7 Ayurveda Tips for Children

2026 January 12

Anyone who thinks Ayurveda is only for adults is sorely mistaken. Whether it’s nutrition, massage, or sound therapy, there are many ways you—as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so on—can lovingly support your little ones’ development. – From infancy to adolescence! Dr Jasmin Blumenberg, a paediatrician and Ayurvedic physician, will show you how, Board member of the German Society for Ayurveda, the oldest association of Ayurvedic physicians in Germany (founded in 1983). Dr Jasmin Blumenberg, M.D., practices at the Minden Children’s Hospital and is a lecturer at the German Ayurveda Academy in Regensburg.

Tip 1: Stick to a daily routine

For healthy development, children need regularity and rhythm. Ayurveda and Western medicine are in complete agreement on this point. Without a regular rhythm, children have trouble coping with the flood of stimuli in their lives. Common consequences include restlessness, excessive activity, and inner turmoil. The children are then unable to find balance. From the Ayurvedic perspective, this is an expression of excessive Accumulation of Vata. A regular daily routine incorporating Ayurvedic practices that promote balance and harmony can help restore balance to the doshas or maintain dosha balance from the outset.

How does that work in practice?

You can start by introducing the Ayurvedic daily rhythm to children who already sleep through the night—that is, who have a regular day-night rhythm. This is usually the case between the ages of two and three. From an Ayurvedic perspective, the day should begin early. The recommended wake-up time is 6 a.m. Since young children are often “early risers” anyway, this will be relatively easy to implement at a young age. Much more difficult This is especially true for teenagers, whose sleep patterns are shifting later and later. But the same principle applies to them: A regular daily routine that includes getting up early improves their dosha balance and provides them with stability in their daily lives. After a sleepless or restless night—which happens quite often, especially with young children—parents and children should, of course, feel free to sleep in once in a while. Everyone needs to find their own way that works best for them. The same applies to bedtime. Children—just like adults—should go to bed at a set time whenever possible. For teenagers, this shouldn't be later than 10 p.m.—though, of course, it's okay to stay up a little later if there's a party.

Tip 2: Start your day with water

Anyone who starts their morning by drinking a glass of water on an empty stomach has already done a lot for their health. From an Ayurvedic perspective, drinking water helps cleanse the body and stimulates morning bowel movements. For children, this recommendation can be followed starting at age one.

Here's How to Do It

Ideally, for the “morning drink,” use water that has been boiled for 10 minutes and has cooled to room temperature. You can also store the boiled water in a thermos and let it cool to the desired temperature as needed. For children who are used to drinking fruit juice and are reluctant to drink plain water, you can gradually reduce the amount of juice. In any case, children under 4 years of age should, if possible, Drink only a little fruit juice—it’s also better for their teeth. Still water is the best daily thirst-quencher for children. Fruit juice should be reserved for special occasions. As parents and other close adults, you can, of course, significantly improve children’s acceptance of water by setting a good example yourself.

Tip 3: Ayurvedic Morning Routine for Children

Similar to what we recommend for adults, we recommend that children start with a Start your day with an Ayurvedic morning routine . Here are the steps in detail:

Bowel and Bladder Care: Make sure the child takes the time to empty their bowels and bladder.
Massage: For babies, the morning full-body massage is performed by the parents or another adult. Rub the little ones with aged sesame oil for about 10 to 15 minutes. Older children (ages eight and up) and teenagers can perform the massage on themselves and are welcome to use a Use massage oil tailored to your dosha type , diluted with sesame oil if necessary (Vata massage oil for dry to normal skin,) Dosha-Type Use a suitable massage oil, diluted with sesame oil if necessary (Vata Massage Oil for dry to normal skin, Pitta Massage Oil for sensitive skin types, Kapha Massage Oil (for oily, blemish-prone skin).

Baby Massage

Stretching Exercises: For infants and toddlers, as part of their morning massage, you can very gently bring their legs back over their heads. Then guide their right arm toward their left leg—and vice versa. This isn’t just fun for the little ones—it’s also good for them.
Body Cleansing:: Take a shower after the massage. While plain water is usually sufficient for young children, older children and teenagers can use a shower gel or shampoo that suits their dosha type.

Vata Shampoo For normal to dry and brittle hair
Pitta Shampoo For normal to fine hair
Kapha Shampoo Normal to thick and oily hair.

Cleaning the Tongue and Teeth: In addition to the usual toothbrushing, even young children can Tongue cleaner be used. While older children can easily use the tongue scraper on their own with a little practice, younger children should still be assisted by adults, who should then gently run the tongue scraper over the tongue.

We recommend our silver-plated tongue scraper, which is especially small, soft, and round.

Tip 4: Ayurvedic Cooking for Children

The goal of any diet is to provide our body—and thus every single cell in our body—with sufficient nutrients and energy. A prerequisite for this is thorough digestion of food. This is where, according to Ayurveda, the digestive fire Agni comes into play. Only when it burns properly are our cells well-supplied and as few metabolic waste products (Ama) formed as possible. Accordingly, Ayurvedic cuisine relies not only on a healthy, wholefood diet but also on numerous spices and other ingredients that stimulate the digestive fire. According to Ayurveda, they form the basis for good physical and mental performance as well as the prevention of diseases and everyday complaints. Otherwise, you may experience bloating, fatigue, skin problems, difficulty concentrating, and other discomforts. By the way: The principles of Ayurvedic cuisine, which stem from this Ayurvedic understanding, apply to children just as much as they do to adults.

