Yoga tic-tac-toe

Yoga tic-tac-toe

Here is a different way to integrate yoga with young children: yoga tic-tac-toe! Beyond the many benefits usually associated with yoga, children will also develop and practice social skills with this activity.

Preparation:

Print the tic-tac-toe grid shown above or create your own. The tic-tac-toe grid must be laminated so that children can use it with dry-erase markers. Older children can be encouraged to draw symbols (X and O). With younger children, select 2 sets of small objects (bread ties, rocks, seashells, etc.) that they can simply deposit in the squares corresponding to the yoga poses they execute.

How to play?

To draw an X or an O (or deposit a small object) on the grid, children must execute the yoga pose that is in the box they wish to use. You can ask children to hold the different poses for 10 seconds.   

Option 1 traditional way of playing:

The game is played by 2 children. They take turns executing a yoga pose. After, they can draw their symbol or set an object on the executed pose. While one child executes a pose, the other child can count to 10.

Option 2 to play as a group:

For more active play, use your tic-tac-toe grid for a group activity. Divide your group into 2 teams. One team shall be given the X symbol and the other team the O symbol. With younger children, each team can be given a different set of small objects. Teams take turns choosing the yoga pose they want to perform and execute it while the children from the other team count to 10. One child from the team having executed the pose draws an X or an O (or sets an object) in the corresponding square. The winning team, the first to align 3 identical symbols horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, can challenge the other team to perform a difficult yoga pose. Another idea is for the winning team to receive a simple back massage from the members of the other team.

Have fun!

Naomi Hamel, early childhood educator and future teacher