Kids Yoga Series: Butterfly Life Cycle

Here is a wonderful yoga series that helps to strengthen kids bodies, improve their self-awareness, inspires imagination, and helps them learn the life cycle of a butterfly.

Before you begin, you may want to show the kids a diagram or book to explain briefly about the life cycle stages.

Pose 1: Butterfly Egg Pose

Curl up in a seated ball. Tell the kids they are butterfly eggs stuck on a green leaf. 

Tell the kids to close their eyes and take 10 deep breaths. 

Mention that with each breath their inner power grows and grows. Count down from 10 for them. 

* To make it more playful as you count, mention there is a rainstorm, or windstorm, ending with a sunny day.

Pose 2: Caterpillar Pose

From butterfly egg, slowly grow out of the egg by straightening your eggs and leaning back. This will work core muscle strength. Encourage kids to keep their lower back on the grown and lift their head and upper backs. Younger kids can put their hands down. 

Wiggle side to side like a caterpillar.

* To make more fun, you can encourage kids to "munch munch munch" with their mouths on a leaf.

Pose 3: Chrysalis Pose

From caterpillar, rest head and feet on the ground for a moment. Then using core strength again, lift feel and head up in the air, grabbing onto legs. Legs can be bent.

Encourage kids to again breath deeply in their cocoon, gathering inner power to transform into a butterfly with each breath.

Count down from five.

Pose 4: Baby Butterfly Pose

From chrysalis, put your legs down and open them to the side, with feet together into buddhakonasana, or baby butterfly pose. 

Have kids test out their wings, and tell them the butterflies are very hungry. Its time to find food! Ask, what does the butterfly eat? Where are we flying to?

Pose 5: The Adult Butterfly Pose

From baby butterfly, have kids breath five deep breaths and on the last one, grown their adult wings. Legs can be bent. Its easy to roll back here, so encourage kids to come up again if they roll out.

Ask the kids where the adult butterflies are flying to today?

To complete the cycle, tell the kids the butterflies lay eggs, and go back into butterfly egg pose.