Nelson the Pigeon - A Cosmic Kids Yoga Lesson Plan by cosmickids1

Nelson the Pigeon Kids Yoga Class Plan In this story we take a trip to London with Nelson the Pigeon. He has to learn to THINK INDEPENDENTLY and TRUST HIS OWN JUDGEMENT. There is also a great lesson in EATING WELL as Nelson learns that junk food isn’t always the best option for feeling healthy and strong. This story is great for kids who are easily led by others- so they realise they have choices rather than just going along with something because it’s popular. Enjoy!

Set in London

Story script

Healthy eating (and peer pressure)

Pose checklist

Best for 4 to 8 year olds

Watch Jaime leading this adventure on YouTube

Character image

Mirror Sticks Activity

Things to remember Print out the the Nelson character image for you to show the kids.

Bring the sticks for the Mirror Sticks Game!

Nelson the Pigeon

Â© Cosmic Kids 2019

Nelson the Pigeon - Story Script

We start our story today in a tree. Standing one foot on top of the other, hands together and grow up tall. Let’s do a tree test to see how good these trees are today. Now can you do your tree on the other side? – let’s do the test again on this side too! Wow you are super strong! We climb up this tree. Up we go up we go up we up we up we go! At the top we find Nelson’s family nest (bowl pose). Lying on your tummy, take hold of your ankles and breath in, smelling the flowers to lift up into a nest shape. Today is Nelson’s 16th birthday - that means he is now 16 days old! He has a birthday cake with candles (candle pose) on it. Nelson blows out all sixteen of his candles (blowing and lowering our legs). Then he comes up to sit, his legs crossed, draws his wings to his heart (hands) and makes a special wish. I want to be a star. Standing up, stretching our arms and legs wide to make a big star! I want to go to Trafalgar Square, London. The capital city of England! Well, now that Nelson is 16, he’s old enough to go! Nelson’s Mum helps him prepare for his big adventure. Jump feet together and hands on our hips. He needs a strong neck, to look both ways when he crosses the busy roads. Looking over one shoulder, then over the other, slowly looking from side to side, side to side, side to side. Then around in a circle one way and around in a circle the other way, so he’s ready to look in all directions and stay safe when crossing the road.

Next Nelson’s Mum teaches him how to do super power pigeon breaths (dragon fire breaths) to calm his busy bird brain. Criss crossing our feathery fingers underneath our chin, take a big breath all the way in. Lift our elbows nice and high, then breath out with a Cooooo to the big blue sky! We do 2 more to practice. These super power pigeon breaths will help Nelson think straight and feel good.

Finally Nelson’s Mum shows him what HEALTHY food looks like by making him a delicious sandwich. Reaching up and lowering our hands to touch our toes to put down the fresh slice of bread first. Now we spread the butter, butter, butter. We twist one way for crispy crunchy lettuce and pop it in! Then we twist the other for juicy sweet tomatoes. Chop chop chop chop chop! She folds forward (touching toes with bent knees if necessary) putting on the top slice of bread, telling Nelson – “The most important thing is to eat well, look after yourself and don’t be led by the other pigeons.”

We are responsible for ourselves!

Standing tall, all grown up and ready to go, Nelson gives his mum a great big hug. He prepares for take off from the nest, folding forward and spreading his young wings wide and high - he’s off! Nelson flies (flyng pose for more challenge or parrot pose to keep it simple) over hills and valleys, through green countryside and into the bustling city of London.

In the centre of Trafalgar Square is a tall statue called Nelson’s Column. Standing tall, reach your arms up high making yourself into a tall pointy column. Nelson the pigeon was named after this statue! He’s arrived! He dives forward (ragdoll) and comes into land (mouse pose) on the ground, safe and sound.

Uh oh! Nelson sits up and sees he has landed right in front of a lion! On your knees, 1,2,3 Roar!! There are four lions!!! They lie like sphinxes (sphinx pose) at the bottom of the tall column keeping guard. On our bellies, take our forearms out in front, draw our shoulders down our back and lift our chest forward like a sphinx. But why are they are not moving? Nelson then realises that these lions are just statues! He sits up, kneeling and says ‘Phew!’

