Teaching yoga to children is a rewarding profession that can profoundly impact young students. Children naturally engage in physical play. They constantly use their bodies to discover the world around them through movement, sensations, and interactions.
Yoga fits right in with this. In yoga, we use our bodies to move into different poses and examine our experience as we flow, balance, or stress. It teaches body awareness, proprioception, balance, and emotional awareness – many qualities kids are starting to develop.
Teaching yoga to kids can significantly enhance their mental and physical well-being. Understanding child development and the significance of social and emotional learning can positively impact the children you teach as early as three years old. Studies have shown that incorporating movement and physical activity into formal education can reduce student stress and improve health and academic outcomes.
Working with children in any situation takes special training. Selecting the right kid’s yoga training program is crucial to becoming a skilled yoga instructor for children.
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Here are eight top online courses for aspiring kids yoga teachers, noting whether they offer a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT) certificate, continuing education (CE), or both:
1. Soma Yoga Institute: Therapeutic Kids Yoga Teacher Training (RCYT)
Among their many online trainings, Soma Yoga Institute offers a complete 95-hour Therapeutic Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Overall, Soma Yoga Institute takes a trauma-informed approach to all its courses, and this RCYT program is no different. You’ll learn about kids’ issues and how yoga can help them navigate their ever-changing world.
This structured 95-hour training course is over ten weeks and consists of ten online learning modules with pre-recorded content and exercises. Your cohort group will also hold live video calls to connect with peers and instructors and discuss course material.
Once you complete Soma’s RCYT program, you can lead children’s yoga classes in various settings, from schools to studios and community centers. This training focuses not only on the physical aspects of kids’ yoga but also on how yoga can be a tool to help children understand, love, and nurture themselves better.
Soma Yoga Institute’s course includes:
- Understand the physiological, neurological, biological, and spiritual needs of children throughout their different stages of development
- Yoga’s therapeutic effects, polyvagal theory, attachment theory, PTSD and other types of trauma, and sensory integration
- Integrating creative elements like songs, games, and art into your classes
- How to introduce pranayama, mudras, and the chakras to children
- Strategies and tools for integrating kids’ yoga into your community, schools, or home
- Safe asana alignment for kids through the lens of functional movement
Price: $1067 or 3 payments of $365
School Rating: 4.88/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
If obtaining your RCYT certificate is your goal, Soma Yoga Institute’s program is reasonably priced. It covers comprehensive topics, from scientific and practical to spiritual and emotional.
This program is a cohort learning model structured to follow a set pace, which may not work for your schedule. However, it is a good option if you prefer a shared learning experience with peer interaction.
2. My Vinyasa Practice: 95-hour Children's Yoga Certification
If you want to become an RCYT, this 95-hour Children’s Yoga Certification from My Vinyasa Practice could be the perfect option. This course will equip you to become a nurturing and inspiring instructor.
The online, self-paced course modules detail best practices for children of all ages, including age-specific techniques for children up to age 13. This distinction ensures you can cater to each developmental stage with creativity and compassion.
With insights into children’s brain development, subtle anatomy, ayurvedic stages of life, and trauma-informed yoga teaching, you’ll learn to nurture empathy, connection, and overall well-being among young yogis.
My Vinyasa Practice course includes:
- Pre-recorded lectures and written content
- Recorded practices with your instructor
- Yogic games, activities, and storytelling to keep students engaged
- Behavior management tools
- Skills for communicating with children
- Special needs teaching strategies
- Ethical guidelines for working with parents and guardians
Price: $420. Payment plans are available, but the best price is paying in full.
School Rating: 4.79/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
For a complete RCYT training course, My Vinyasa Practice’s price is quite accessible. They provide a comprehensive curriculum for working with different age groups in addition to specialized groups like kids with disabilities or PTSD.
3. Online Yoga School: Children's Yoga Teacher Training Online
Online Yoga School prides itself on offering affordable, accessible, and authentic online yoga education, providing the most up-to-date information. They offer two options to expand your knowledge and become certified to teach children’s yoga classes. You can choose between a 25-hour stand-alone course or the complete RCYT certificate program; both options are fully online and self-paced.
The trauma-informed children’s yoga training explores topics like resilience, stress and nervous system response, trauma recovery, and creating safe spaces for kids. Registered yoga teachers can use this course for 25 hours of continuing education with Yoga Alliance.
Online Yoga School’s complete RYCT certification course is a comprehensive curriculum covering primary childhood development stages, anatomy, and physiology. You’ll learn how to adapt yoga poses, breathwork, mantras, and mudras for kids from preschool through high school.
