Category Archives: Inclusive Kids Yoga Classes

Apple Farmer Annie: Seed to Farmers’ Market Kids Yoga Lesson Plan

Posted on by

Apple-Farmer-Annie

sc0094d609

“Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington is a new addition to my OMazing Kids collection of “Fall Faves”.

The vivid fall colors, cute illustrations & large text make this a fun read. In the fall, Annie picks her apples, and sorts and organizes them. Some she turns into applesauce, apple muffins, apple pie, apple cake, and cider. The best she saves to sell at the market. Happily, she sells everything and returns home to rest, read, and, of course, eat an apple. I bought my copy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Farmer-Annie-Monica-Wellington/dp/0142401242

 

The book has the following opportunities for yoga poses & breathing:

  • sun breath & stretch (http://wp.me/p1t7TU-1T, includes link to a video clip & free sun printables)
  • seed (child’s pose)
  • apple tree
  • orchard of trees partner pose
  • apple blossoms (flower pose)
  • buzzing bee breath
  • apple picking stretch (crescent moon, ask kids what color apples they want to pick)
  • basket ( cobbler’s pose)
  • sort the apples (toe-ga game with red, green & yellow pom-poms. pick up with toes & sort into small baskets – for more about “toe-ga” see this great post on Yoga in My School: http://yogainmyschool.com/2012/09/04/toe-ga-kids-yoga-sorting-game/
  • slice the apples (woodchopper pose)
  • pour the apple cider (triangle pose)
  • stir-the-pot
  • cookbook (cobbler’s pose, then open & close legs like turning pages in a cookbook)
  • roll out the pie dough (lay on belly & kids choose if they want their arms, legs or back rolled out with a pool noodle “rolling pin” or a real rolling pin – be mindful of kid’s sensory needs and always ask their permission before touching. Some kids may prefer to roll out their own arms or legs with the pool noodle)
  • pie (seated angle pose)
  • oven (seated forward fold, legs are the oven rack & lean forward towards toes as you “close the oven door”)
  • tick-tock-toes timer (point-flex feet while saying “tick tock” as the pie “cooks” on your oven)
  • smell & “mmm” breath
  • load the truck (seated twist to pass the apple basket)
  • drive the truck (use pool noodle “steering wheel” for added fun – see pic in this Facebook album: http://tinyurl.com/9897x7h
  • bridge
  • boat
  • table (have an empty aluminum pie tin to place on the kids “table” for added fun & to encourage holding the pose steady)
  • crescent moon
  • yawn & stretch
  • reclined belly breathing with small apple basket on belly
  • star savasana

See some pics from our Inclusive Kids Yoga Class in this album on the OMazing KidsFacebook page:

Playlist: Please be mindful of kids individual sensory needs when using music in a group setting (http://omazingkidsyoga.com/music/) 🙂

Update 9/16/13: check out this fun Apple Tree action song from The George Center for Music Therapy, Inc.: http://youtu.be/U2ztJjUcqSA

Update 9/16/13: Add a mindful tasting activity with the awesome book “No Ordinary Apple: A Story About Eating Mindfully” by Sara Marlowe (Note: it’s important to know about any food allergies or dietary restrictions before using food in kids yoga).

See book trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxrEoLi2xY

It would also be fun to incorporate a mindfulness activity with my vintage Fisher Price Happy Apple chime toy! One idea would be shake it and listen for the chime to stop (similar to the chime bar activity). If I have a group of kids that are pretty calm and I feel I can trust not to throw it, I may even do a walking mindfulness walking activity (walking carefully with the intent of not making it chime). Even just as an apple “story prop”, my beloved Happy Apple is definitely coming along when I read this book (it makes me smile just to look at it & the chime sound is beautiful…… wish they still made this toy 🙂 ). If you are curious about what is inside a “Happy Apple”, check out this post: http://carolynkephart.blogspot.com/2011/09/at-core-of-happy-apple.html

http://soundcloud.com/omazing-kids-yoga/happy-apple-vintage-fisher

Free printable Apple Farmer Annie: Seed to Farmers’ Market Kids Yoga Sequence (5 poses with small pics to color for each):

Apple Farmer Annie – seed to farmers market kids yoga sequence by OMazing Kids– 1 page PDF.

(The cute stick figure yoga pose pics are available on: http://media.freeola.com/other/6271/freeyogaasanastickfigures.pdf

See the entire book on this Youtube video from ChildcareLand: ht

This SLP website has a great free adapted Apple Farmer Annie interactive book that includes symbols, an adapted picture recipe, apple bingo game boards & more: http://www.4gaslps.com/AppleAnnie.doc

Looking for more fall activities & ideas? Check out this updated blog post. I have added several new things for 2012: https://omazingkidsllc.com/2011/09/24/happy-fall-fun-fall-books-activities/

Join in on a discussion about fun fall kids yoga ideas on the OMazing Kids Facebook page:

Extend the apple theme with “10 Apples Up on Top” by Dr. Seuss. See this blog for free printable story props:

http://chapelhillsnippets.blogspot.com/2012/08/10-apples-up-on-top-printables.html