Looking around, Nelson sees lots of pigeons cooing and singing (tweety bird). Wrap your arms around your shoulders and coo your elbows up and down. Nelson wants to set himself up in pigeon pose to look his best. Coming to all fours first, he lifts up his tail feathers to the sky (dog pose). He brings one little leg forward, taking his other leg back and long behind him. Pressing his wings down either side, he puffs out his chest like a big grown-up pigeon. Some of the London pigeons start to come over. Nelson swaps sides. Stepping back again to lift his tail feathers (dog pose), then bringing his other little leg forward and stretching the other one back this time. Pressing again into his wings, he puffs his chest forward, lifting up proudly in pigeon pose.

As the London pigeons get closer, Nelson sees they don’t look very well! Coming into Pirate pose. Standing up, he can see they have dirty, scraggy feathers and wild eyes. Some of them only have one leg (balance). They look like pirate pigeons! One of them hobbles over to Nelson. “Ello! Come on. I’ll show you where to find some of the best food in town!” Happy to have made a ‘friend’; Nelson puts his wings together and bows forward saying Namaste. He is delighted to be shown where to find the best food. Maybe he won’t need his healthy sandwich after all. Uh oh! Did he forget what his Mother told him?

The hobbly pigeon leads Nelson to a black can, which he calls a food chest (treasure chest) – coming to sit, soles of the feet together and fold forward. On the side it has the letters L I T T E R – litter and on the other side it spells T R A S H – trash! Lifting the lid Nelson sees that it’s full of trash, rubbish and old food! Yuck! Standing up in pirate pose, the hobbly pigeon tells Nelson “This food is the best. Come on let’s get some.” Nelson isn’t sure that it smells very nice, and has a funny feeling that this won’t do him any good. But because he is new here he ignores his funny feeling and copies the hobbly pigeon.

That ‘funny feeling’ is your body and mind trying to tell you something isn’t right!

Nelson clasps his wings (woodchopper feet hip distance apart) behind him. He folds forward, bending his knees. Then his wings swoop down (unclasp hands and place palms on mat), his legs jump back and he drops down splat onto his belly into the yuckiness. With his wings clasped again back behind him (shark pose), he pecks at the old food (lifting and lowering head and shoulders), grabs something, then wriggles backwards (all fours to mouse pose) and out of the dustbin; keen to leave this smelly place.

The pigeons fly (owl pose) out and place their findings on a flat stone table (bridge pose). Nelson looks at what they have collected and isn’t sure it looks very good. There’s a slice of old pizza which has dirty tissue on it, there’s ice cream mixed with ketchup, cakes covered with onions and burgers mushed up with coffee. The scraggy pirate pigeons get ready to eat coming onto our knees and fold forward. They begin to peck (mouse)! Nelson doesn’t want to feel left out so copies the others even though he would prefer not to. Soon there is nothing left to peck and the litter feast is over. The pigeons are full – patting our heads and rubbing our tummies, but are now feeling tired and grumpy. Eating unhealthy bad food can put us in a bad mood!

Nelson doesn’t feel well at all. His tummy hurts. He lies on his back, his wings outstretched and bends his knees, taking his legs from one side to the other (supine twists - a good move for tummy aches). He feels awful, and he’s really dirty! He wants to speak to his Mum so waddles over (penguin pose) to a telephone box to make a phone call (telephone pose). “Oh mum! I did what the other pigeons told me and I ate all the horrid bad food. Now I feel sick.” Telephone pose on the other side -“Oh Nelson – remember to follow your own path and don’t be pushed into doing stuff that you know is wrong.” Nelson says goodnight to his Mum and thanks her for helping. He eventually gets to sleep, lying still on his back.

The following morning Nelson wakes to the loud coos of the pigeons! (Tweety bird) wrapping our arms around and coo coo coo. Standing up - here comes another hobbly pirate pigeon! “Come on. You should come with me to the underground train station. There’s loads of tasty grub down there.” Standing with legs apart, arms raised above the head, Nelson looks ahead to the dark tunnel (house pose) leading to the underground train station. In his mind he hears his Mum’s wise words - and his tummy is still grumbling. Nelson isn’t sure. Should he go? Is it better to just follow the others? As he thinks, the scraggy pigeon twitches and sniffs waiting for Nelson to go with him.

