Posture Of The Week - BOAT Pose

By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist

In Tatty Bumpkin classes, the posture for this week is BOAT pose, in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin and dog, over the sea, to the island of statues. 

What BOAT Pose Looks Like

 

How To Do It (What to tell your child) 

Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front.With a friend or grown-up, hold each other’s wrists, and put your legs inside and under your partner’s legs. Rock gently backwards then forwards. You might feel a tightness at the back of your legs as you stretch your hamstring muscles.

Want to Make it Harder? 

With a friend or partner, rock further forwards and backwards and side to side. Be careful that you both rock in time to each other and definitely do not pull too hard! Talk about different boat shapes or the creatures you might see in the waves.

 

Variation

To canoe on your own. Sit with your legs stretched out in front. Reach forward a grasp one of your feet with both hands. Wrap one hand round the top of your foot and the other round your heel so the sole of your foot faces inwards. In line with your stretched out leg, gently bring your foot towards your body, then move it away from your body, in a rowing action. Be careful not to take your foot across your outstretched leg as this can cause an unwanted strain.

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Boat pose encourages your child’s social and communication skills, whilst they are moving and playing with their friends or you!

The rocking action promotes your child’s sitting balance and provides them with a gentle hamstring stretch. In addition your child’s core muscles, their abdominal, spinal and shoulder muscles, will be activated. All these effects will assist your child’s sitting posture. 

When your child rocks forwards and backwards in boat pose they stimulate their movement senses, especially their vestibular sense as they move their head to and fro. Stimulation of the vestibular sense can directly affect ‘levels of alertness’ i.e. slow, rocking actions can be soothing and quietening in contrast to more vigorous head movements which can be intensely alerting. There is some evidence to suggest that rocking head movements (forwards and backwards) are organising in nature whilst spinning head movements can be quite disorganising for the brain, as in a fairground ride. Boat pose if done rhythmically, at a moderate speed, and not for too long, can gradually raise your child’s ‘levels of alertness’, in an organising way. This makes boat pose an excellent activity for your child to do in a ‘movement break’ if they need to increase their levels of concentration for a difficult, abstract task i.e. writing or maths. But remember not for too long, 1 minute is probably enough!

 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class, Boat pose can become both a multi-sensory and an educational activity. In Tatty Bumpkin classes we always try to stimulate a variety of senses, to add to the fun, give choice, & to support the learning process.

All our classes are linked to the new 2012 EYFS framework meaning that your child will have the opportunity to progress in all areas of their development, giving them a truly holistic experience. 

Tatty Bumpkin will be doing BOAT pose as part of her adventure to the island of statues; to reach the island she will have to search the shore for wood, build her boat and then sail across the sea meeting her Octopus friends on the way!

Do Tatty Bumpkin Octopus Pose with your friends!

Wrapping the pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find the exercises more meaningful and hence more fun to do. Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html

Posture Of The Week - BUTTERFLY Pose

By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
 

The posture of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is BUTTERFLY pose, in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin to find the happy and calming 'Mountain Butterflies'.

 

What BUTTERFLY Pose Looks Like

 

 

How To Do It (What to tell your child)

Sit up on the floor, or on a little cushion, and bring the soles of your feet together. Hold onto your feet with both hands and gently move your knees up and down as if your legs are butterfly wings. Imagine what colour your wings might be. Note: Encourage your child to sit up as straight as they can, pushing up through their sit bones (see ‘Why it is good for me’ section below for more detail on this)

Want to Make it Harder? 

Sit on the floor with your feet together as above. This time hold onto your big toes with your index fingers, balance on your bottom, and lift your legs up one at a time. 

Then try to lift them both together! Slowly try to straighten your legs like the wings of a big butterfly. To rest, lean forward over your feet like a sleeping butterfly.

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Butterfly pose will help to improve your child’s sitting balance, sitting posture and arm movements. When doing the pose encourage your child to ‘push up’ from the surface they are sitting on, through their ‘sit bones’ (their ‘ischial tuberosities') which are at the base of their pelvis. To do this your child should think about gently rocking their hip bones (the two bony points they can feel at the front of their bodies on both sides, below their tummy button) forward and arching their lower back. 

It is interesting to note that generally babies develop this ability to push up through their sit bones and lengthen their spines at around 6 months and this action is extremely important for allowing freer movement of the arms whilst in the sitting position.

Classroom seats do nothing to encourage this movement. These seats tend to be ