KID’S MOVEMENT & MINDFULNESS
FACILITATOR TRAINING
Teach children’s movement and mindfulness with confidence, not guesswork.
By established and award-winning charity Stretch & Play.
Whether you’re a concerned Parent, Early Years Worker, School Teacher, Pilates Instructor, Yoga Teacher or Coach, Victoria is excited to help you develop movement and mindfulness skills specifically for working with children aged between 3 and 13 years old.
Get instant access to the full Stretch & Play Facilitator Training
- Stretch activities. Stretches inspired by yoga and Pilates, adapted specifically for children’s bodies and attention spans, taught through action songs so kids actually want to do them.
- Play activities. Games, stories, drama and relaxation techniques that make movement and stillness feel like play, not a lesson.
- Meditation, mindfulness and breathwork for children. Practices you can actually run with a room of 3 to 13 year olds, not adapted-down adult content that falls flat.
- Stress in Children and Adverse Childhood Experiences. A grounding in what children are carrying and how movement and mindfulness genuinely help, so you understand the why, not just the how.
- Anatomy and physiology for children. The foundation you need to teach safely and confidently, specific to developing bodies.
- The Business of Stretch & Play. Setting up, marketing, and the health and safety requirements of running children’s classes, so you’re not left working that out alone.
- 80+ page Facilitator Manual. Full lesson plans for two age groups, 3 to 7 and 8 to 13, so you can start teaching without building your own curriculum from scratch.
- A full year of access, with the option to download every video and keep them for life.
- Certification and IPHM registration (optional, £25). Submit your homework from Module 1, your class plan and a video within six months, and you’ll get personalised feedback plus your certificate, registered with IPHM so you can get insured and teach anywhere in the world.
If any of this sounds like you…
- You love kids. You love movement. You have no idea how to put the two together and get paid for it.
- You’ve watched other Pilates or yoga teachers add kids’ classes to their timetable and thought “I could do that” but never worked out where to start.
- You’re a teacher or parent who can see exactly how much children need this and nobody’s built the tools for you yet.
- You keep saying “I’ll figure it out eventually” and eventually never comes.
- You worry you’re not qualified enough, even though you already know more than you think.
- You want work that fits around your own kids, not work that takes you away from them.
- Deep down you’re scared that if you don’t do something with this now, you never will, and you’ll stay stuck doing work that has nothing to do with what you actually care about.
Here’s what changes
- You know exactly what to do in a room full of children, from your first session onward.
- You have a business, not just a hobby, with pricing, marketing and the practical side sorted.
- You’ve got 80+ pages of lesson plans done for you, so you’re never starting from a blank page.
- You’re qualified and insured, so you can say yes to schools, nurseries and parents with confidence.
- You’re doing work that fits your life instead of eating it.
- You’re not guessing anymore. You’re teaching.
You changed the way I think about teaching yoga to children e.g through story telling and getting them involved in the story. It is wonderful for their imagination and creativity skills, not to mention a lot of fun!
The resources are excellent and well organised. Victoria is a lovely person who creates a welcoming atmosphere. She is passionate about the well-being of young people and was a great teacher. I feel lucky to have experienced this course.
COURSE DATES:
START WHEN YOU ARE READY!
This course is self-paced and has a number of in-depth lessons and a 80+ page manual which are immediately available upon purchase. It should take you anywhere between one week and three months to complete the course depending on how quickly you want to be teaching.
To receive the professional course Certificate, please send the additional fee of £25 and your homework as detailed in Module 1. Upon receiving your final assignments, I will supply personalised feedback to your class plan and video, as well as present you with your course certificate and register you with IPHM as a Stretch & Play Facilitator.
If you decide to apply for Certification you have SIX MONTHS from the date of purchase to complete your work. You then have access to the course materials for a further year.
COURSE FORMAT:
The Stretch & Play course, like all our courses, runs according to the Ordinary People Academy’s principles of FOUNDATION, EXPRESSION & VISION.
FOUNDATION:
Rationale behind the programme – why
Rationale behind the programme – how
Anatomy & Physiology of Children
EXPRESSION:
Stretch activities – action songs and stretches
Play activities – drama games and relaxation / mindfulness
VISION:
The Business of Stretch & Play
Stress in Children
Health & Safety
The teachers on the course were perfect in their presentation, very knowledgeable and had the ability to make us all feel welcome and comfortable.
INVESTMENT
This course costs £695
and can be paid in full or in instalments.