We know when something is a bad idea - we can feel it somehow!

Just then a large shiny black crow lands in front of Nelson. Let’s try a crow pose - Coming down to crouch, we snuggle our knees onto the backs of our arms and lean forwards slightly, maybe lifting our feet off the ground to balance on our hands!

Nelson is amazed by the crow’s beautiful black feathers and strong wings. “Breathe, Nelson! Be strong! Do what YOU want to do!” Nelson sits legs crossed and takes his wings back behind him, criss crossing our fingers behind us. He puffs out his chest to feel strong. Taking a deep breath, he looks into the eyes of the scraggy pigeon before him and kindly but firmly says “No. Thank you. I think I’ll stick to my sandwich.” Feeling proud of his strong decision Nelson settles down with his sandwich. He smiles to himself, feeling good for trusting himself. Nelson is learning all the time and now knows that he doesn’t need to always do what the other pigeons tell him to. He has his own mind and can decide himself what he wants to do. After his sandwich, Nelson takes a bath in one of the wonderful fountains. Lying on his back he lifts one leg and gives it a little shake, then swaps to do the other leg. Then he lifts one wing (arm) and finally the other. Lastly he gives his whole body a good jiggle in the water before lying still to dry off and relax.

Relaxation

Game idea! Mirror Sticks

As we become still we slow down our breath. What an adventure we’ve had with Nelson. Being a young pigeon can be quite tough. You always feel like people are telling you what to do. In a way that’s really good as we do need the help of others to understand how life works so we must listen and be thankful for this help. But sometimes others try and make us do things that we feel deep down are not right. Or do things that we’ve been told by our Mummies and Daddies not to do. It is in these moments we need to listen to our hearts and follow our own instinct. Deep down we know when something is wrong. We have a feeling inside. Listen to this feeling. It is usually right. Saying “no thank you” is ok. You are stronger for having the bravery to follow your own heart and mind. Let’s repeat some phrases now that make us stronger from the inside out - we call these affirmations. I’ll say them first and you repeat afterwards. I am strong. I eat healthy foods. I look after myself. I can take time to think before deciding. Time to come back now. Take a big long stretch making your body as long as a piece of spaghetti! Roll over onto our sides. And slowly come up to sit, with our legs crossed. We can rub our hands together really fast to make some heat. Then cup our hands over our eyes, resting them in the warm dark space. Gently lower your fingers, stroking your face. Give your neck a little massage and finally bring your hands to your heart where we can say our secret yoga code word - Namaste.

For this game you need a wooden coffee stirrer/stick or a popsicle/lolly stick for each participant. Ask everyone to find a partner and sit opposite each other, with legs crossed or kneeling. Each team places a stick between them on each palm, so the end of the stick is pressing into theirs and the other’s palm centre. Together they must use enough pressure to hold the stick in place! Now choose who will lead - partner A or B. A has to slowly move their hands and B must follow the movement carefully so the sticks stay in place. A can move in all directions, maybe even standing up and sitting back down again and B must follow. After the first person has had a turn, switch so that the other person gets to lead. This is a great game for improving focus and keenly observing your partner’s movement. It’s about being sensitive to the movement of others and noticing how it feels to lead and be led.

Follow-on Activity (Colouring Nelson and Name the City) Print copies of the following colouring activity and hand out to everyone along with pots of pencils and colouring pencils. Colour in Nelson and the scene behind him, also seeing if the children can remember/name the city where Nelson’s story takes place. If possible, this can be written in the space provided. This is a lovely activity to bring to life the place that the story is set. Colouring is a mindfulness activity that gets everyone settled and focused on a single task. It’s also a good test of memory for the name of the city challenge.

Your name:

Â© Cosmic Kids 2019

We climb up this tree. Up we go up we go up we up we up we go!

Then he comes up to sit, his legs crossed, draws his wings to his heart (hands) and makes a special wish.

I want to be a star. I want to go to Trafalgar Square, London!

At the top we find Nelson’s family nest (bowl pose).

We start our story today in a tree. Let’s do a tree test! Can you do your tree on the other side?

Nelson the Pigeon - Pose Summary

Nelson’s Mum helps him prepare. He needs a strong neck, to look both ways when he crosses the roads.