Online Yoga School’s course Includes:
- Over 120 yoga poses adapted for children of various ages
- Yamas, 5 niyamas, and yoga sutras for kids
- Stages of childhood development and brain-based learning
- Yoga games and partner poses for engaging classes
- Guiding children through mantras, meditation, and breath practices
- Creating themes and sequences for kids’ yoga classes
- Skills for teaching yoga to children both in-person and online
Price: The 25-hour trauma-informed kid’s yoga training costs $149 or 2 payments of $80. The complete RCYT certification course is $395 with a 2- or 3-month payment plan available.
School Rating: 4.81/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
If you’re on a budget but wish to earn your RCYT certification, Online Yoga School’s price point and payment plans make this training accessible. While it doesn’t specifically cover distinct issues like neurodiversity or PTSD, this course will set you up to teach confidently in many settings. Convenience is also a big perk of this program, as it can be completed on your timeline for those who need a flexible schedule.
4. Little Flower Yoga: Children's Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Training Program (CE or RCYT)
Little Flower Yoga, a Yoga Alliance-approved RCYS dedicated to helping children thrive through yoga and mindfulness practices, offers an intelligently structured Children’s Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Training Program.
You may sign up for their “Level 1” training, Teaching Yoga and Mindfulness to Children and Teens. This 8-week online workshop counts for 24 hours of continuing education units with Yoga Alliance as a stand-alone course. It is also the first step in completing their full RCYT certification.
The training curriculum includes three levels of core curriculum, which occur online with a specific start date and timeline. Then, there are three self-paced online modules of 8 hours each covering the topics of trauma, chair yoga for children, and neurodiversity. Finally, you’ll participate in a virtual practicum and mentorship.
Little Flower’s course includes:
- How yoga affects the nervous system and develops the minds of young people
- Compassionate communication and behavior management strategies
- Inclusive teaching strategies, adapting your classes to students affected by trauma, neurodiversity, and limited mobility
- Emotional and educational elements of teaching children yoga
- Mindfulness and meditation practices for kids to maintain peace of mind in an over-stimulated world
- A well-structured and creative course to keep you engaged and on track with your studies
Price: $845 for the foundational L1 Training. $3,200 for the complete RCYT training and $285 for yearly recertification. Payment plans are available.
School rating: 4.96/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
Little Flower Yoga is highly respected in its professional field, providing services to schools since 2006. This program is one of the more expensive RCYT certifications, but the quantity of topics covered and the quality of instruction you’ll receive is well worth it.
While you can complete this training course online, it is structured so that each level begins on a specific date, which might not work for everyone — be sure to check their website for their most current schedule of course offerings.
5. Yoga Education Institute: Online Kids Yoga Teacher Training Program (CE or RCYT)
The Yoga Education Institute is a registered Yoga Alliance School that offers a stand-alone kids yoga teacher training program and a complete RCYT certificate, depending on which type of certificate you’re pursuing.
Their introductory kid’s yoga teacher online training course is self-paced and counts for 20 hours of continuing education units with Yoga Alliance. This basic-level certification is also the first step in their full RCYT course.
Technically, the Yoga Education Institute offers kids yoga teaching training “in person,” including video attendance. Rather than working at your own pace, you’ll attend live sessions on a designated day and time.
Yoga Education Institute’s course Includes:
- Basic child development and anatomy of movement for kids
- Yogic breathing exercises for children
- Yoga kids games and partner postures for creating fun, interactive classes
- Teaching strategies for various categories of yoga poses
- Yoga for special populations like student-athletes or neurodivergent kids
- Business and ethics of teaching yoga to kids
Price: $97 for the online, self-paced course. The complete RCYT training costs $595 plus the $97 for the introductory online course ($692 total).
School Rating: 4.93/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
Whether you want to continue your yoga education or add a complete RCYT certificate, Yoga Education Institute offers budget-friendly options. The introductory online course is sufficient training for yoga teachers who want to add kids’ yoga classes to their schedules and parents, teachers, coaches, and therapists who want to integrate yoga into their interactions with children.
This RCYT program is unique in that it requires live attendance. This training course is a good option if you prefer an interactive learning experience (rather than working independently).
6. YogaRenew: Children’s Yoga Teacher Training (CE)
YogaRenew offers a fabulous Children’s Yoga Teacher Training. This course will help you gain the necessary skills and resources to teach a children’s yoga class. This course allows you to learn and practice at your own pace from the comfort of your home.
