The changing of seasons is a great time to take your children outside and teach them about nature. When kids spend time playing outdoors, they can learn about plants and animals, explore everything that nature has to offer, and begin to understand their connection to the planet.  Here are some simple ways to add a little more nature time into every day. 

As adults, we are used to the symptoms that come from a lack of grounding, even if we don’t recognize that it’s a feeling of groundedness that we are lacking. You know how sometimes you let the busyness of your life take over and as a result you feel like you are out of control, running on autopilot, disconnected from friends and family, and disconnected from the Earth? Yup. That’s a lack of grounding.

Children can experience this as well. It happens when they get overwhelmed by those big emotions and lose their connection with their body and breath. It happens when they spend too much time sitting in a classroom or staring at an iPad, and not enough time moving their bodies. It happens then they are overscheduled with countless activities that leave them little or no time for free play. And it happens when they don’t spend enough time outside exploring nature.

Sometimes children need to touch the Earth, to hold a piece of it in their hands, in order to remember that they are a part of it, and to feel connected to it. When we help children to feel grounded, we are reminding them to return to their physical body, to pay attention to their breath, to recognize and remember that they are a part of the Earth, and that they are connected to everyone and everything on the planet.

Here is a simple and fun activity that you can do with your children to help them feel grounded, whether you are a parent, school teacher, therapist, children’s yoga teacher or anyone working with kids in some manner.

Grounding Activity for Children

1. Take your children outside to hunt for a special rock. This can be any kind of rock they are drawn to, as long as it isn’t too heavy and can fit in the palm of their hand. (You can skip this step and collect rocks in advance to hand out to the children if you are teaching a class and cannot take them outside.)
2. Once they have collected their rocks, find a quiet and peaceful place to sit, indoors or outdoors.
3. Have the children hold their rock in their hands and close their eyes. They can play with the rock, turn it over, feel its smooth or bumpy surface, and notice any qualities about the rock. This is a quiet moment for them to connect to a piece of the Earth.
4. After a few moments, direct the children’s attention to how hard and sturdy their rock is. Remind them how sturdy the Earth is as it holds and supports them.
5. Keeping eyes closed, recite this short mantra to the children line by line, and have them repeat it back to you.                               
               I am here. I feel my body.
              I hear my breath. I am part of the Earth.
6. Children can keep their rock in a special place or even carry it around with them so that whenever those feelings of upset and disconnect come over them, they can hold onto their rock and recite their mantra to help them feel calm, stable and grounded.

While November is all about giving thanks, ANY time of year is the right time to practice gratitude. Here are 15 gratitude activities you and your family can do together to start developing an attitude of gratitude! 

Sarah is a 1st grade teacher who completed the Peace Play Children's Yoga Teacher Training in March of 2016. Check out her video below about what she has been up to since completing the training and the awesome ways she is helping to bring more peace to the world by incorporating daily yoga into her classroom. 

~ Connect with Sarah via email ~

~ Want to learn more about what other Peace Play graduates are doing as Certified Children's Yoga Teachers? Check out this inspiring video from another amazing grad, Alyssa Cariani. ~

There are so many simple, every day things we can do to teach children compassion, to show that we are all connected and to demonstrate how we can take care of each other. Children learn from example, so for the month of February I challenge you to model compassion and kindness as often as possible. Invite your children to participate, too! Below is a kindness calendar that you and your family can do together. One random act of kindness for each day. Have fun and spread the kindness!

Hear what some of the Peace Play graduates are doing with their certifications and learn more about how this training can benefit you, whether you are looking to start a career working with children or want to incorporate yoga into the work you are already doing.  Below is a video from Peace Play graduate Alyssa Cariani on how becoming a Certified Children's Yoga Teacher has helped in her work as a Licensed Drug & Alcohol Counselor. 

Alyssa Cariani is a licensed professional counselor, a licensed clinical drug & alcohol counselor and a mental health and addictions advocate. You can learn more about Alyssa at her Psychology Today page, get in touch with her via email or follow her on Instagram @alyssacarianitherapy.

By: Teresa Robinson, R-CYT & Peace Play Graduate

​Vision boarding is a fun and creative way to teach children goal planning. A vision board is a collage of cutout pictures, words, and phrases that affirm or correlate to your goals, or anything you want to accomplish or acquire. Vision boards put the Law of Attraction in motion, which, simply put, is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we focus on. By creating a vision board, children create a daily visual reference to remind them of their goals and what they are working to achieve.  
​
Though people of all ages benefit from having a vision board, this activity is especially beneficial to children because it teaches them how to look forward to what they want to accomplish, and provides a plan for them to succeed. Vision board parties provide a delightful atmosphere of bonding, self-reflection, and intention-setting. Having children create a vision board is a fun and creative way to get them thinking about and planning their future!
​ 

What you will need:
·        poster board
·        blank paper
·        magazines
·        scissors
·        glue sticks
·        markers or colored pencils
·        other available arts & crafts supplies (stickers, glitter, etc).
 
