JP Kids: Children move to the music at yoga studio

If you’re outside Blissful Monkey Yoga Studio at 663 Centre St. and hear children saying that can’t wait to play with the parachute, don’t be alarmed. They’re not going skydiving. They’re participating in Kindermusik.

Kindermusik is an international program that started in Germany and combines music and movement.

Evan Haller, who teaches the program at Blissful Monkey, said Kindermusik combines music and movement to enhance language, emotional and cognitive function, balance and reading skills, and generally enriches their lives. The program at Blissful Monkey is broken into two groups: newborns to 1-and-a-half-year-olds and 1-and-a-half to 3-and-a-half-year-olds.

Haller, whose wife Terri owns the studio, said the most popular activity is the “parachute,” which is a very large, round sheet. The kids will go on top of the sheet while it is shaken. They will then go hide underneath the sheet, pretending it is an ocean-like ceiling, according to Haller.

“It’s a big, fun time,” he said.

The children also listen to songs while going through different movements, such as clapping, rubbing, rolling, skipping, stirring, jumping, creeping, crawling and galloping.

“There are all different kinds of movement,” said Haller.

He said the children explore their spatial awareness and learn their own abilities through these motions.

Haller, who graduated from the Berklee College of Music, first became involved with Kindermusik on the North Shore 11 years ago. He said Kindermusik is the perfect balance because it combines both his passions: children and music. Haller’s five children all went through the program.

Besides the Kindermusik program, Blissful Monkey also offers yoga for toddlers and young children. For more information, call 617-522-4411.

(Photo Courtesy Evan Haller) Children play with the parachute during Kindermusik at Blissful Monkey Yoga Studio.

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