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Halloween Yoga for Kids: A 15-Minute Not-Too-Spooky Story
Halloween yoga for kids aged 3 to 8: a 15-minute story built from poses on the mat, so your child can follow it without a screen or a printout.
Halloween yoga for kids is a short yoga session with a Halloween story on top: a sleeping pumpkin, a black cat, a bat, a friendly ghost and a crooked tree. This one takes 15 minutes, suits ages 3 to 8 and keeps things spooky rather than scary. It needs a mat or a rug, and no video or printout.
It's for the afternoon when the costume has been on since breakfast, it's dark before tea, and the trick-or-treating is still hours away.
What is Halloween yoga for kids?
Halloween themed yoga for kids is ordinary children's yoga with a story laid over it. Each pose becomes a character: a forward fold turns into a floppy ghost, and an upside-down V becomes a bat hanging from a branch. The poses are the same ones children use all year. Only the story changes.
In this routine, the poses come from our Sun Salutation mat, where they're engraved in order. Only one of tonight's Halloween animals, the cat, is actually printed on it. The rest are characters we give to real poses. The mat calls it rag doll. Tonight it's a ghost.
When is the best time to do it?
Halloween is 31 October. In England many schools take their autumn half term around the end of October, and GOV.UK has a tool to find your council's term and half-term dates. Any afternoon that week works: before the party, after the trick-or-treating, or on a wet day when everyone is in costume with nowhere to go.
Daylight is easier for younger children: a Halloween story in a dark room can tip a three-year-old from giggling into worry.
What are the best Halloween yoga poses for kids?
The best Halloween yoga poses for kids are simple shapes with a character attached: pumpkin, black cat, bat, ghost, witch's broom, crooked tree and scarecrow. Here's the story, step by step. Read each step aloud, then help with the shape.
1. The pumpkin patch is asleep (mouse, about 2 minutes)
Roll out our Sun Salutation mat, or a rug, and find mouse at number 1. Knees wide, big toes touching, sit back on your heels and stretch your arms forward: you're a pumpkin asleep in the patch.
2. The black cat wakes up (cow and cat, about 90 seconds)
On hands and knees, dip your tummy and look up, then round your back high like the cat at number 3 on the mat. Slowly, back and forth, three times. A hiss is allowed. A meow is practically compulsory.
3. The bat hangs upside down (downward dog, about 90 seconds)
Tuck your toes, lift your hips to the sky and push the floor away, so you're an upside-down V hanging from a branch. Look back between your legs at the garden. Heels don't need to touch the floor, and three-year-olds may need a hand at the hips.
4. A friendly ghost floats past (rag doll, about 90 seconds)
Walk your feet to your hands and stand up slowly into a floppy fold, knees bent, arms dangling. Sway side to side and say "boo" very quietly. Bent knees are fine, because ghosts aren't fussy about touching their toes.
5. Riding the witch's broom (chair, about 90 seconds)
Feet together, bend your knees and sit back as if on a chair, arms reaching forward to hold the broom. Lean a little left and right to steer round the moon. Expect some wobbling and at least one crash landing.
6. The crooked tree in the moonlight (tree 14, about 2 minutes)
Stand on one leg and place the sole of the other foot on your calf or inner thigh, as the mat shows at number 14. Arms up and crooked like branches. Younger children keep one toe on the floor. Swap legs halfway.
7. The scarecrow stands very still (mountain, about 90 seconds)
Feet together, arms by your sides, and don't move a straw while the crows fly past. Whoever stays still longest scares the crows away.
8. The pumpkin goes back to sleep (mouse, then rest, about 3 minutes)
Back to mouse for three slow breaths, then lie flat on your back. Breathe in, and breathe out slowly as if blowing out the candle in the pumpkin. Lie still until the story is over.
How do you do Halloween yoga with toddlers and preschoolers?
For Halloween yoga for toddlers and preschoolers, keep the story and cut the balances. Pumpkin, black cat, bat and scarecrow suit age 3 up; a three-year-old's bat may be more of a crawl, and that's fine. Leave out the witch's broom and the crooked tree, or do them holding your hand.
Six to eight-year-olds can lead it, change the order or add a character of their own. Our gentle yoga for toddlers has more ideas for the youngest.
How long does it take?
About 15 minutes: 2 to settle as pumpkins, about 10 for the six characters in the middle, and 3 to rest at the end. If you only have five minutes, do pumpkin, cat, bat and back to pumpkin. That still counts.
The NHS says pre-schoolers aged 3 to 4 should be active for at least 180 minutes a day, and children aged 5 to 18 should average at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity a day across the week. Both figures come from the UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines. A 15-minute story is a small part of that, not the whole of it.
How do you keep Halloween yoga fun, not scary?
If your child gets frightened, change the story, not the child. Put the lights up, swap the ghost for a friendly cat, and remember nobody has to be anything they don't want to be.
If they get over-excited, go straight back to the sleeping pumpkin and wait for them there. If one child only wants to be the bat, let them be the bat in every step. Giggling through the scarecrow isn't a failure, it's the point.
Which Halloween yoga games can kids play?
Two Halloween yoga games for kids that use the same poses:
- Pumpkin freeze. Put music on and dance. When it stops, call a character and everyone freezes in that pose.
- Guess my character. One child makes a shape and the others guess: cat, bat, ghost or scarecrow.
For more, see our yoga games for kids.
How do you make it a habit?
Leave the mat out after Halloween. The same poses work with any story, and five days later it's Bonfire Night, when our Bonfire Night activities for kids include a firework routine on the floor. If you've never done yoga together before, how to start yoga with your child covers the first sessions. Grandparents running half-term childcare can use it too.
A mat that tells the story
Let them find the pumpkin, the cat and the crooked tree themselves. Our mats have 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface, so a child can follow the story by number without anyone reading from a phone. They're designed for ages 3 to 8 and full length, at 183 x 61 cm, so you can join in. Under three, we'd wait.
Each mat is £34.99 with free UK delivery, and two or more are 10 per cent off. Halloween is just under eight weeks before Christmas, so if you're already thinking about presents, our gift ideas that aren't another screen start there. Or see both designs in the Yogi-Me range.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a video or a printable for Halloween yoga for kids?
No. You can read the story from this page and use any rug. A mat with the poses marked in it lets your child lead the session themselves, finding the next pose by its number and picture, without anyone holding a phone or a printout. That's what the numbers on ours are for.
Can children do yoga in their Halloween costume?
Yes, with a few changes. Take masks off so they can see, take off capes and anything with a long hem they could step on, and go barefoot on the mat, because tights and socks slide. Face paint is fine, though the mouse pose may leave some of it on the mat.
Can you do Halloween yoga for kids with a group?
Yes. One adult reads the story and everyone makes the shape on their own mat or patch of carpet. Give each child a turn to choose the next character, and finish with pumpkin freeze. Spread out enough that nobody's bat lands on someone else's ghost.
Is Halloween yoga suitable for a three-year-old?
Yes, with a gentle story and the easy poses. Mouse, cat and the scarecrow suit age 3, and the bat works with a little help. Keep the lights up, skip the balances, and let them choose who to be. Our mats are designed for ages 3 to 8; under three, we'd wait.
