Left Mat, Right Mat1. Before the first pose, everyone sits on their own mat.2. Turn to the mat on your left. Trade first names and one word for why you came today.3. Turn to the mat on your right and do the same.4. The teacher asks three people to introduce a neighbor. Only the name is shared with the room, never the reason.Players: 4 to 30. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet.
Call a Name, Hand Over the Pose1. Play this after names have gone around once. Everyone stands on their mat in an easy stance. 2. One person takes a pose, looks at someone and says that person's name. 3. The person named takes the same pose, and the caller stands easy again. 4. The new holder changes to a pose of their own choice and calls another name, until everyone has held one. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Left Mat, Right Mat1. Before the first pose, everyone sits on their own mat. 2. Turn to the mat on your left. Trade first names and one word for why you came today. 3. Turn to the mat on your right and do the same. 4. The teacher asks three people to introduce a neighbor. Only the name is shared with the room, never the reason. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet.
My Name and One Pose on a Tag1. At the door, each person labels a sticker with a first name and, below it, one pose they like or would like to learn. 2. Before class starts, walk the room and read three tags. 3. Ask each of those three people one question about their pose, such as why they chose it. 4. The teacher collects the pose names by a show of hands and works one of them into the class. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: name stickers and pens. Noise: medium.
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Names with a pose, continued
Name, Pose, Echo1. Stand at the top of your mat, in a circle if the room allows. 2. The first person says their first name and takes any pose they like, or simply stands tall. 3. Everyone says the name back and takes the same shape for one breath. 4. Go around the room. Children may pick an animal pose, and anyone may skip the pose and give only a name. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Partner games with no touching 5
Cue It Without the Name1. Partners stand on neighboring mats. One thinks of a pose that both of them know. 2. That partner talks the other into it using only plain directions for feet, legs, arms and gaze. The name of the pose and comparisons such as "like a tree" are not allowed. 3. The mover does exactly what is said and names the pose on recognizing it. 4. Swap jobs, then tell each other which direction was the clearest. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Robot Builds a Pose1. Partners stand at the two ends of one mat. One is the robot and one is the programmer. 2. The teacher shows the programmers a pose card that the robots cannot see: Mountain, Warrior or Triangle. 3. The programmer gives one small command at a time, such as "right foot back" or "arms up". The robot moves only when told, with robot beeps. 4. When the robot is built, it guesses the name of its pose. Swap jobs with a new card. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 6 min. Props: three pose cards. Noise: loud.
Talk While the Tree Stands1. Partners stand facing each other, a mat's length apart. 2. One partner takes Tree, or any stance on one foot, and starts talking: a first name, a hometown, last weekend. 3. The turn ends when the lifted foot comes down. Wobbling and laughing are part of it. 4. Swap. Afterward each partner tells the other one thing they remember hearing. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud.
Teach One, Learn One1. Partners stand on neighboring mats and trade names. Each thinks of one move they enjoy: a stretch from a sport, a dance step, a pose. 2. The first partner teaches it in under a minute, in words and by showing. 3. Swap. Then join the two moves into one short sequence and run it twice together. 4. Pairs show the sequence to the pair on the next mats and say who taught which half. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Two Mats, One Shape1. Partners stand on two mats side by side. 2. The teacher calls a shape for the two bodies to draw together without touching: a triangle, a capital T, a circle, the number eleven, a bridge with a gap in the middle. 3. Pairs have ten seconds to make it, standing, sitting or lying on their mats. 4. Hold still while the teacher walks past, then relax for the next shape. Each pair invents the last shape and names it. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Questions on the mat 6
Answer in a Pose1. The teacher asks a question with two answers and gives each answer a pose: "Mountain for morning person, Child's Pose for night owl." 2. Everyone takes the pose that fits and looks around the room. 3. More to ask: "Tree for forest, Boat for ocean." "Cat for cats, Downward-Facing Dog for dogs." "Warrior for loud music, Easy Pose for quiet." 4. After each one, say your first name to someone nearby who chose the same pose. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Be the Animal You Would Pick1. The children stand on their mats. The teacher asks: "If you could be any animal today, which one?" 2. On three, everyone becomes that animal on their own mat, with its shape and its sound. 3. The teacher walks the room and guesses a few of the animals aloud. 4. Children with the same animal wave to each other. Ask again with a new question: an animal that lives in water, an animal that flies. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud.