Engage all six senses with every meal by incorporating all six flavours whenever possible (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, astringent). They all have different effects on a person's body and mind.
Whenever possible, prepare the food fresh. This is not only healthier, but also simply tastes better.
Let the child drink warm water regularly between meals. This strengthens the digestive tract, whereas cold drinks weaken it.

In addition to these general tips on Ayurvedic nutrition, there are some special features that apply specifically to children. From an Ayurvedic perspective, the Kapha dosha dominates during the first few years of life. This also explains their pronounced urge for sweets. If you give a child a small amount of something sweet before the main meal (for example, a spoonful of apple sauce or a portion of the dessert), from an Ayurvedic perspective, this activates the digestive fire, and the nutrients in the food are metabolised better. However, those who wish to can still enjoy a sweet dessert afterwards – as is widespread in our Western culture.

In this context, sweet does not always have to be unhealthy. A cereal porridge prepared with ripe, sweet fruit is not only tasty and healthy, but also satisfies the need for sweets. Do you remember this from your own youth? In puberty, the urge for sweets becomes even greater. Adolescents are now in a transitional period in which the whole body is working. In this discovery phase, teenagers need something that gives them support and stabilises their Kapha dosha. This search for stability is, by the way, also a reason why children sometimes eat the same dish over and over again for a long time. Ghee becomes particularly important in childhood and adolescence.

Whether you stir it into milk or cook with it a lot. Let your creativity run wild! Incidentally, the "Student Rasayana" is specially tailored to the needs of learners and can be recommended to pupils and students alike.

Tips for all meals

Breakfast

To stimulate the children's digestive fire "Agni", Ayurveda recommends warm cereal porridge with a little ground ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and a little cardamom. Children can drink a spiced milk with it. To do this, add some ground ginger and Ghee to a glass of milk. For children aged two and over, you can further refine the drink with a little almond butter. Ayurveda fundamentally recommends the use of cow's milk because a vegan diet can lead to deficiency symptoms in children, and vitamin deficiency can then lead to, for example, growth and development disorders. Dr Jasmin Blumenberg: "Unfortunately, we see it time and again in the hospital that children exhibit bone growth disorders due to calcium deficiency and also deficiency symptoms in development due to a vegan diet. Development can even be literally halted in the first year of life, which is then difficult to compensate for."

Lunch

To go with a balanced lunch, we recommend a Lassi, the Ayurvedic yoghurt drink. Prepared with probiotic yoghurt, this additionally supports your offspring's intestinal flora. Try our diverse Lassi recipes and discover your personal favourite Lassi together. Here you can find the basic recipe for making Lassi. On the same page, our Peppermint Lassi, Rose Lassi, Coconut Lassi, and a Salty Lassi await you, as well as other delicious recipes such as:

If you want to prepare the yoghurt for your Lassi fresh at home, you can do this conveniently with a yoghurt maker.

Dinner

To relieve the intestines and allow children a peaceful sleep, Ayurveda prefers light, easily digestible meals for dinner. Animal proteins – and therefore heavy to digest proteins – should therefore rather be avoided in the evening.

Tip 5: Balance exercises that are fun

For very small children, you can perform simple stretching exercises – as described above – passively as part of the massage (taking legs over the head, hand to foot). To promote posture and balance, children from about the age of three can practice positions such as the "tree", where children stand on one leg, guide the free foot to the knee of the standing leg, and take their arms over their heads. Gleichgewichtsübungen Kinder This is fun – and movement is an important pillar in a child's development. Especially in today's world, where even small children use smartphones and computers a lot, it is very important for children's development that movement (and movement in the fresh air in all weather conditions) is supported. Just join in! This is not only good for you but also ensures even more enthusiasm among the little ones.

Tip 6: Compensation for sensory overload

Dr Jasmin Blumenberg: "Children often tell me that they play computer games after school and thereby try to process the daily stimuli or the sensory overload that they absorb more of in modern times. Unfortunately, they naturally do not realise that this leads to renewed sensory overload, as the computer games set new stimuli. Then the stimuli intensify, and medical consequential problems can certainly occur. We are seeing more and more children playing through the night, and it does happen that due to permanent sensory overload combined with a lack of sleep, children then come to us in the hospital with seizures." Therefore, it is important to help children find a good rhythm and regularity, in which rest phases, breathing exercises, or children's meditation also have a place.

Tip 7: Vedic sounds for the child's soul

Gandharva Veda music, which is also used as music therapy, harmonises the doshas and ensures relaxation and inner peace, not just for children. Especially in a time when many children are already under pressure of time and performance, harmonious sounds can contribute significantly to the relaxation of body and mind. This allows them to find the necessary peace they need to process the various daily stimuli. Dr Jasmin Blumenberg: "We have gained very good experience in the clinic when we perform massages on infants accompanied by Gandharva Veda music. We then observe on the monitor recording that the heart rate lowers, breathing becomes calmer, and this leads to a reduction of the Vata dosha." For beginners, the Rain Melody is particularly recommended. It is suitable for every age and every time of day and is used very often, particularly in states of restlessness.

Tips for dealing with our recommendations

Were we able to give you interesting impulses that you now want to put into practice? Then it's best to start gently with individual steps that particularly appeal to you and that you realise bit by bit. Simply see our recommendations as a signpost that shows you the direction. And then walk your own path calmly. At every step, pay attention to what is good for you and the child and what you both feel comfortable with. Be like children: curious and open to new things without forcing anything or even overtaxing yourself. Then you and the child will benefit the most.