Articles on Childrens Yoga by Michael Chissick

Bear Hunt in the Yoga Lesson?

Michael Chissick shares his use of Were Going on a Bear Hunt to enrich the yoga lesson
and enhance childrens appreciation of Michael Rosens words and sounds.
Stage 1: Teach the children the Sneaky Tree Game
Background:

Sneaky Trees is game based on the old favourite

I often use established favourite stories in my yoga

Grandmas Footsteps.

lessons. I find that some stories are well suited to the

The children stand in a

embedding the postures and breathing activities.

straight line near to the

Were Going on a Bear Hunt written by Michael

wall on one side of the

Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, one of the

hall, shoulder to

most popular childrens books ever, falls into that

shoulder, in a posture

category. In this article I will share how the work with

called Stick (Mountain

Years 1 to 3 has helped the children to deepen their

Posture for yoga

experience of the richness of the words and improve

aficionados). Stick

their acting skills; as well as improving their

posture is about standing

balancing, focus and concentration.

still quietly and listening. I

would stand in the middle
of the hall with my back

Aims:

towards them. On the

signal Go! The children

1. To encourage the children to invent actions

walk towards me until I

to match Rosens wonderfully onomatopoeic

spin round and shout

words like Swishy Swashy, Splash Splosh

Sneaky Trees! Where

2. To improve aspects of their tree posture,

upon they came to halt

balancing and concentration skills.

and stand in Tree

3. To improve childrens ability to focus on an

Posture. Now that they are in the posture I

object

encourage then to work on the following aspects:

1. Tree feet

Method

2. Stretching their arms up

My yoga lessons involve the whole class and take

3. Focus: To help them I would have placed

place in the school hall, which is an advantage

interesting objects e.g. animal shapes placed

because you need plenty of space for this activity.

at different levels on the wall that the children

You do not need any yoga expertise for this activity, it

are facing. They choose which objects to

is safe and as you will see is great fun. I have broken

focus upon. To ensure that they are focusing

it down in to digestible stages for you.

I would ask random children what they are

focusing on.
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Articles on Childrens Yoga by Michael Chissick

They will love this game and I suggest that you play it

river, a deep cold river. Of course stressing that you

for several weeks before moving on to the next

are only pretending!

stage. Each time you play encourage the children to

improve the three aspects of the posture. I will often

Their task now is to show you how they cross the

reward a specific aspect with a bespoke certificate;

river repeating Splash Splosh! Splash Splosh! Splash

for example for focusing, or excellent or improved

Splosh! in an interesting way. By now all of you

Tree Feet.

would have said the mantra first:

Stage 2: Using Bear Hunt within the Sneaky Trees

We cant go over it

Game

We cant go under it

Simply follow the same procedure for Sneaky Trees.

Oh no!

As they stand in line in Stick ask them to imagine a

field of long wavy grass in front of them. Ask them to

Weve got to go through it!

imagine the grass swaying in the wind making the

sound Swishy Swashy, Swishy Swashy, Swishy

Having set the structure or pattern of the activity you

Swashy. At this point you say to them:

can simple follow the sequence of the book.

We cant go over it

My two favourite sections are MudThick oozy mud

and snowstorma swirling whirling snowstorm.

We cant go under it

The former because I lost count how many wellies

got stuck and had to be left behind; and the latter

By this time most will grasp that you are using Bear

because everyone loved hugging their coats to

Hunt and will happily be joining in to with:

themselves as they battled headlong into the gusty

Oh no!

winds.

Weve got to go through it!

I suggest that you only attempt three parts in each

session. In other words

Their task is to show you how they walk through this

Session 1: Grass, River, Mud

field of long wavy grass, at the same repeating

Swishy Swashy loudly in an interesting way. At some

Session 2: Forest, Snowstorm, Cave ITS A BEAR!

point shout Sneaky Trees! and the children will need

to come to halt and come into Tree Posture quietly

Session 3: ITS A BEAR! Back through the cave,

and calmly. Again you will encourage them to work

back through the snowstorm and so on.

on the three aspects of Tree Feet, Stretching - Up

and Focus.

I admit that the return journey, getting back into the

house, upstairs and under the bed covers is slightly

When you are ready, ask the children to go back to

chaotic, but I know your outstanding classroom

the start and repeat the activity. This time you ask

management skills will see you through. Besides,

them to imagine that the area in front of them is a

under the bed covers is a great way into relaxation.

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Articles on Childrens Yoga by Michael Chissick

Summary
I dedicated five weeks (a half term) to this activity
and can report the following outcomes:

The children were highly motivated,

exceptionally creative and went about their
work with total enthusiasm.

Most of the children knew the story and

those that didnt were turned on to it.

I am convinced it worked well because:

1. Most children knew the story
2. The game was straightforward
3. Children were challenged to improve
their posture
4. The rewards, praise and
encouragement for Tree Feet,
Stretching Up and Improved Focus
had a powerful effect on improving
those aspects across the board

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