The bonus of this programme is all the themed lessons and songs and activities that you made which are fantastic, I loved them!
Such a very comprehensive and well put together course. I can definitely use some of this material in my classes, or as a stand-alone Stretch and Play class.
Who this is for
Concerned parents. Early years workers. School teachers. Pilates instructors. Yoga teachers. Coaches. Anyone with a sincere interest in working with children aged 3 to 13, whether or not you’ve got a formal qualification yet.
Ideally you’ll hold a Level 2 Fitness Qualification, a Level 3 Diploma in Mat Pilates, or a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certificate, or be working towards one. An Education or Early Years qualification also counts. If you don’t have any of these but you’re genuinely drawn to this work, don’t let that stop you. Email training@ordinarypeopleacademy.com and we’ll talk it through.
Newly qualified Pilates teachers often use this to find a niche outside adult classes. Yoga teachers use it to add hours towards their 500-hour certification. Teachers and parents come to it because they can see how much children need this and want the tools to actually deliver it.
The story behind Stretch & Play
I’m Victoria Cunningham, a trained youth worker and Senior Yoga Teacher. Before Stretch & Play I worked with young people aged 16 to 25 in post-Troubles Northern Ireland, and I kept seeing the same thing: increasingly sedentary lifestyles and almost no healthy outlets for self-expression. By the time they reached me, it felt too late to shift much. So I built something for children aged 3 to 13 instead, to reach them sooner.
Introducing yoga to children in Northern Ireland in the early noughties was not easy, particularly against a backdrop of religious division, so I widened it from yoga alone into a broader mix of movement and mindfulness. From 2006 to 2009 I ran Stretch & Play as a registered charity, with backing from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, UnLtd, Invest NI’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme and the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland. I trained facilitators and delivered classes for groups including Traveller support organisations, women’s centres, youth development centres, a Gaelscoil, and young people in care through VOYPIC.
The work mattered and it was recognised, but I was overworking myself into the ground. In 2009 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and closed the charity. In 2012 I moved into training adults instead, and Stretch & Play became two strands: professional development for Pilates and yoga instructors, and consultancy-based Tools for Teachers work in schools.
Since 2020 the Facilitator Training has been fully online, so you can learn it wherever you are. You’re not tied to a franchise, there are no ongoing fees, and you don’t have to call your classes Stretch & Play unless you want to. These are tools to build your own thing.
FAQs
How long does the course take?
Anywhere from one week to three months, depending on how fast you want to be teaching. It’s self-paced, so it’s entirely up to you.
When does it start?
Whenever you’re ready. Every lesson and the full manual are available immediately after purchase.
Do I need a Pilates or yoga qualification already?
Ideally you’ll have a Level 2 Fitness Qualification, Level 3 Mat Pilates Diploma, or 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certificate, or be working towards one. An Education or Early Years qualification is also accepted. If you have none of these but a genuine interest in the age group, email us before you enrol and we’ll talk it through.
How does certification work?
It’s optional, and it’s £25 on top of the course fee. Send in your homework from Module 1, your class plan and a video within six months of purchase. You’ll get personalised feedback on your work, your certificate, and registration with IPHM as a Stretch & Play Facilitator.
What does IPHM accreditation actually give me?
It lets you get insured and teach anywhere in the world under a recognised standard.
Do I have to run classes called "Stretch & Play"?
No. Use the name if you want it, or build your own brand around these tools. You’re not locked into a franchise and there are no ongoing fees.
How long do I have access?
One year of full access, and you can download every video to keep for life. If you go for certification, you have six months to submit your work, then a further year of access to the materials.
What can I actually do with this once I'm trained?
Run your own classes and community sessions, work in schools and nurseries, or both, charging per session or through block bookings. Plenty of people use it to add a new stream to a Pilates or yoga business they already run.
I'm not sure I'm ready. What if I enrol and don't use it?
You already know whether you’re someone who finishes what they start. The course is there whenever you’re ready to begin, and it’s yours for a year either way. The only real risk is staying in the “I’ll figure it out eventually” holding pattern for another year instead.
Watch this interview with Stretch & Play Founder Victoria Cunningham to hear more about:
- the importance of movement and mindfulness to childhood trauma recovery
- how Yoga and Pilates provide safe, non-competitive modalities of movement for children
and
- holistic solutions to the ongoing childhood obesity crisis.
Ready to actually teach the thing you keep telling people you want to teach? Enrol in Stretch & Play for £695, or 3 payments of £245.
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