Pilates for Kids: Poses, Benefits, and Instructional Strategies!

“Pilates is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit.” 

– Joseph Pilates, a German physical trainer and the creator of Pilates 

Pilates 🤸🏽‍♀️ is a mind-body exercise and a form of body-functioning exercise routine that your kids can try at home to help them become fitter and healthier. 

You can get your kids to spend an average of 30 minutes of their daily routine doing Pilates, which can lead to a change in their lifestyle and health 🩺. 

In this blog post, I have included a detailed guide on Pilates, an exercise routine that can help improve the physical well-being of your kids. 😄

History Behind Pilates

A German 🇩🇪 man named Joseph Pilates is credited with having developed Pilates in the 20th century. 

Joseph Pilates was one of the first prominent people who combined the Western and Eastern ideas and techniques of physical health and physical fitness 🏃🏽‍♀️.

During World War I, he interned as a German enemy alien, worked as a nurse, and experimented with his approach of exercise and body-conditioning with wounded soldiers by attaching strings to their beds, which paved the way for modern Pilates.

It was the year 1932 when Joseph Pilates and his wife, Clara, moved to America 🇺🇸. He then opened his studio 🏨, which led to the Pilates exercise becoming widely accepted and popular.

He named his practice Crontology, which was later renamed Pilates, which takes its name from Joseph Pilates.

Principles of Pilates

There are six essential principles involved in Pilates, which include –

1. Breath 
2. Concentration 
3. Control
4. Centering 
5. Precision
6. Flow

Here are Pilates Exercises for Your Kids

Here, I have listed various Pilates exercises that your kids can try –

Single Leg Stretch

The single-leg🦵🏼stretch is one of my son’s favorite Pilates exercises!

Steps to do:

• Make your kids lie on their backs on their yoga mats with their hands by their sides and legs in a straight position.
• Then, get them to lift their shoulders slightly off the ground and bring one knee to their chests.
• They can hold the knee with one hand and the ankle with the other hand and hold for a few seconds.
• The other leg can stay straightened on the floor without any change.
• Now, kids can switch their legs and alternate the exercise between both legs a few times for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

The single-leg stretch can help your kids strengthen their abdominal muscles, improve their core strength, and straighten their spine.

Spine Twist

I would say that the spine twist is one of my son’s most practiced Pilates exercises, and it is simple for kids to do.

Steps to do:

• Make your kids sit upright on their yoga mats with their legs stretched forward in front of them and their spines straight.
• Then, get them to hold out their arms on both sides at shoulder level to look like the letter T. 
• Kids can slowly twist their torso, as much as they can, toward one side with their arms straight and hold for a few seconds.
• They can return to the center position and repeat the same on the other side and alternate between both sides a few times.

Spine twists can help your kids improve and correct their posture, develop their core strength, and improve the flexibility of their hips.

Pro Tip:

Make sure that your kids keep their spine straight while twisting to each side.

Burpees

Burpees are a common Pilates exercise and a full-body workout that follows a sequence of combined exercises, and my son enjoys it a lot. 

Steps to do:

• Make your kids start in a standing position with their feet shoulder-width apart.
• Then, get them to lower their bodies into a squat on the floor, place their arms forward, and extend their legs backward to get into a plank position.
• They can do a push-up in the plank position, come back to the squat position, jump in the air with their arms above their head, and land in the squat position again to finish one set. 

The simple sequence to complete one burpee exercise is –

A Squat – Plank – Push-up – Jump Squat repeated in quick successions. 

You can encourage your kids to complete the sequence with quick and agile movements, which they may struggle with initially, which they will get used to as they consistently try doing these burpees.

A burpee exercise can help your kids strengthen their core, improve balance and coordination, and develop their agility.  

Squat

A squat is a physically rewarding and effective functional exercise in shaping the lower body of your kids and also forms the base of many movements and actions needed to perform day-to-day activities and tasks 🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏽.

Steps to do:

• Make your kids stand straight with their feet shoulder-width apart.
• Then, get them to bend their knees a little and lower themselves toward the floor as if they were sitting on an invisible chair 🪑 with their heels and toes pressed to the ground.
• Kids can stay in the squat position for a few seconds and return to the standing position.