To get started:
1.      Have children sit quietly for a few moments to center.
2.      Offer a brief introduction or explanation of the purpose of the vision board they will 
          make.
3.      Provide a sheet of paper for notes on what they want to accomplish this year.
4.      Search through magazines; cut out pictures, words, phrases, images, etc.
5.      Glue the cutouts to the board in any way desired. Be creative! This will be a daily
​          reminder of what you are working towards, so make it appealing to the eye!
6.      Next, it’s time to state those intentions out loud, for the Universe to hear! Offer the
​         option to present their boards to the group.
7.      Place vision board somewhere in the home where it will be seen every day (e.g.
​         hang/mount on bedroom wall, like a poster).

Vision boards are living documents and can be revisited/updated at any time, as needed/desired.
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Any time of the year is the right time to add healthy habits to your families routines. And since it is the season for making resolutions, how about resolving to do yoga (or more yoga!) with your kids? Here are some quick and easy ways you can incorporate yoga into your every day lives. 

Whether you are a certified children's yoga teacher or have children of your own to play with, these yoga games are sure to get children of all ages in the holiday spirit! The following games focus on a winter theme instead of any specific holiday, making them perfect for all families and classes, regardless of what holidays you choose to celebrate.

Reindeer Dancing
This fun and festive game is set to holiday tunes!

What you need:
Upbeat holiday music
Space for dancing

How to play:
Have the kids spread out around the room so there is plenty of space for everyone. Explain the rules of the game before you begin: when you press play and the tunes are flowing, the kids are free to do their reindeer dancing around the room. (Be sure to tell them where the boundaries are so they don't wander off someplace they shouldn't be!) Let them use their imagination to dance however they think a reindeer would. When you press pause and the music stops the kids freeze in a reindeer yoga pose: sleeping reindeer (child's pose), flying reindeer (warrior III), reindeer tree (tree pose)! Get silly with it! You can pick the pose in advance and announce at the start of each round, or let them make up their own poses as they go.

The Giving Game
This arts & crafts game is a fun way to introduce children to each other, make new friends and discover the importance of giving rather than receiving.

What you need:
Construction paper
Child friendly scissors
Glue sticks
Markers or crayons
Any other arts & crafts supplies you may have

How to play:
Write the names of each child in your class on a piece of paper and place the names in a bag. Go around the room and let everyone pick a name from the bag without telling who they have. They then get to create a holiday gift for their new friend out of the arts & crafts supplies you provide. If you are doing this at home with your children you can make a family game out of it, involving parents, grandparents, cousins, etc. Put on some holiday music in the background and allow them as much time as you can to use their imaginations and create whatever they like! Let the kids know when they only have a few minutes left so they can finish up. Once time is up, let the kids find their friends and give their holiday gifts. While they are receiving something as well as giving, the focus is on creating something for someone else, not waiting to see what they will get in return.

Trip to a Winter Wonderland

What you need:
An imagination!

How to play:
Set up the kids yoga mats in a circle so everyone can face each other.  Announce that  today they are taking a trip to a winter wonderland and there is only one way to get there - sledding! Have everyone put on their imaginary snow gear, have a seat in the middle of their sled (their yoga mat) and hold the top of the mat in their hands so they can steer. Up and over the snowy hills you go, stopping along the way to see all the winter animals and do yoga poses that match: penguins, snow owls, maybe even a reindeer! You can roll in the snow and make some snow angels and even have the kids make up their own snowflake pose. Remind them that no two snowflakes are alike, and to look around at all of the unique snowflakes in the room. ​Once you return it's time for imaginary hot chocolate and a nice nap (savasana) by the fire!

​With Thanksgiving just a few days away and Christmas and Hanukkah right around the corner, now is the perfect time to teach children what it means to be grateful. There are countless ways to approach the topic of gratitude with children, from simple discussions to games and activities. One of my favorite ways is with an art project called Blessings in a Bag. Here's how to do this fun project at home with your kids or in your next children's yoga class.


​1) Give each child a brown paper lunch bag to decorate and some small pieces of construction paper called "blessing cards".
​2) Have the children write down something or someone they are thankful to have in their lives on one side of a blessing card, and drew a picture of that blessing on the other side. They can fill out as many blessing cards as they wish.
​3) The cards are then put inside the blessing bag. Let the children find a special place to display their bag and pick special times to remove the blessing cards so they can literally count their blessings and remember all that they have to be thankful for. You can have them add more blessing cards daily, or whenever the mood strikes!

​It is never too early to start teaching gratitude. If you are doing this with smaller children who are too young to write you can ask them to tell you about the things that are special to them and you write on the cards for them, or have them draw pictures.

​Here are some great gratitude books to read with your little ones: 

• ​The Thankful Book, by Todd Parr.
• Bear Says Thanks, by Karma Wilson.
• The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. 

Remember that ANY time of the year is a perfect time for gratitude.