Kids Camps at Lolos

A day in the life at Lolo’s Art and Yoga Kids Camp

Let’s follow 9-year-old Mia through her first day at Lolo’s art and yoga camp! 

Mia arrives at Lolo’s summer camp hand-in-hand with her dad and her 6-year-old sister. It’s both of their first days at yoga summer camp and they are nervous! Mia is acting brave for her little sister, but her tummy is doing flips because she doesn’t know anyone else here. And she isn’t so sure about all this mindfulness and yoga stuff! She likes art though, and she thought all the pictures on the website looked fun.

The smiling counselors greet her and check her in, as she waves goodbye to her dad. The counselors tell her she’s going to stay in the front with the other 8-year-olds and older, and her little sister will go in the back with the other 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds- UH OH! Now she is really nervous, she forgot they would be in separate age groups. But she keeps putting on a brave face, hugs her sister, and joins the other big kids in the yoga studio who are coloring in a circle. 

Once everyone arrives, they start to do their “check-in.” Mia shares her number on a scale of 1-10 of how she’s feeling, and her reason why. She realizes that she usually would just say “good” if someone asked her how she is doing. It is refreshing to take a moment to think about how she really feels. Then she has to say something she’s grateful for. That’s easy- her sister and her dog! Next, everyone is sharing what school they go to and their favorite food. Woah, there are a few kids from her school here, they’re just in different grades. She thinks she recognizes one of them. And she learns that another kid’s favorite food is sushi too! She is already feeling way calmer and less nervous. 

Now the counselor is leading them through some breathing practices. She learns Lion’s Breath- which is good for if you feel angry or upset, Sun Breath- which is good to connect more with your breath and ground yourself, and Box Breath- which is good if you’re feeling nervous or overwhelmed (Mia is glad to learn about that one!).

Since everyone is feeling wiggly, they play a game of Statue Garden- one of Mia’s favorites! Except in this one they have to do a yoga pose. Mia only knows a few, but she makes up some of her own, and copies what some of the other kids are doing and that seems to work great! 

After eating a snack it’s finally time for art- YAY! Mia can hardly believe her eyes when she walks into the art studio it’s so... colorful and vibrant! The walls are covered with the coolest projects ever! There is so much paint, and glitter, and other materials! Since it is the first week of summer camp, they are making summer vision boards! Miss Lolo encourages them to think about how they can bring more calm, strength, and kindness into their summers- and then display that on their vision boards. Mia thinks about how she can play games her little sister likes, go on jogs with her mom and the dog, and read more! She incorporates all these things on her vision board- along with plenty of gems and glitter! 

Throughout the rest of the day she eats lunch, plays made-up games with her new friends, Yogi Says with the counselor, and gets to have free art time with the recycled materials in the art studio! 

Near the end of the day, they do kid-friendly yoga with one of the registered yoga teachers. She learns how to do sun salutations, warrior II, triangle pose, and tree pose! Then they do some partner yoga- she even gets to be partners with her new friend! After yoga, they lay down on their mats for ‘savasana.’ She isn’t sure what to expect. The teacher guides them through some more breaths to calm down, and explains how they can quiet their minds. Everyone is very still and quiet, it feels so peaceful. Then the teacher comes to each kid with essential oil and gives them a little head rub. Some of the kids say no which is ok too. But Mia decides she’s going to try it out- it feels so lovely and relaxing! 

Right before 3 o’clock they do a “check out,” where they say their “rose, bud and thorn.” The rose is the best part of the day- Mia can’t decide between savasana and free art. Bud is something you’re excited to come back for- Mia’s is definitely to play with her new friends more. Thorn is the worst part of the day- Mia says it’s when she felt so nervous this morning, but it’s funny because she doesn’t feel nervous at all anymore!

Mia and her little sister are beaming when they get picked up- they can’t wait to come back for summer camp for the rest of the week!