Card Under the Corner1. Before class, slip a question card under the front corner of each mat. 2. When everyone has arrived, turn to a neighbor, trade names, and read your card to them. Both of you answer it. 3. Questions for the cards: "What is the most peaceful place you know?" "What did you do today before you came here?" "Which season suits you best?" "What are you looking forward to this week?" "Who first told you about yoga?" "What sound do you find calming?" 4. Then answer your neighbor's card the same way. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a question card for each mat. Noise: medium.
Front of the Mat If It Is You1. Everyone stands at the back edge of their mat. 2. The teacher reads a line. If it is true of you, walk to the front of your mat, look around at who else walked, and walk back. 3. Lines to use: "This is my first yoga class." "I came here straight from work or school." "I like balancing poses best." "I would rather stretch outdoors." "I am a morning person." "I have a pet at home." "I brought my own mat." "I can name three poses." 4. After the last line, turn to the nearest person who walked when you did and trade names. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet.
One Word for This Class1. Everyone sits. The teacher asks what one word each person wants from this class, and gives examples: quiet, energy, patience. 2. Go around the room. Each person says a first name and a word, or "pass". 3. The teacher repeats three of the words and uses them while teaching. 4. When class ends, each person tells a neighbor whether their word turned up. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet.
The Teacher I Remember1. Trainees sit in pairs. Each thinks of someone who taught them well: a coach, a music teacher, a grandparent. 2. The first partner has two minutes to say who it was and one thing that teacher did. 3. Swap. Then each pair picks one of the things it heard and writes it on a card in five words or fewer. 4. The cards go on the wall, and the group reads them before the first practice-teaching session. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: cards, pens and tape. Noise: quiet.
Pose games 8
A Walk Told in Poses1. Show four poses first: Mountain, Tree, Cat and Boat. The children stand on their mats. 2. The teacher tells a short story slowly. Each time a pose word is heard, everyone takes that pose until the story moves on. 3. The story: "We set off early and climbed a mountain. At the top stood one old tree. Under the tree sat a sleepy cat. The cat watched a boat on the lake far below. We waved to the boat, patted the cat, said goodbye to the tree and walked back down the mountain." 4. Tell it again faster, then ask the children what else the walkers could meet. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
The Flow Grows by One1. Stand in a circle of mats. The first person shows one pose the group knows, and everyone does it. 2. The second person adds a pose. The group does the first, then the second. 3. Each person adds one, and the group runs the whole chain from the start each time. 4. Stop at six poses. The group has built its own sequence, and the teacher can name it after the class. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Guess My Animal Pose1. The teacher whispers an animal pose to two children: Cat, Cow, Cobra, Frog, Lion or Eagle. 2. The two take the pose side by side, without a sound. 3. The class calls out the animal, and everyone tries the pose with them. 4. Whisper the next animal to two new children. Use only poses the class has been shown. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud.
Pose Whisper Down the Row1. Mats are in rows, with everyone facing the back wall. The teacher shows a pose to the last person in each row only. 2. That person says "turn" to the one in front, who turns around, watches the pose for three seconds and turns back. 3. The pose travels up the row this way, one person at a time. 4. The person at the front of each row shows what arrived, and the teacher shows the pose that set out. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: medium.
Sanskrit and English Pairs1. Write each Sanskrit pose name on one card and its English name on another: Tadasana and Mountain, Vrikshasana and Tree, Balasana and Child, Bhujangasana and Cobra, Garudasana and Eagle, Navasana and Boat, Trikonasana and Triangle, Simhasana and Lion, Padmasana and Lotus, Dhanurasana and Bow, Matsyasana and Fish, Ushtrasana and Camel. 2. Deal one card to each trainee. Walk the room and find the person who holds the other name of your pose. 3. Partners trade first names and take the pose together, or describe it if they prefer. 4. Each pair reads both names to the room, Sanskrit first. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 8 min. Props: pose-name cards in pairs. Noise: medium.
