[PHOTOSTORY 2: MOTION] Kids Summer Camp Yoga Day

By: Isabella Kicklighter

Campers begin yoga class with Mrs. Maya. Camden's Best Summer Camp is held at Grimsley's Fighting Arts in Saint Mary's, Georgia for all kids in PreK to fifth grade.

Tanner is pulling down his hands to the resting heart position. The summer camp provides an array of activities for the kids to enjoy, today they got a surprise yoga instruction.

Maliah is closely watching Ms. Maya. The yoga instructor is Maya Butcher who has been practicing the art of yoga for almost 10 years and has extensive experience in both dance as well as yoga instruction.

 

The Bobcats group are trying their best to follow along with the instruction. The summer camp provides a structured environment for campers to learn about art, dance, yoga and even martial arts.

Brodie is preparing for the big stretch. Each group in the camp is divided by age the bobcats are between 3-5 years old, cougars are 6-9 years old and wildcats are 10-12 years old.

Here's the big stretch! Each day of camp the kids rotate activities every 30 minutes to an hour with snack and lunch in between in order to keep them all occupied throughout the long 10 hour day.

Dj and Daniel are showing off their funny faces. Today's active activity was yoga which is an extra treat for some of the campers who have never even heard of yoga before.

The girls and Tanner are preparing for their funny face moment. Many of the campers attend every weekday and are able to form friendships with some of the other campers in their age group and learn new things everyday from the various educational activities they participate in.

Maliah is showing off her funny face. This yoga instruction is one of many interactive classes the campers attend, each day they attend a different class on a weekly schedule.

Ruby is concentrated on Ms. Maya. Each class the campers attend they learn something new and this prepares them for their showcase held for the parents at the end of the summer.

Marcie, Max and Maliah are a little to close to do yoga. Every class teaches the kids technique that they will preform for the parents such as yoga poses, dance routines and martial art kicks.

Zariah attempting her backbend. The yoga class specifically teaches the kids breathing exercises, yoga positions like the backbend and agility skills such as balance.

Campers are practicing their backbends. These skills help the campers with motor functions and coordination which they can use while they grow up to play sports or even just show off to friends and family.

Campers are enjoying the swaying tree pose. By the end of the summer the campers will be able to identify and preform basic yoga poses and practices after their instruction from Ms. Maya 

The kids are doing their last poses of the class and a few are exhausted. The summer camp strives to provide a safe and fun learning environment for the campers who attend, the instructors and camp counselors want the kids to leave having learned something new while having the most fun as possible.

The cougars are waiting to enter the studio for their yoga class. To ensure the safety of all the campers each group is companied by camp counselor know to the kids as "Coaches", Sabrina Duffey is a camp counselor leading the cougars safely to yoga class.

Ms. Maya is leading the campers in a stretch to begin class. "I want to make sure the kids know to stretch and warm up before an activity to avoid injury and all the yoga they learn with me is basic beginner level." 

Mateo has his game face on for yoga class. The yoga instruction doesn't vary much between the different groups, each will learn a different pose each class and review the ones they learned from previous classes.

Campers practice the Cobra. Today they reviewed the Cobra and Tree pose at the beginning of class, the proper terms for the poses are Bhujangasana and Vrikshasana but they are best known by their nicknames.

Kaylee closes her eyes for standing Corpse pose. This pose also known as Shavasana is often used for relaxation at the end of a class, for most campers its too early in the day to relax but the campers are encouraged to close their eyes if they choose to do so in order to focus on their breathing while in Shavasana.