Babs the Beaver Kids Yoga Lesson Plan by Cosmic Kids Yoga by cosmickids1

Babs the Beaver Kids Yoga Class Plan A story to inspire WORKING HARD and being an active member of the community. We cover themes of FRIENDSHIP, being supportive to others and how we can achieve great things when we work together. TOP TIP - use a water spray in this story... the kids LOVE it!

Set among the mountains and lakes

Story script

We achieve great things if we work together. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re active members of community

Pose checklist

Best for 5 to 8 year olds

Character image

Watch Jaime leading this adventure on YouTube

Family tree activity

Things to remember A print out of the character image and one each of the colouring activity

Colouring pens and pencils if you plan to draw and colour in in the session. ÂŠ Cosmic Kids 2018

A water spray for the when we splidoosh down the slide!

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Babs the Beaver Â© Cosmic Kids 2018

Babs the Beaver - Story Script

Our yoga adventure today takes us to the mountains to meet a beaver called Babs! Now Beavers are known for being hardworking and are usually busy doing something or other! Babs is working on a very special project and has invited us along to come and help for the day, so let’s get ready to go.

Let’s start by making a sandwich for a snack later. Our legs out long, we spread the butter (sing the butter song)! Now we twist each way to get some nice things that Babs might like too - shake in the seeds, plop in some berries (ask the kids what other items Babs the Beaver might enjoy in the sandwich). We finish the sandwich by lowering the top slice of bread on the top. Now let’s get our shoulders ready for carrying the backpack - legs crossed we roll our shoulders round and round (roll your shoulders song). Now we should bring the sunshine out with a Hello Sun salute (Sun Salutation). Then we head out to catch the train (individually on the spot or group pose - make a row of children holding shoulders of the person in front to go round the room). Clickety clack, clickety clack here we go around the track! Faster and faster and faster we go until we’re going very slow - pull the horn! Toot toot! Yay - we’re here! Well done everyone!

“ When we work together and use our imaginations we can create

a train! “

Wow we can see the mountains. They are so strong and beautiful - well done everyone! You’re amazing mountains! The air is fresher up here. Let’s take some big mountain breaths (dragon fire breaths). Somewhere up in these mountains is Babs’s stream where she lives in her dam and lodge. We snowboard (surfer pose) down the mountain one way then backwards (jump to face the opposite direction) because we’re really good at snowboarding! At the bottom we get in a logging truck and bump up the mountain roads to reach Babs. (Bumpy truck - to the sides, leaning forward to go downhill and leaning back to go uphill) We arrive at the bank of the river and there’s a little boat waiting for us. We paddle out (rowing) to the dam. Rrring Rrring!! That’s the telephone! Let’s answer it - ‘Hello?! It’s Bab’s! Yes Babs, we’re ready to work hard today. Oh you’re building a new playground in your community? How lovely! Oh yes - we’re happy to help out. See you soon! Bye!’ We put the phone down and row with the other oar! Rrring Rrring! That’s the telephone again! We pick it up (other side) and it’s Bab’s again - ‘Ok Babs! So today we’ll be finishing off the slide! Great! We’ll be there in a minute! Bye!’ and we put the phone down!

We’ve arrived! And here is Babs the beaver! We give her a great big hug to say hello! Sitting in beaver pose - high on our knees, toes tucked, we take our hands forwards like two little beaver paws. Babs tells us we need to get up the mountain to get a nice big tree so we can make the slide! This playground is going to be for the baby beavers – the kits and the whole community of animals. We have a lot of work to do.

“ Together we make a plan, decide what needs to be done, then get to work making it happen!”

We take big steps up the mountain with Babs heading into the forest. There are lots of trees here to choose from. Let’s see which trees are the sturdiest ones (go round and blow each child in the tree test) and Babs can choose the one she wants to use. Wow! It’s so hard to choose! They are ALL so strong! Using her teeth, Babs chops the tree down (woodchopper pose). As we fold forward we say ‘chop’! Ready 1,2,3 CHOP! Rolling up to stand. And again - 1,2,3 CHOP! Rolling up. Last time 1,2,3 CHOP! Now we stand up tall, feet together, arms reach high overhead, and we fold forward slowly as the tree comes down saying TIMBER! Crouching high on our toes, Babs carries the log on her head back to the dam on her little legs (walking in crouch position). There are a few rocks and boulders in the way, but she uses her broad and blunt nose (mouse pose with arms stretched forward, moving up to all fours as we say ‘boff ’) to push them out of the way. She is strong and determined and clearly wants to make sure this is the best playground ever!

“We have to be focused and determined to make important things happen.”