Squats are effective for your kids to tone their legs, strengthen their knees, and improve their balance and flexibility. 

Plank

A plank is a Pilates exercise that you can get your kids to try, and although they might find it difficult in the starting – trust me, the rewards are worth it.

Steps to do:

• Make your kids lie on their stomachs on the floor.
• They can keep their hands flat on the floor next to their shoulders and toes touching the floor.
• Now, get them to lift their bodies off the floor by instructing them to place their forearms with the elbows forming a 90-degree angle and rest their knees on the floor.
• Kids can stay in this forearm plank position for a few seconds and then return to the original position of lying on the floor.

Plank exercises can help your kids strengthen their core muscles, improve their coordination, and strengthen their arms, upper bodies, and overall bodies.

Pro Tip:

Another variation of a plank that your kids can try, which is a bit more advanced compared to this, is the standard straight-arm plank. 

Kids can hold the plank position by straightening their arms in a push-up position on the floor and balancing the weight of their bodies without any elbow or knee support.

Bicycle Crunch

If your kids love cycling 🚲 as much as my son does, they will also enjoy this Pilates exercise of cycling in the air, which is just as much fun. 

Steps to do:

• Make your kids lie on their backs on their yoga mats. 
• Then, get them to curl their necks up and raise their legs toward the ceiling.
• They can place their hands at the back of their head.
• Kids can imagine they are on a cycle and use their legs to cycle in the air in both forward and backward motion for a few seconds. 

Bicycle crunches can help your kids strengthen their core and legs and improve balance and coordination.

Lunges

Lunges are a single-leg lower body exercise and are similar to the action of your kids bending down to tie their shoelaces. 

Steps to do:

• Make your kids stand straight with their feet hip-width apart.
• Then, get them to take a step forward with one of their legs and bend their knee so that their thigh is parallel to the ground.
• They can lower their bodies and bend their other knee, which is the back knee, at a 90-degree angle a little above the floor without touching the ground and use their heels to balance.
• Kids can lunge forward, return to the standing position, and alternate between the legs. 

Push-Ups

I recommend you make your kids try doing a few sets of push-ups to make them fitter and more active.

Steps to do:

• Make your kids lie down on their stomachs on the ground.
• Then, get your kids to place their hands shoulder-width apart, rest their feet on the ground, and lift their bodies up.
• They can lower their bodies parallel to the ground, bend their elbows, and then lift their bodies up again until their arms are straight. 
• Kids can repeat the push-up routine a few times. 

Push-ups can help your kids build their core strength along with their overall upper body strength and improve posture and balance. 

Hundred

The Hundred 💯 is a classic Pilates exercise that your kids can do, and it is an exercise that serves the whole body. 

Steps to do:

• Make your kids lie on their backs on their yoga mats.
• They can place their hands facing down on their sides and their feet together and bend and tuck their knees toward their chest.
•  Then, guide them to slowly lift their heads and shoulders off the yoga mats.
• Kids can straighten and lift their legs forward parallel to the ground and lift their arms up with their palms facing the floor.
• They can inhale and pump their arms five times, then exhale and pump their arms for another five times, which equals to a count of 10 arm pumps.
• Kids can pump their arms to a count of 100, divided into sets of 10.  

If you are wondering why the exercise is called the hundred, let me tell you – it refers to the goal of 100 pumps done with the arms while staying in this position with regulated breathing. 

The Pilates hundred exercise can help your kids strengthen their abdominal and core muscles, improve their circulation, and engage their mind-body connection.

Pro Tip:

The arm pumps can be done in sets of 10 for your kids to do it more easily. They can go up to 100 arm pumps if they are comfortable by increasing their goal each time.

Benefits of Pilates 

There are various benefits to your kids doing Pilates exercises, and I have listed some of the benefits below –

Improves Flexibility

Pilates can help your kids become more flexible 🤸🏽‍♀️ over time. The poses involved in Pilates are physical in nature and can help your kids stretch their muscles and joints. 

