Here at Little Yogis we love props for our yoga practice and when Mastermind Toys came out with a children’s stability ball, we knew we had to share our favourite activities with you. These activities are not only fun for our kids, but they will help improve gross motor skills, proprioception and focus.
There are a variety of activities that can be done on their own and others that can be played with friends and family. We hope your Little Yogis have fun with these!
Super hero balance and lift off - Lay on your belly over the stability ball, with hands on the floor focus on balancing on the ball as you lift feet up off the floor. Then do the opposite, with toes on the floor, focus on lifting hands up off the floor and even stretch and reach them out like you’re flying through the sky
Plank balance - Try doing plank pose with forearms on the ball and toes on the floor, your body creating one long line. Then try doing plank pose with arms stretched and hands on the floor balance with the tops of your feet on the ball.
L-Sit - Can you lay back and extend legs up like you’re the letter L and hold the ball between your feet or even try balancing the ball on the soles of your feet
Sweeping Rainbow - Start in a kneeling position and then extend one leg to the side (gate pose). Holding a stability ball overhead, sweep the ball from side to side as if you’re drawing a rainbow across the sky. Switch sides.
Invisible Chair - Standing against the wall step away from the wall to give enough room to set the ball behind your hips. Start to bend your knees and roll down to sit into your invisible chair and then roll back up to stand. You can time yourself to see how long you can sit for or even see how many times you can continue to sit and stand
Ball March - Sitting on the ball you can reach arms out in front, over head or out to the sides and challenge your balance as you march in place while sitting on the ball.
Drumming (1+ players) - Set the stability ball into a bucket, box or basket and use it like a drum, you can follow a beat, create your own or even play with a friend and take turns copying what the other does
Crab roll (1+ players) - In crab pose (reverse table top), kick and push the ball around, trying to move around like a crab. Another option for this game is to balance the ball on your belly as you walk around like a crab.
Dancers with a ball (1+ player) - Setting up into dancer pose, hold the ball between each of your raised hands and press into the ball, how long can you keep your balance, try this in tree pose too as you stand side by side and hold the ball between you. What other poses can you think of to try this with? For the single player option, use a wall to press the ball into
Ice cream basketball (1+ players) - This game uses a large bucket, laundry basket or box big enough for the stability ball sit into. Bounce and pass around ball while trying to get it into the basket - the ball in the basket looks like an ice cream cone!
Ball Pass + Plow Pass (1+ players) - Lay on your back and pass ball from hands to feet and back, how many times can you do this? Multi player option - Lay on the floor in one line, feet to head. Pass the ball all the way down the line in plow pose, don’t use your hands and then send the ball back the other way!
Plank ball (1+ players)- In plank position roll ball between players, move further away after a few passes, continue to move further and further away to see how far you can continue to control the roll of the ball between you. Single person option roll the ball towards a wall and let it bounce back off the wall
Treasure chest carry (2 players) - Pick a starting point and an end point in the room. Standing back to back, take a step away to make enough room to put the ball between your backs, you can clasp hands or hook elbows depending on size of ball. With the ball between both the both of you start to move around the room, working together to move in different directions while making you way to your finish point without dropping the ball
You can pretend you’re carrying a treasure chest and you need to make it back to your ship without spilling the treasure!
Ball twist (2 players) - Standing back to back pass the ball around while twisting to pass the ball to your partner and then twist to the other side to pass the ball back around
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