YogaRenew’s course is not a full 95-hour RCYT certificate but counts for 30 hours of continuing education units with Yoga Alliance. You don’t have to be a certified yoga teacher for this training! This course is great for educators, care providers, and parents.
YogaRenew’s course includes:
- 12 different modules beginning with the foundations of child development
- Guided breathing exercises using child-friendly language that is easily understood
- Over 50 children’s yoga poses, including their names, alignment, and effective teaching cues
- Yoga games that will captivate and delight children throughout your classes
- The art of storytelling and acquiring a repertoire of captivating tales to share in your sessions
- Tools and tips to develop your children’s yoga business.
Price: $199, but they typically offer sales, so check the website for the most current information.
School Rating: 4.8/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
This course focuses on working with children ages 5-11 and does not specifically address students with disabilities. It does offer practical business tips for building your client base by forming relationships with your community. This 30-hour kids yoga training with YogaRenew is an excellent deal for the price if you are looking for just the basics.
7. Santosha Yoga Institute: Children's Yoga Certification Online
With Santosha Yoga Institute’s 30-hour children’s yoga certification online course, you will learn how to plan classes with a flow of sequences and other teaching methods appropriate for children of all ages. This interactive training course helps you connect with a child’s mind and attitude so that you can lead them through a yoga class with confidence and joy.
It also covers meditation practices and teaching skills needed to guide your future students safely while having fun. This 30-hour course does not qualify for Yoga Alliance’s RCYT designation, but you will be certified to teach yoga to children and can use the hours for continuing education.
Santosha Yoga Institute’s course includes:
- Various meditation, relaxation, and pranayama techniques geared toward children and teens
- How to sequence a children’s yoga class
- Interactive workshops and classes
- Understanding the developmental stages from childhood through teenage years
- Songs and kirtans kids will love
- Skills to create trust and genuine connection with kids and teens through games and sharing
Price: The original price is $485 AUD ($321 US), with an online intro offer of $345 AUD ($229 US). Remember to check current exchange rates for the most accurate price.
School Rating: 4.34/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
This children’s yoga certification online from Santosha Yoga Institute gives a solid overview of childhood and teenage developmental stages, and you’ll learn specific techniques for each age group. The curriculum does not delve into topics of special needs students or the business of yoga, which may or may not interest you.
Since this course is online and self-paced, you can complete it in as few as 3-5 intensive days. If you are looking for quick, convenient, and reasonably comprehensive training, Santosha is a fantastic option.
8. Loka Yoga School: Children & Teens Mindfulness & Yoga Teacher Training (CE)
Loka Yoga offers an online and self-paced 80-hour Children & Teens Yoga and Mindfulness teacher training accredited by Yoga Alliance. Whether you are a certified yoga teacher, therapist, educator, or parent, this training welcomes anyone earnestly wanting to impact the younger generation through teaching yoga.
This training course is unique as it emphasizes kids’ yoga as a tool for building emotional intelligence and resilience. Children are not immune to challenges such as stress, anxiety, poor focus, behavioral issues, and more. Yoga can help children become more aware of their feelings and teaches strategies for self-regulation and stress relief.
Through professionally recorded videos, lectures, presentations, and reading material, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of how yoga and mindfulness can enhance children’s lives. This 80-hour training with Loka Yoga does not meet the requirements for an RCYT, but registered yoga teachers may use it for continuing education hours with Yoga Alliance.
Loka’s course includes:
- Safe and effective ways to teach yoga to children and teens aged 3 to 17, as well as children with special needs or varying capabilities
- Breathing practices, postures, and yoga for the classroom
- Gain insights into emotion management, focus activities, relaxation techniques, and foundational anatomy and physiology
- Practice sun salutations and Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga, review discussion points and practices to increase mindfulness, and iterate on partner poses and age-appropriate games
- Learn at your own pace
Price: $499
School Rating: 4.84/5 (read reviews)
Final Impressions:
Loka’s kid’s yoga course covers a bit of everything: you’ll learn the basics of yoga anatomy and philosophy, childhood development and working with special populations, creative classroom strategies, and the emotional applications of yoga. Among the shorter trainings that are fewer than the 95 hours required for an RCYT certificate, this is one of the most comprehensive in the material covered.
How to Become a Children’s Yoga Instructor
People interested in becoming children’s yoga instructors usually start by getting their feet wet and teaching yoga to kids at a nearby studio or school. It is common for new yoga teachers to seek more training to deepen their knowledge.