Babs gets to work using her teeth to hollow out the middle of the tree trunk making it into a slide shape, like a great big tube. On all fours, we bend our elbows, lowering our heads to the ground like we’re doing a push up. Here we make nibbly sounds with our teeth ‘tut tut tut tut tut ’! Next she uses her big webbed feet to cover the slide with lots of snow, to make it super slippery (and cold!!). We sit up tall and come into a half boat pose lifting our legs, keeping our hands behind us (fingers pointing towards our bottoms) for support. Now we wiggle our toes and stretch our feet to make them as big as hers. We stretch alternate legs and sweep them around in big circles, like we’re scooping the snow onto the slide. After all this hard work the slide is ready. Coming into slide pose to see it! Ta da!! Coming onto our tummies, Babs swims - our head lifted above the water, arms down by our sides and lifting our feet up and down like a paddle tail. She makes sure that the slide is secured in place and it’s safe to have a go. We offer to go first and give it a try! We stand and climb up to the top end of the slide, singing ‘up we go, up we go, up we, up we, up we go! ’. It’s quite scary all the way up here and we think about how we’re going to get down! Should we go head first on our tummies? (Lie down on tummy to see what it’s like) Oh no, too scary! Should we go backwards and upside down? (fold forward into bat pose) No way, that’s not going to work! Let’s start by going down on our bottoms! Sitting with legs long, arms outstretched, lean back slightly and slowly fold forwards into folded sandwich pose as we go weeeeeee down the slide. (In class I like to use a water spray here to spray the children as they are in their forward folded position which they LOVE!) Shall we have another go! YEEESSSS! Let’s climb up again and this time we come down kneeling moving from mouse pose, we rise up into camel pose, then we whooosh back down into mouse pose again (spray the children again in their final mouse pose.)

Repeat the action of going down the water slide as many times as you like before moving on to the next part of the story. Now a few other animals start appearing out of the woods wanting a go! They can see how much fun we’re having! Here comes Motty the fish! He whizzes down in fish pose and splashes into the river! Splodoosh! (spray the kids in fish pose). Next wanting a turn is Baggles the bunny (hare pose). She bunny hops up to the top and then tumbles, rocking and rolling all the way down the slide. Splodoosh (spray as they rock and roll!) Colin the river Crab comes up next. He does a few sideways (crab pose) digga diggas to prepare himself, then he lifts up his hips as high as he can saying ‘weeeeeee ’ as he comes down the slide (spray the kids in crab pose).

Uh-oh! Now all these little animals have gathered and are having so much fun, some of the bigger animals have seen and are thinking...Mmm I might be able to catch one or two of these little ones for lunch! There’s a crocodile, slinking into the water and stretching his jaws. There’s a mountain lion too (lion pose), who is prowling (tiger pose), showing his teeth. Next a big wolf (dog pose) appears and stretches from down dog to up dog and licks his lips. Babs spots the danger so needs to warn the animals on the slide. She silently dives forward entering the water. She swims very quietly and gets into position. She lifts her big flat paddle of a tail (legs lifting - bent at the knees) and after the count of three uses her tail to make a loud bang sound on the surface of the water (stretch arms to the sides too and use hands to make the bang sound on the floor) One, Two, Three! BANG!! The little animals scatter and hide (mouse pose). It’s such a loud sound that the bigger animals are scared too and scamper off! Phew! Thank goodness for Babs!

“It’s fun to look out for our friends and offer support and help when it’s needed.”

them

We head back to the lodge (house pose) with the all the other animals to enjoy our sandwich - rubbing a hand on our tummies and patting our heads at the same time. Delicious! Afterwards we say goodbye and hop into the logging truck (bumpy truck pose) for a ride home. In the truck we take the opportunity to rest and relax back.

Relaxation

Close your eyes and let your body feel heavy and soft on the mat. You are relaxing your body and letting go of any tightness. Let’s see if we can notice how our bodies feel when we keep really still. Can we think about our feet? They might be warm or cold or maybe they are a big tingly. Now lets think about our arms. They feel long and warm down by our sides. Let’s imagine we are stood next to a stream. The water is flowing down it over the rocks and it sounds lovely. We want to flow like the water down the stream so we get in one foot at a time. It’s nice and cool, which is lovely because it’s a hot sunny day. Then like a fish we feel like we are floating along on our backs down the stream. The water is carrying us between the rocks and we feel like we are part of the river. We feel so calm, so peaceful and so relaxed and when you as we lie here we feel like we can do anything. Just like Babs! If we are determined and we work hard towards a goal, anything is possible. Let’s try saying some phrases to help ourselves get stronger from the inside out - these are called Affirmations. I’ll say it first then you repeat it back - out loud but quietly so you can hear the words. I am helpful. I can work hard and make good things happen. I am thoughtful. Well done everyone! It’s time to come back now. Wiggling fingers and toes. Rolling wrists and ankles. Stretching long like spaghetti. We hug our knees and roll to the side, then press ourselves up to sit with our legs crossed. © Cosmic Kids 2018

Game idea! - Football-oon!

