Let’s get our bodies ready for winter fun! These stretches and agility challenges help develop the balance, coordination, and quickness needed for many winter sports and activities. Try out the stretches before a fall hike… If your kids still have energy after the hike, encourage them to try the balance and agility challenges.
These are also great for P.E. classes, or for “Brain Breaks” in classrooms!
And the best thing you can do? Do these WITH your children!
Before starting, please remind kids:
Additional reminders for older kids:
Stretches

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)
As you breathe in, bring your arms up over your head. Place your hands together & look up at them.

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)
As you breathe out, relax your arms and fold forward to touch your toes. Bend your knees if you need to.

Triceps Stretch
Hold your right elbow with your left hand. Slowly pull your elbow down behind your head. Lean left to deepen the stretch. Switch arms & repeat on the other side.

Quad Stretch
Gently pull your right foot towards your bottom until you feel a mild stretch. Hold for 15 seconds. Then, repeat with your left leg.
Another great stretching activity:
Move along to the song: Dance for the Sun by Kira Willey. In this song, Kira sings children through the sun salutation yoga sequence.

Balance & Agility Challenges

Backward Run
Run backwards from a start line to a finish line. Focus on staying low & pumping your shoulders & arms. Repeat 4x. Extra challenge: try running backwards up a hill!

Skier’s Jumps
Jump laterally from your right leg to left leg, & your left leg to right leg. Make your jumps as smooth as possible. Continue drill for 20 seconds.

Downhill Skier
Imagine you’re downhill skiing! With both of your feet together, jump side to side. Keep hands on your hips, or for an extra challenge: try to lift your alternate arm to the side. Continue drill for 15 seconds.

Bear Walk
Place your hands on the ground, in front of you. Keep your bottom high in the air. Using your hands & feet, walk forward like a bear.
WinterKids Warm Up Cards:
All 8 of these stretches and agility challenges can be found in our WinterKids Warm Up Cards, which you can download here for free!

If you’d like to make these cards more durable, “laminate” them by covering each side with contact paper before cutting out the individual cards, then staple together or bind the cards together with a hole punch and tie with ribbon on the upper left corner.