Many introductory certificate programs ranging from 25 to 80 hours allow you to teach children’s yoga. From there, you might teach a kids yoga class at a studio to see how it suits you. Once ready to take your instruction skills to the next level, sign up for an intensive 95-hour children’s yoga teacher training course.
Kids yoga teacher training courses give instructors all they need to know to feel confident guiding kids through different poses and principles of yoga.
Consider where you want to teach before becoming a children’s yoga instructor. Is there a school, daycare, or yoga studio that offers classes to kids that you might like to apply to? If so, the first thing you should do is research the location’s requirements for hiring instructors.
Each yoga studio, children’s daycare facility, and school will have different prerequisites for hiring a yoga instructor. While some yoga studios may not have specific certification requirements for teaching, obtaining a certification from a reputable yoga organization to teach kids yoga is highly recommended.
Children's Yoga Teacher Training Online
Online kid’s yoga certifications and training allow teachers to learn from expert yoga instructors worldwide. A traditional 200-hour or 95-hour training course can be time-consuming and requires much effort and study. The intensity of these courses makes online options very popular as they allow students to complete the course at their own pace over multiple weeks or even months.
Once you complete a course certification, you can register with well-regarded organizations like Yoga Alliance as a registered children’s yoga teacher (RCYT). This designation boosts your credibility and makes you more appealing to yoga studios, schools, and anyone looking to hire a kid’s yoga teacher.
After setting your sights on what you want to achieve and where you want to teach as a kid’s yoga instructor, it’s finally time to decide which online training course to register for.
Once you start looking at the different courses and their curriculums, timelines, and prices, you should ask yourself some questions to decide which training course is best for you.
Here are some questions to help inform your decision:
- Most importantly, are you interested in a full RCYT Certificate or continuing education hours?
- Does your ideal course include a mentorship or supervised teaching practice?
- Does the course offer resources to refer back to once you start teaching?
- What is your budget for your online training course?
- Do you want to learn how to teach kids yoga from any specific yoga experts or instructors?
Of course, these are just a few things to consider when reviewing different training options. As a kids yoga instructor, you want to ensure each step in your training and certification journey helps you feel even more confident about teaching your students.
What are the Yoga Alliance requirements to teach yoga to kids?
Yoga Alliance is the premier nonprofit association representing yoga teachers and students. If you are planning to become certified to teach yoga to kids, there are a few requirements that you must meet, according to Yoga Alliance.
The first step to obtaining a certification is to complete two major training courses. These are the two courses that you will need:
- 200-hour yoga teacher training with a registered school
- 95-hour teacher training with a Registered Children’s Yoga School
Once you have finished the necessary training with a Registered Children’s Yoga School (RCYS), you may begin teaching kids yoga. To officially register with Yoga Alliance as a children’s yoga teacher, complete and submit 30 hours of teaching. Once approved, you will be designated an RCYT.
Below are some of the best children’s yoga teacher training programs. Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced instructor, these courses provide everything you need to become a great instructor.
What is the average salary for a children's yoga teacher?
The average salary for a children’s yoga instructor is between $63,629 and the national average hourly pay is $31. Yoga teachers often work part-time between studios, schools, and daycares to teach enough weekly classes.
Photo: @ardanihardy | Instagram
The salary of a children’s yoga instructor can vary depending on a few essential factors. These factors include:
- Location: A studio with higher class fees will pay more in a busy metropolitan area than in a rural area with smaller classes.
- Certification: Being certified in children’s yoga is only sometimes a requirement, but having more credentials can allow you to charge a higher hourly rate.
- Recurring vs. one-time sessions: Many yoga teachers charge significantly more for a single class than for their weekly class that occurs consistently.
Young Yoga Masters recommends starting your hourly rate at $40/hour. After establishing your reputation and networking within the yoga community to show your strengths, you will likely be able to start charging a higher rate. As you grow in experience and expertise with more teaching hours, you’ll have the leverage to charge a higher hourly rate.
Just remember that the learning never stops. There will always be new poses, techniques to master, and styles to understand. Reading, absorbing, growing, and repeating the process is essential!
Concluding Thoughts on the Best Children's Yoga Teacher Training
Photo: @round_willow_yoga | Instagram
Becoming a children’s yoga teacher is such a rewarding and fun journey. It is a niche profession, but more and more teachers are completing training every day, bringing new perspectives and personalities to the yoga community.
Choosing the proper certification or training course is a big decision. Having a community of yoga instructors and students who all care about the profession is a great way to network and feel supported by other people who are passionate about teaching kids yoga courses, just like you.
Are you interested in becoming certified to teach children’s yoga? Check these schools out.