Three Piles: Standing, Sitting, Lying Down1. Write eighteen pose names on cards, one to a card, and give a shuffled set to each group of three or four. 2. Groups sort the cards into three piles by where the body is: on the feet, sitting or kneeling, lying down. 3. One set that sorts evenly: Mountain, Tree, Triangle, Warrior, Eagle and Half Moon; Child, Boat, Lotus, Staff, Lion and Camel; Cobra, Bow, Fish, Crocodile, Locust and Corpse. 4. Groups compare piles and talk over any card they placed differently. Each person then names a favorite from every pile. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: a set of eighteen pose cards for each group. Noise: medium.
Wind in the Tree Forest1. The children stand on their mats in Tree, or with both feet down and arms up as branches. They are a forest. 2. The teacher is the wind and walks between the mats waving a light scarf. 3. A breeze means small sways. A gust means big sways, and any tree may put a foot down and grow back. 4. When the wind stops, every tree stands still for a count of five. Then a child takes the scarf and is the wind. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: a light scarf. Noise: medium.
Yogi Says, Nobody Out1. The children stand on their mats. The teacher gives commands, some starting with "Yogi says" and some without. 2. Do the pose only when Yogi says so: "Yogi says Mountain. Yogi says Tree. Cat." 3. A child who moves on a plain command is not out. They take one big bow and keep playing. 4. After ten commands a child who would like to becomes Yogi and calls five poses the class knows. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud.
How this list was compiled: Written on 2026-10-14 for a teacher opening a kids' yoga class, an adult class or a teacher training. The games and their steps are our own wording, and the questions, the lines and the story printed inside the steps are our own. The games name poses and do not teach them: a teacher uses only poses the class has already been shown, and anyone may stand or sit in place of a pose. Nobody is touched, nobody is out, and no question asks about a body, an injury or a belief. Pose names were read on 2026-10-14 in the table of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asanas (text under CC BY-SA 4.0), which gives each Sanskrit name with its English name and a type: Tadasana is Mountain and Vrikshasana is Tree (standing), Balasana is Child, Navasana is Boat, Padmasana is Lotus and Simhasana is Lion (sitting), Ushtrasana is Camel (kneeling), Bhujangasana is Cobra, Dhanurasana is Bow and Matsyasana is Fish (reclining), Garudasana is Eagle, Trikonasana is Triangle, Sukhasana is Easy, and Adho Mukha Shvanasana is Downward-Facing Dog. Cat, Cow, Frog, Warrior, Half Moon, Staff, Crocodile, Locust and Corpse are in the same article. The three piles in Three Piles follow that type column. This is a list of games, not advice on health, fitness or injury. Player ranges and minutes are planning estimates. Licence: own work
How it works
These yoga icebreaker games open a class on the mats: a name said with a pose, a question answered in Mountain or Child's Pose, a story told in four poses.
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Yoga icebreakers for kids, adults and teacher trainings
A kids' yoga class keeps 15 games, with animal poses, robots and a story to act out. An adult class keeps 15 that fit the first minutes of a session, and A teacher training keeps 14, among them Sanskrit and English Pairs and Cue It Without the Name.
Icebreaker questions for yoga
Six games are questions. Card Under the Corner prints six to slip under the mats, such as "What is the most peaceful place you know?", and Front of the Mat If It Is You has eight lines answered by walking. None asks about a body or an injury.
Questions and answers
What is a good yoga icebreaker for a first class?
Name, Pose, Echo. Each person says a first name and takes any pose, or simply stands tall, and the room says the name back in the same shape. Nobody needs to know a pose name, and anyone may give only a name.
Do these yoga icebreakers teach poses?
No. The games name poses, such as Mountain, Tree and Cat, and expect the teacher to use only ones the class has been shown. Pose names follow Wikipedia's list of asanas. This is a list of games, not advice on health or fitness.
Which yoga icebreaker games work for kids?
15 are marked for a kids' class. In A Walk Told in Poses the teacher tells a short story and the children take Mountain, Tree, Cat or Boat each time they hear the word. In Yogi Says, nobody is ever out.
Do partners touch in the partner games?
No. In all five partner games the two people stay on their own mats or a mat's length apart. Two Mats, One Shape asks two bodies to draw a triangle or a capital T without touching.