Half Term Yoga & Mindfulness: A 5-Day Family Adventure

A fun guide for UK parents to bring calm, movement, and connection to the October break

Half term has arrived, and while the kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement about their week off school, you might be wondering how to keep everyone happy, active, and maybe (just maybe) a little bit calm. Enter yoga and mindfulness: the perfect antidote to rainy British weather, screen time battles, and the infamous "I'm bored!" chorus.

Whether you've got a curious 5-year-old who thinks yoga is about yogurt, or a skeptical teenager who'd rather scroll TikTok, this 5-day plan will help you weave movement and mindfulness into your half term in ways that actually feel fun. No yoga mat required (though a sense of humour definitely helps).

Day 1: Movement Monday – Get Everyone Wiggly

Morning: Animal Adventure Yoga (Ages 5-10)

Start the week with energy to burn! Transform your living room into a jungle, farm, or safari park. Kids love pretending to be animals, and yoga poses have brilliant built-in creatures:

• Downward Dog (obviously!)
• Cat-Cow stretches with exaggerated meows and moos
• Cobra pose with hissing sounds
• Butterfly pose while fluttering around the room
• Frog jumps between poses

Create a story as you go: "We're walking through the jungle when suddenly we see a snake! Everyone into cobra pose!" Let younger children take turns being the storyteller. The sillier, the better.

Afternoon: Yoga Challenge for Tweens & Teens (Ages 11-16)

Older kids respond well to challenges. Set up a "yoga pose challenge" where they hold poses for increasing amounts of time, or create partner poses that require teamwork (and usually result in laughter). Try:

• Plank competitions – Who can hold it longest?
• Tree pose balance – Can you do it with eyes closed?
• Warrior II hold – Feel those legs shake!
• Partner boat pose – Sit facing each other, holding hands, feet pressed together

Film it for extra engagement. Teens love content creation, so let them document their "yoga fails" or victories for their group chats.

Evening Wind-Down: Breathing Buddies (All Ages)

End the day with 5 minutes of belly breathing. Everyone lies on their backs with a stuffed animal on their tummy. As they breathe in, the "buddy" rises; as they breathe out, it falls. It's calming, visual, and works across all ages. Even teenagers will secretly enjoy it (though they might not admit it).

Day 2: Thankful Tuesday – Gratitude & Grounding

Morning: Gratitude Sun Salutations (Ages 7-16)

Teach a simple sun salutation sequence, and with each pose, everyone says something they're grateful for. It might feel awkward at first, but by the third round, you'll be surprised what comes out: "I'm grateful for my duvet," "I'm grateful for rainy days," "I'm grateful for pizza." It's wholesome and gets everyone moving with intention.

For younger children (ages 5-6), simplify it to just three poses: arms up ("I'm grateful for..."), fold forward ("Thank you for..."), and reach up again ("I'm lucky to have...").

Afternoon: Nature Mindfulness Walk (All Ages)

Even if it's drizzly—this is Britain, after all—bundle up and head outside. Parks, woods, or even your local high street work. The activity: a "Senses Scavenger Hunt."

Challenge everyone to find:

• Something they can hear (birds, traffic, leaves crunching)
• Something they can smell (rain, flowers, food from a café)
• Something they can see (autumn colors, interesting clouds)
• Something they can touch (tree bark, a smooth stone)

Older kids can photograph their finds. Younger ones can collect leaves or conkers for an evening craft session.

Evening: Gratitude Jar Start (All Ages)

Create a family gratitude jar. Everyone writes or draws one good thing from the day on a slip of paper and pops it in. By the end of half term, you'll have a jar full of good vibes to read together. This works brilliantly for children who struggle to articulate feelings—drawing counts too.

Day 3: Wobbly Wednesday – Balance & Silly Stuff

Morning: Balance Obstacle Course (Ages 5-12)

Turn your home into a balance challenge course. Use painter's tape to create lines on the floor, place cushions as "stepping stones," and add furniture to navigate around. Kids must move through the course in different yoga poses:

• Tree pose along the tape line
• Warrior III across the cushions
• Eagle pose around the furniture

Time each other, add silly rules ("must hop on one foot while making chicken noises"), and remember: wobbling and falling is part of the fun.

Afternoon: Yoga Games (Ages 5-16)

Try these yoga-inspired games that work across age groups:

Yoga Freeze Dance: Put on music. When it stops, call out a yoga pose name. Everyone freezes in that pose until the music starts again.

