Bat Yoga and Activities for Kids
Bats are amazing! They sleep upside down in caves, find their food in total darkness and are found almost everywhere on Earth.
But did you also know that they are very important to humans and the protection of our environment?
Here are a few fun facts about BATS!
Bats are the only mammals that fly.
Bats are nocturnal and sleep during the day. So they hunt for food at night in total darkness, using echolocation.
Bats can live up to 30 years and range in size from a tiny thumbnail to 6 feet wide!
Bats can eat thousands of mosquitos every hour.
Bat guano, also called bat poop, is one of the richest fertilizers in the world.
Bats are pollinators, eating bananas, mangos, and avocados, then pooping out the seeds.
Learn more about bats here.
Here are 5 Bat Yoga activities
Flying Bat Pose - Warrior 3
Begin in Mountain Pose
Bring your arms to your hips for better balance
Reach one leg back behind you, either toes on the ground or off
Lean forward slightly, take your time to find balance
Lift you leg as high as you like without falling.
If you feel balanced enough, stretch your arms out to the sides like wings and fly like a bat!
Return to Mountain Pose when finished and practice the other side.
Moon Salutations - Bats wake up at night to find food. So let’s practice a few Moon Salutations to be like a bat flying around in the darkness. More Full Moon Yoga and Activities for Kids.
Extended Mountain Pose
Crescent Moon both sides
Goddess Pose
Star Pose
Triangle Pose
Folded Triangle
Low Lunge
Half Squat
Squat
Half Squat
Low Lunge
Folded Triangle
Triangle
Star Pose
Goddess Pose
Crescent Moon Pose both sides
Flying Bat Breathing - Pretend to be a bat waking up from sleep and fly to find mosquitos and other insects to eat at night.
Begin in a forward fold and wrap your arms around your body like bat wings. Sleeping Bat.
Then… Wake Up!
Breath in and reach up, up, up and fly high to the sky.
Fly around looking for food, (Flying Bat pose)
Breath out and fly down to a forward fold and wrap your arms around your upper body.
Hang like a bat sleeping at night!
Repeat Flying Bat Breathing and Flying Bat Pose for as long as you like
Books about Bats - Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon. Separated from her mother and adopted by a bird family, Stellaluna tries to do all the things the baby birds do. However, she is treated unfairly and learns that she is not a bird. She is a Bat! A wonderful one.
Other books about bats:
Bats (New & Updated), by Gail Gibbons
All Things Bats For Kids, by Animal Reads (Author)
Fiona the Fruit Bat, by Dan Riskin (Author), Rachel Qiuqi (Illustrator)
More Bat Yoga & Meditation
Star Pose - as seen in the picture
Starlight Meditation - a relaxation practice about finding your inner starlight. Allow Ms. Brandon’s gentle voice guide your children to kind their starlight within.
Click the link and download from website or listen to the podcast below:
Have you ever heard of white nose syndrome?
Over half the species of bats are either endangered or extinct in the United States due to white nose syndrome, a fungus that grow on bats and prevents them for hibernating the appropriate amount of time and then dying. Research is being conducted to find out more information about white nose syndrome and to save the bats for the future. Learn more here.
Ms. Brandon, RCYT, RYT500, holds a Master's degree in Special Education from Western Carolina University, is a highly qualified educator, and has 20+ years' experience working with children and children with special needs. Information for the kids yoga blog come from Ms. Brandon’s 95 hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training RCYS, and is approved by Yoga Alliance.
