other foot on ankle, calf, or thigh
Hands in prayer or branch up high
Say: “I am growing like a tree!”

Kid-friendly tip:

Try tree pose with partners or bring the whole group together into a forest of trees! If one tree wobbles, others can help hold them up. It’s a beautiful way to model community and support.

Help kids keep their balance longer by chanting our fun tree-pose rhyme or by focusing on an unmoving object in front of them.

Bonus: Rest in Relaxation Pose

Relaxation is one of the most challenging and powerful kids yoga poses. While relaxation is both a normal and necessary physical state, overstimulation and stress often prevent us from truly relaxing. This pose takes a lot of practice but quickly becomes a favorite part of kids yoga class.

Why we love it: Relaxation is essential to consolidate learning, process movement, and promote emotional regulation.

How to teach Relaxation:

Lie on your back, arms and legs long
Close eyes or gaze softly
Breathe deeply, let body rest

Kid-friendly tip:

For kids, it’s helpful to have a focus point for the mind during relaxation so you might invite them to imagine being a star in the sky or melting into the floor like a popsicle. Sometimes we might use a soft chime or singing bowl to ease children into stillness.

Relaxation helps consolidate learning, regulate emotions, and create calm. It’s how we bring everything together. Try this Star Relaxation!

More relaxation strategies for your kids and classroom!

From Poses to Practice

You don’t need to know hundreds of poses to bring the benefits of yoga to your kids. Just a few simple, well-chosen poses can create more focus, calm, and connection in your classroom or home.

The six poses we shared here are easy, beginner-friendly, and developmentally appropriate. And they work in real-world classrooms without mats, fancy gear, or hours of extra prep.

Start small. Try one pose today. Notice how it shifts the energy for you and your kids.

And if you’re feeling inspired to take the next step, our Yo Re Mi Children’s Yoga Teacher Certification gives you all the tools, songs, and playful strategies you need to teach yoga with confidence and ease.

Learn More about Kids Yoga Certification