Yogi Says: Like Simon Says, but with yoga poses. "Yogi says touch your toes!" Gets competitive quickly.

Pose Charades: Write pose names on slips of paper. Players pick one and act it out while others guess. Hilarious with dramatic teenagers.

Evening: Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Ages 8 to 16)

Teach older children this powerful relaxation technique. Lie down and tense each muscle group for 5 seconds, then release: toes, legs, tummy, hands, arms, shoulders, face. It's especially good for children who hold stress in their bodies or struggle to settle at night. Younger kids can do a simplified "squeeze and let go" version.

Day 4: Thoughtful Thursday – Emotions & Expression

Morning: Mood Yoga (Ages 5 to 16)

Start by checking in: How is everyone feeling? Create yoga sequences based on emotions:

• Happy: Jumping poses, star pose, dancer pose
• Angry: Strong warrior poses, lion's breath (roaring included)
• Sad: Gentle forward folds, child's pose, hugging knees
• Excited: Quick flow sequences, lots of movement
• Tired: Restorative poses, legs-up-the-wall

Let each person choose their mood and create a mini-sequence. It teaches emotional literacy while moving energy through the body.

Afternoon: Mindful Art Session (All Ages)

Combine mindfulness with creativity. Set up a calm space with art supplies and gentle background music. Activities:

• Mandala coloring (free printables available online)
• Zentangle drawing – repetitive patterns that are meditative
• Emotion paint blobs – what color is your feeling today?

The key is process over product. No pressure to create something "good"—just the experience of focusing and creating.

Evening: Bedtime Yoga Story (Ages 5 to 10)

For younger children, create a bedtime yoga story. "Once upon a time, we were seeds planted in the ground (child's pose). The rain came (wiggle fingers), the sun shone (reach up), and we grew into beautiful flowers (standing tall)..." End with everyone melting into savasana (lying down) as the flowers rest at night.

Day 5: Fun Friday – Celebration & Reflection

Morning: Family Yoga Flow (All Ages)

Let each family member contribute one pose to a sequence. String them all together and repeat it three times. It's collaborative, honoring everyone's input, and results in some wonderfully weird flows. The 6-year-old might add "sleeping dinosaur pose" (they just made that up), and that's perfect.

Afternoon: Laughter Yoga (All Ages)

Yes, it's a real thing! Laughter yoga combines playful exercises with breathing. It feels silly at first, which is precisely why it works. Try:

• Laughter waves: Start a small giggle and let it grow bigger
• Gibberish conversation: Talk nonsense to each other in serious tones
• Laughter handshakes: Greet each other while laughing

Genuine laughter or forced—your body doesn't know the difference, and the benefits are the same.

Evening: Reflection & Relaxation (All Ages)

Gather together to reflect on the week. What was everyone's favorite activity? Open the gratitude jar and read some slips together. End with a proper savasana (final relaxation pose) with everyone lying down, lights dimmed, maybe some gentle music playing.

For younger children, you might guide them through a "magic carpet ride" visualization. For older kids, simply 5-10 minutes of quiet rest is powerful (even if they claim they're "just lying there").

Tips for Success

Keep it Short: 15-30 minutes is plenty, especially for younger children. Little and often beats marathon sessions that end in tears (theirs and yours).

Let Go of Perfection: If your 7-year-old's downward dog looks more like a wonky table, that's fine. If your teenager complains but secretly enjoys it, that's a win.

Make it Inclusive: Yoga works for all bodies and abilities. Modify poses as needed, use chairs for support, and celebrate effort over achievement.

Use What You Have: No yoga mats? Use towels or carpet. No quiet space? Do it anyway—with British homes, someone's always making noise somewhere.

Model, Don't Lecture: If you want kids to engage with mindfulness, they need to see you doing it too. Your calm matters more than your instructions.

Follow Their Lead: If they're not feeling it on a particular day, pivot. Yoga and mindfulness should reduce stress, not create it.

Beyond Half Term

The beauty of introducing these practices during half term is that they can become part of your regular routine. A few minutes of breathing before school, a gratitude practice at dinner, weekend yoga sessions—these small moments add up.

British children face increasing pressures: academic stress, social media, packed schedules. Giving them tools to pause, breathe, and connect with their bodies is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. And if you get through half term with everyone slightly calmer, more connected, and having moved their bodies in fun ways? That's a proper parenting victory.

Now, who's ready for tree pose?

Namaste, and may your half term be filled with more downward dogs than upward-climbing-the-walls!