She shows him what HEALTHY food looks like by making him a delicious sandwich. Butter, butter, butter.

Nelson’s Mum teaches him how to do super power pigeon breaths (dragon fire breaths) to calm his busy bird brain.

Standing tall, all grown up and ready to go, Nelson gives his mum a great big hug.

Folding forward and spreading his young wings wide and high - he’s off!

We twist one way for crispy crunchy lettuce and pop it in! Then we twist the other way for tomatoes. Chop chop!

Nelson flies (both sides) through hills and valley to the bustling city of LONDON!

Nelson has a birthday cake with 16 candles (candle pose) on it. Nelson blows them out! (blowing and lowering our legs)

Then around in a circle one way and around in a circle the other way.

She folds forward putting on the top slice of bread. ‘Don’t be led by the other pigeons!’

In the centre of Trafalgar Square is a tall statue called Nelson’s Column.

Nelson realises that the lions are just statues! He sits up, kneeling and says ‘Phew!’

Nelson sees lots of pigeons cooing and singing (tweety bird). Nelson wants to set himself up in pigeon pose to look his best.

...and comes into land (mouse pose) on the ground, safe and sound.

Uh oh! Nelson sits up and sees he has landed right in front of a lion!

He’s arrived! He dives forward (ragdoll)...

Coming to all fours first...

He brings one leg Some of the London forward, with his other pigeons start to come leg long behind him. He over. Nelson swaps sides. puffs out his chest like a big grown-up pigeon.

The hobbly pigeon leads Nelson to a black can, which he calls a food chest (treasure chest).

Standing up in pirate pose, the hobbly pigeon tells Nelson “This food is the best. Come on let’s get some.”

Nelson sees they don’t look very well! Coming into Pirate pose on one leg!

Nelson ignores his funny feeling and clasps his wings (woodchopper feet hip distance apart) behind him, folds forward...

There are four lions!!! They lie like sphinxes (sphinx pose) at the bottom of the tall column keeping guard.

....he lifts up his tail feathers to the sky (dog pose).

Nelson puts his wings together and bows forward saying Namaste.

Then his wings swoop down (unclasp hands and place palms on mat), his legs jump back...

...and place their findings on a flat stone table (bridge pose).

The scraggy pirate pigeons get ready to eat. They begin to peck (mouse)!

The pigeons are full – patting our heads and rubbing our tummies, but are now feeling tired and grumpy.

EV (Telephone pose) “I ate all the horrid bad food. Now I feel sick.” (Other side) ”Don’t be pushed into doing stuff that you know is wrong.”

He wants to speak to his Mum so waddles over (penguin pose) to a telephone kiosk.

A pirate pigeon comes over and says “Come to the underground train station. There’s lots of food!”

The pigeons fly (owl pose) out...

....grabs something, and wriggles backwards (all fours to mouse pose), keen to leave this smelly place.

With his wings clasped behind him (shark pose), he pecks at the food (lifting and lowering head and shoulders)...

and he drops down splat onto his belly into the yuckiness.

Nelson looks ahead to the dark tunnel (house pose) leading to the underground train station. Should he go?

He eventually gets to sleep, lying still on his back.

A large shiny black crow appears. “Breathe, Nelson! Be strong! Do what YOU want to do!”

Nelson’s tummy hurt, so he lies on his back and twists - good for a tummy ache!

The following morning Nelson wakes to the loud coos of the pigeons! (Tweety bird)

Nelson sits legs crossed, criss crossing his wings behind him. “No. Thank you. I think I’ll stick to my sandwich.”

Nelson takes a bath in one of the wonderful fountains. Lying on his back he lifts one leg (and then the other) and gives it a little shake.

Lastly he gives his whole body a good jiggle in the water...

...before lying still to dry off and relax.

Feeling proud of his strong decision Nelson settles down with his sandwich.

For more detailed guidance on how to instruct the poses, download our 253 page The Big Book of Kids Yoga Postures • • • • • •

220 kids yoga poses, including partner poses and breathing exercises 400 high quality pose images Clear, child friendly instructions into each posture Anatomical focus, benefits and contra-indications for each pose Teaching tips to make the poses work for kids A linking index to each pose