Your knowledge of the skeletal system is extremely important for teaching children’s yoga. This Lesson has been split into topics according to age. This allows you to study the anatomy and physiology in smaller sections, and to aid your learning as you progress with your training.

The skeletal system

The primary functions of the skeletal system are to support the human body and protect internal vital organs. Together with the muscular system, the skeletal system allows movement at joints, or supports movement-related functions in the human body. Different types of joints are found in the human body. Shoulder and hip joints are called ball and socket joints, which are freely movable in all three of the cardinal planes. During typical development, bones fully ossify and provide stability.

There are two types of bone; compact which is dense and solid and spongy which contains open spaces. The proportion of these differs depending on the bone type.

Bone in children and toddlers is more porous than adult bone, with wider haversian canals.

A child’s bones are more elastic than an adult’s are. Two terms are important here: plasticity and elasticity. Bones in children permit a greater degree of deformation before they break. At times, the bone may deform but not fracture, a condition often described as a plastic deformation. At other times, the bone may simply buckle to create what is described as a torus fracture. These patterns are not seen in adults, in whom the bones’ resistance and elasticity to angular deformation is significantly less.