Being flexible can allow your kids to move their body better and contributes to making their bodies healthy overall. It also makes kids perform day-to-day activities and tasks more efficiently. 

If you are worried about your kids having poor posture, you can help them correct their posture 🧎🏽‍♀️with the help of Pilates, which can transform their posture to a large extent.

Pilates can help your kids align and straighten their spines and necks and broaden their shoulders. I would say that good posture is not only better for health, but it also allows kids to become more confident in themselves. 

Improves Mental Health

I strongly believe that mental 🧠 health is as essential as physical health. In this case, Pilates not only helps your kids deal with their physical health, but it also helps them with their mental health. 

If your kids practice Pilates exercises consistently, it can boost their mental health and improve their outlook on life, their state of mind, and their mood. 

Promotes Mindfulness

Pilates also is a way to promote mindfulness 🧘🏽‍♀️ in your kids, as it requires them to be present at every moment of the exercise.

Pilates encourages kids to clear their minds, calm themselves, and adopt a positive mindset, which allows them to focus on the exercise they are doing, for their worries and negative feelings fade away for the moment.

I would say that Pilates is a form of meditation and has improved the overall well-being of my son for the better.

Develops Core Muscle Strength

Pilates is an effective movement-oriented exercise routine that can help your kids develop their core muscle strength.

Pilates includes a lot of exercise routines that are also abdominal exercises, which can help in tightening and strengthening the muscles around the core.

Strengthening the core muscles 💪🏼 can help your kids develop good balance and posture, reduce back pain, and prevent the risk of injuries. 

Increases Concentration Abilities

As your kids practice Pilates, they learn to focus better on the body part where the movement is happening, and this helps improve their concentration.

I would say that having better concentration contributes to your kids’ better focus in academics 📖 and sports 🏏 alike.

Develops Balance and Coordination

Pilates can help your kids develop their ability to balance ⚖️ and their coordination skills when it comes to the movements of their bodies, as these exercises strengthen the areas required for balancing. 

Having the ability to balance and coordinate well can not only help kids in their day-to-day actions and activities, but it can also contribute to your kids doing well in many sports.

I would say balance is required for most day-to-day activities, like walking, carrying objects, sitting and getting up from a chair, and so on, which can help your kids.

Tips to Follow

Here, I will share a few tips 📝 that you can consider to make the overall pilates experience enjoyable and effective for your kids.

• You can make the process of Pilates more enjoyable by presenting it to your kids in a game 🎯 style by creating your own version of Simon Says or Snakes and Ladders, where they can play and exercise at the same time.
• Another idea I would suggest is to make a prompts jar by writing different Pilates exercises on small pieces of paper and placing it in a glass jar 🫙 and let your kids choose one paper slip to create a sense of curiosity.
• Make sure that your kids are following the correct ✅ form and technique while doing Pilates, which not only benefits them but also prevents possible injuries.
• I recommend you try to make the exercise sessions as fun 🤩 as possible to make them more fun for your kids to do.
• The flexibility levels differ for each child, so you can modify the Pilates exercises to cater to their comfort zone, and you can gradually help them get used to the process.
• I recommend you change the exercises every day 🗓️ to provide variety and get them to try different kinds of exercises.

A Note of Caution for You

There are a few things you need to keep in mind in regard to your kids doing the Pilates routine.

There is a risk of injury in Pilates, which is common for exercises of any sort, so make sure your kids are under the supervision of a trained professional 👩🏽‍💼, adult, or parent while doing it to avoid possible injuries 🩼, sprains 🤕, or strains 🩹.

Conclusion 

My son has done the above Pilates exercises consistently, and I’m happy that it has helped him become physically fitter 🤾🏽 and active and also provides a variety to his usual exercise routines.

I guarantee your kids will have fun 🤩 while doing these exercises, and they will also become flexible and improve their core and muscle strength along the process.

I hope you found this guide on Pilates and its related exercises beneficial and managed to discover some Pilates-related exercise routines for your kids to try.

Please let me know in the comments if you have any more Pilate exercise ideas to share or any questions for me to answer – I would love to hear from you! 😊