Category Archives: Story Stretchers

Happy Fall – fun fall books & activities (updated for Fall 2012)

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A few fun fall books & activities to celebrate my favorite season…..

Several of my favorite fall books also have tons of great opportunities for kids yoga poses & breathing:

  • The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri (tree, spider, mouse – child’s pose, bird, grasshopper, frog, fish, cat, dog, pumpkin, owl, squirrel + do toe-ga to pick up pom-pom “acorns”, picking apple stretch, sun stretch & breath, buzzing bee breath, pick up leaves)
  • When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger (blow on leaves, cow, spider, owl, pig-happy baby pose, goat-donkey kicks, chicken-bird, horse-neigh & stretch up, sheep-jump, duck, frog, dragonfly-buzzing breath, dog, squirrel, bird, tree) – Click here for story props I made for this book: When the Leaf Blew In story props(PDF)

  • Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk (raccoon, possum, moon stretch, cat, butterfly, squirrel, bear, turtle, tree, owl, deer, paddle canoe partner pose, quaking aspen tree, bird, bunny breaths)
  • Red Are the Apples by Marc Harshman & Cheryl Ryan (flower, fish, cat, blowing wind breath, chicken-bird, raking-forward bend, bean pods-child’s pose, corn stalks-mountain pose, pumpkin, tractor drive group pose, bug-happy baby pose, scarecrow, crows-bird, apple picking stretch, ladder climbing-brain gym cross crawl)
  • We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger (sun stretch & breath, hike-brain gym cross crawl, mountain, tree, forest-trees group pose, waterfall, boat, skunk-cat pose lifting tail to spray, house- rooftops partner pose, leaf blowing, leaf picking). Click here for printable “Thankful Leaves”: Thankful leaves(PDF) & Be Thankful leaves bookmarks (PDF)

      

Kids Yoga Poses for There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves:

 

Music: To Be a Tree by The Flannery Brothers (http://flannerybrothers.com/track/to-be-a-tree)

Fun Five Golden Autumn Leaves song & printable props:

See more details on this post: http://picklebums.com/2012/05/17/printable-autumn-leaf-puppets-and-a-song/

Fun Free Printable Fall Barrier Game from 3 Dinosaurs: http://www.3dinosaurs.com/printables/packs/fall.php

Check out the cute video by Alluem Yoga Kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxN8r-BzM0

(Alluem Yoga Kids Blog – http://alluemkids.blogspot.com/)


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

Click on a book cover to find that book on Amazon.com….
 
Other fun fall finds:
Leaves Falling song from Bill & Tammy’s Children’s World Music Express: http://www.amazon.com/Leaves-Falling/dp/B0017KQ2S6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349304582&s=dmusic&sr=1-1
   
 
 
Coloring Sheets:
       

Craft: Make a Basket & Leaves: 

http://familyfun.go.com/autumn/fall-printables/holiday-basket-with-leaves-704304/

  
Make Pumpkins
Fall Memory Match Game (print 2 copies on cardstock & cut apart into game cards. I added fall scrapbooking paper to the back of mine before laminating them)
A fun Pumpkin Pie Playdoh Recipe (to play with…. not to eat 🙂 )
More free printables, including fall-themed apple, leaves & pumpkin songs: http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/fallfun.html

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

Speech-Language Pathologist

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.

Elephant Appreciation Day

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Here are a few fun things to celebrate “Elephant Appreciation Day” on September 22nd:

Of course “elephant pose” is a must (picture via ABC’s of Yoga for Kids)  🙂

                     

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Update: 

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{Currently FREE} Check out this cool detailed elephant coloring page that’s currently free from PlayKites Designs (usually $1.49). Grab it quickly since it will only be free for a week: https://omazingkidsllc.com/2016/01/27/currently-free-detailed-printable-elephant-coloring-page-from-playkites-designs/

 

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http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/elephant-coloring-page/ – puppet

http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/04/15/1/1430/14305791/a8eb8d0f9ad30e60_elephant_coloring_pages.gif – coloring page

http://www.animaljr.com/animal-coloring-pages-elephants/elephant-coloring-page-2/
– coloring page  

 

 

 

 

https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/projects/trc/2005/manual/craftillos/elephantmask.jpg – mask

http://www.ziggityzoom.com/activities.php?a=165 – another mask

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A wonderful book is “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” by Patricia Thomas

Book:  http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780688093389

Entire book online: http://kidpix.livejournal.com/1170579.html

Coloring pages to go with the book: elephant sneeze coloring pages

Going on an Urban Animals Hunt – an OMazing Kids Yoga activity

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Looking for a fun indoor activity for kids? We did an indoor animal hunt in OMazing Kids Yoga to go with the book “Urban Animals” by Isabel Hill

(take a peek inside the book on her website: http://www.isabelhill.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/UrbanAnimalsExcerpt.pdf & more at http://www.isabelhill.com/books/urban-animals). Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Animals-Isabel-T-Hill/dp/1595722106

I made picture cards for all the animals in the book and taped them on the architectural elements (walls, columns, railings, windows, doors, etc.) inside the JD McCarty Center.

PDF printable (2 pages – letter size paper): Urban Animals – animal pics for indoor animal hunt  (tip: laminate the pics or cover in clear contact paper for durability)

We made binoculars out of toilet paper tubes (just need two cardboard tubes of same length, tape, construction paper strip (to tape around the tubes to help hold them together), yarn, a single hole punch & crayons) & then animal hunt began 🙂

The kids took turns doing “I Spy” or “I See” (for kids that were nonverbal, we used a BIGmack®  single message voice output communication aide that they pushed the button to say “Look!”).

More info about ways to use the BIGmack® http://talksense.weebly.com/feature-101-ideas-for-a-bigmack.html

Since we were “on the move”, we kept shoes on & didn’t use yoga mats since the area is carpeted (it was a great opportunity for folks to see that yoga can be done “off the mat”)

We stopped and did the yoga pose or breath for each animal that we found (here are a few ideas…. for Seahorse we made up a pose – lay on your tummy, cross your legs & then curl them – like the curled tail of a seahorse, put your hands on the floor by your shoulders and wiggle fingers – like the tiny fins, make sure to switch and cross with the other leg on top; Hare = hopping; Bunny = Bunny Breaths)

Tons of fun for kids of all abilities!

Stop by the OMazing Kids Yoga Facebook page for more fun ideas: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga

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

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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

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Update 10/30/13:

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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.