Several iridescent bubbles grouped together against the background of the blue sky. — Our Wyoming weather this winter and spring has been suuuper weird. It was unseasonably warm in March, so I thought a bubble themed story time yoga class would be fun… and then the day of class we were hit with snow and freezing temperatures 😂

Still, bubbles made for a successful theme, and there were plenty of great movements, books, and songs to go with it!
Heading into my third year of sharing yoga story times at my local library, I’ve been reflecting on how hard I used to work at picking *the perfect theme* for each class. And the perfect name, too – one of my November classes was titled “Turkeys and Pumpkins and Pies, Oh My!” But the more I teach, the more I’ve realized that the themes don’t have to be that deep. They don’t have to perfectly reflect the month, or the season, or anything else… they just need to keep kiddos engaged, excited, and willing to try something new. Because from there, all the good stuff, like movement, breath, focus, and imagination, naturally follows.

Whether you’re a parent looking for something playful to do at home, or a teacher searching for fresh ideas, here are some of my favorite ways to bring a bubble theme into your yoga practice 🫧

Movement

Here’s how we warmed up for class:

Let’s start as a teeny tiny bubble. Come onto your hands and knees, sit your bottom back, and rest your head down – **child’s pose.**
Now we’ll take a deep breath in and blow out to grow into a bigger bubble! Lift yourself up to hands and knees, and round your back – **cat pose.**
Grow even bigger! Lift your butt up high – **downward facing dog pose.**
Great job! Now jump forward – **forward fold pose.**
Let’s become a bubble floating in the wind. Slowly roll all the way up, and reach your arms up high – **extended mountain pose.** Sway from side to side.
Now we’ll turn into the biggest bubble yet. Jump your feet out, and stretch your arms out wide – **star pose.** Sway from side to side, and this time, try balancing on each foot!
Get ready to pop – on 3, we’ll jump and clap! 1, 2, 3, pop!
You’ll wanna “pop” a few times, because it’s sure to get giggles 😄
For our yoga wind down:
We pretended to blow magic bubbles that could turn into anything. We blew:
a crab bubble – **goddess pose, with pinchy crab claws**
a superhero bubble – **warrior 3 pose**
a snake bubble – **cobra pose**
from cobra, we rolled onto our backs and took some deep breaths, imagining shimmery, rainbow-colored bubbles floating overhead!
finally, we blew a butterfly bubble, ending our class in **butterfly pose**

Other fun ways to move:

Here’s a fun song that we added, along with colorful scarves, to move and play a little bit more. It’s sung to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”.
I think I’m pretty good at guessing what kids are going to enjoy about class, but I was surprised by how much they *really* liked the silly sounds in this song! It had them singing along and laughing right away. While singing, you can swish your scarves up high, bounce them along the floor, and toss and catch them with a clap.

Bubbles by The Laurie Berkner Band — I asked kids to jump every time they heard the word ‘pop’... the last 30 seconds or so of this song are Laurie singing ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’ over and over 😜
Icky Sticky Bubble Gum by David Landau — I actually felt like this song was a little too long to keep kiddos attention, so during the second class I decided to sing it myself, choosing parts that felt the silliest, and stopping when it seemed like we were winding down.
I have a whole playlist on Spotify for you here 👉 Bubbles

Calm

This theme gives us a wonderful opportunity to talk about being gentle. You could float softly around the room, toss and lightly catch your scarves, or practice gently passing a scarf from person to person.

For a bubble breath, we focused on a nice slow exhale. You could have little ones cup their hands in front of their mouths, then blow out really slowly and stretch their hands out in a big circle, like they’re blowing a bubble! Then clap and pop! Bring the hands in, and do it a couple more times.

If you have actual bubbles to blow, that’s a great way to practice taking deep breaths!

A kind reminder:

You don’t have to do all of this — especially if your goal is to simply build fun movement and mindfulness breaks into your kiddos life. Adding bits and pieces in a way that feels natural and fun to you and your little is enough 💕

Books

The book that I chose to read aloud actually had no bubbles in it at all, BUT it is about bath time, and we did talk about the great fun of a bubble bath 🙃

Get Out of My Bath! by Britta Teckentrup was such a fun read aloud though! And so easy to build in plenty of movement and interaction.

Here are some other books you could check out: