Yoga is one kinesthetic activity that kids can enjoy no matter which multiple intelligence lens they prefer to look at the world–just select an appealing entry point below:
Visual-Spatial kids: Without worrying about movement flow at first, challenge your “Picture Smart” learner not only to mirror each pose you do, but to see how their constellation of body parts creates the pose name’s shape (e.g. Tree, Cobra, Warrior)
Linguistic kids: Make up a story to tell through each pose in your yoga practice. (e.g. the cobra reared its head, which made the dog bristle and bow down. Then the warrior took aim at the cobra under the light of the half moon.)
Musical kids: Key into the rhythm/fluidity of movements through poses that match in/out breaths.
Logical/Mathematical kids: work on yogic breathwork. (Not just in/out matching based on counts, but in for 2 beats through one nostril, hold for beats x 2, out 2 beats through other nostril. Reverse.)
Intrapersonal/Interpersonal kids: key into the historical, religious and meditative ties to intrapersonal development and growth.
Kinesthetic kids: key into feeling the limberness of the body before practice, then stretching limbs further within a single practice and how much deeper each pose becomes over time.
Naturistic kids: key into the natural qualities of each pose (e.g. tree pose is rooted in the earth with branches reaching toward the sky) and encourage them to give alternate names to poses that are aligned with favorite aspects of the natural world.