For this game you need a balloon (or two if you have a big group or want to make it extra challenging.) Blow up the balloon/s and tie it/them off. Have the children lie in a circle - heads all in the middle, and legs up in the air. Choose one of the children to start - they will hold the balloon between their feet/ankles. They have to pass the balloon around to the next person who takes the balloon using their feet/ankles. The balloon needs to be passed all around the circle using feet/ankles only. You can make a rule that if the balloon is dropped, then it needs to go back to the start. To increase the challenge, use two balloons going in opposite directions. For more games, download our Yoga Games Compendium.

Follow on Activity - Family Tree

Print out copies of the Bab’s activity sheet overleaf to hand out to all the kids at the end of the class.Hand out pots of colouring pencils to use and ask the children to draw pictures of themselves and their family or friends in the circles. If time doesn’t allow, they can be taken home to do in their own time.

This activity reinforces the theme of the Babs’s story: connection and community, and doing nice things for those around you.

Babs the Beaver - Pose Summary

Let’s start by making a sandwich for a snack later. (Sing the butter song!)

We twist each way to get things that Babs might like in her sandwich.

We catch the train (individually on the spot or group pose). Clicketyclack!

Wow we can see the mountains. They are so strong and beautiful.

Let’s take some big mountain breaths (dragon fire breaths).

At the bottom we get in a logging truck and bump up the mountain road.

We arrive at the bank of the river and there’s a little boat waiting for us.

We sit up, open up the door (door pose) and see Dodgson the Dodo!

He’s got two long legs. One two!

And here is Babs! We give Babs a great big hug to say hello!

In beaver pose, Babs tells us, “We need to get a tree for the slide.”

Now let’s get our shoulders ready for carrying the backpack. (Shoulders song!)

We paddle out (rowing) to the dam. Rrring Rrring! It’s the telephone! Let’s answer it!

‘Hello? It’s Babs!. We’re ready to work hard on the playground!’ (Repeat on both sides)

Now we bring the sunshine out with a Hello Sun salute.

We snowboard (surfer pose) down the mountain one way, then backwards.

There are lots of trees here to choose from. Let’s pick a sturdy one! (Tree test)

Using her teeth, Babs chops the tree down (woodchopper pose). 1,2,3 CHOP!

We take big steps up the mountain with Babs heading into the forest.

...moving up to all fours as we say ‘boff’ to push them out of the way!

There are boulders in the way, but Babs uses her nose (mouse pose with arms out)

She uses her webbed feet to cover the slide with slippy snow (half boat pose)

We sweep alternate legs around, like we’re scooping the snow onto the slide.

The slide is ready. Coming into slide pose to see it! Ta da!!

We offer to give it a try! We climb up to the top end of the slide, singing ‘up we go!’

Should we go head first? (Lie down on tummy to see what it’s like). Too scary!

Should we go backwards and upside down? (bat pose). No way!

Babs carries the log on her head back to the dam on her little legs (walking in crouch position).

We stand up tall, arms high, and fold forward slowly as the tree comes down TIMBER!

Babs (half push up) hollows out the tree with her teeth making it into a slide shape. (Nibble tut tut tut)

Babs swims to the slide - head up, arms by our sides and lifting our feet up and down like a paddle tail.

Let’s start by going down on our bottoms! Sitting with legs long.

This time we come down kneeling from mouse pose...

Motty the Fish has a go and whizzes down in fish pose.

Baggles the Bunny (hare pose) wants a go.

and whooosh back down into mouse pose again

Shall we have another go! Let’s climb up again!

We fold forwards (into sandwich pose) as we go weeeeeee down the slide!

Colin the river Crab comes up next. He does a few sideways (crab pose) digga diggas to prepare himself

and tumbles rocking and rolling all the way down the slide.

There’s a mountain lion too (lion pose),

who is prowling (tiger pose), showing his teeth.

...we rise up into camel pose,

She bunny hops up to the top

Then he lifts up his hips in crab pose saying ‘weeeeeee ’ as he comes down the slide.

Uh-oh. There’s a crocodile, slinking into the water and stretching his jaws.

Next a wolf appears and stretches from down dog to up dog and licks his lips!

Babs spots the danger and silently dives forward entering the water.

to enjoy our sandwich - rub tummy / pat head. Delicious!

We say goodbye and hop into the logging truck (bumpy truck pose) for a ride home

She lifts her big flat paddle of a tail and (with hands too) makes a loud bang sound on the water.

The animals scatter and hide (mouse pose).

She swims very quietly and gets into position.

In the truck we take the opportunity to rest and relax.

ÂŠ Cosmic Kids 2018

We head back to the lodge (house pose) with the all the other animals

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