Even more apple stuff on this website: http://web.archive.org/web/20050113090219/http://home.att.net/~elteach/appleseed.html

A cool apple tree life cycle animation video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chNwmpqSa78

UPDATE – 9/3/13: Fun construction paper apple craft: http://hubpages.com/hub/Fall-Preschool-Apple-Craft-Ideas#PhotoSwipe137780056

Love how each child’s apple ended up being unique! (from our Inpatient Adapted Yoga Class at the JD McCarty Center on 9/3/13)

UPDATE 9/16/13: Fun apple fingerplay action songs (see page 1 of this PDF: http://www.ylpl.lib.ca.us/teach/fingerplays.pdf

apples fingerplays

8/11/22 Updated contact info:

Have questions? The best way to reach me with any questions is via messaging on the OMazing Kids Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsAAC/.

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC, OMazing Kids AAC Consulting

NOTE: Please ignore any ads that appear below the wavy divider bar. This is a free blog site & I have no control over ads appearing here.

Pete’s A Pizza Party – An OMazing Kids Yoga lesson plan based on the story “Pete’s A Pizza” by William Steig

Posted on by

Time for a Pete’s A Pizza Party!

To celebrate having 400 kids yoga fans in one place sharing OMazing ideas, I’m sharing “Pete’s A Pizza Party – a free OMazing Kids Yoga lesson plan based on the story “Pete’s A Pizza” by William Steig” (including supplies, pose ideas, playlist with links to songs, symbols for the book, a printable pizza craft, affirmations and other fun ideas!).

Click on either of the screenshots to download the PDF. Within the PDF you will be able to click on links to the fun stuff!

  

Feel free to share any other pizza-themed ideas that you have to add to the fun 🙂

(Special thanks to Barbara Gini at BodyLogique for inspiring me to “use my noodle” to try out pizza-themed yoga!)

Update 9/26/13: Did you know that October is National Pizza Month in the USA?

Pete's a Pizza - updated post 2013

Glad to see I’m not the only SLP who LOVES this book! Fun idea to use shredded yellow paper as “cheese”. Check out this post on Preschool Wonders:

more ideas from a SLP

More fun ideas for pizza topping props on Playdough to Plato:

ideas for topping props

Pizza Costume Craft idea:

Pizza costume craft

Wow! Tons of pizza-themed learning printables from 123 Homeschool 4 Me:

learning printables

Update 8/8/12: Here is a larger version of a pizza and toppings printable I made to use in larger groups of kids as an alternative to each child assembling the pizza printable I included in my original post….. that would still be fun to do but I realized in a group of 14 kids that could take too much time. I bought a pizza pan at Dollar Tree, cut a circle out of a paper bag to fit the pan to be the “dough” & cut it into halves so I could laminate it, cut a smaller circle out of red construction paper to be the “sauce”, laminated the sauce & all the toppings, used a fine-tip permanent marker to write pose options for that ingredient on the back & used clear velcro to attach the sauce and toppings to the dough. I attached the pic of the pizza oven & the timer to the back of the pan (as a place to store them). The kids LOVED being pizzas this week in OMazing Kids Inclusive Yoga at JDMC! They did a great job keeping their table pose steady as I placed the assembled pizza on each child. BTW…. this was a fun way to practice waiting turns & maintaining a pose for a few seconds 🙂

Here is the printable I made: Pizza and Toppings Printable (PDF). I also made a coloring sheet to send home with the kids: Make a Pizza coloring sheet.


Update 9/26/12: Look at the cool Melissa & Doug Felt Pizza Set I got to go with my Pete’s a Pizza theme! Couldn’t pass it up at 40% off at Michael’s last week 🙂

Info about the set: http://www.melissaanddoug.com/felt-pizza-play-food-set. 

 Free pizza song download: http://soundcloud.com/the-sing-sings/09-lets-make-some-pizza

More fun ideas for this book: http://shannonsbooknook.com/?p=5732 

Update 8/10/13:

http://www.doverpublications.com/samplerkids/intro/children53.htm

More pizza-themed ideas on the Running with Paintbrushes blog: http://angeliqueskids.wordpress.com/category/thematic-unit/pizza/ (wow! pizza palooza over there)

Update 10/29/13:

Another fun pizza printable: http://www.makingfriends.com/preschool/paper_pizza.htm

.

Update 10/30/13:

scan0014

Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington is another fun option for doing pizza-themed kids yoga! In addition to the yoga pose options included in the lesson plan above, this book also has the following opportunities for kids yoga: planting seeds in the community vegetable garden (see Seeds & Gardens post for ideas), Sally’s cat, sun, harvesting wheat, milling flour, cow, making cheese. I love the vivid colors in this book, the combination of real photos with illustrations, how it shows where food really comes from (the process of growing & harvesting), Sally as the pizzeria owner (the depiction of a woman as a successful small business owner), etc.

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist at the JD McCarty Center (http://www.jdmc.org/)

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/amoorad

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/

Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com

NOTE: Please ignore any ads that appear below the wavy divider bar. This is a free blog site & I have no control over ads appearing here.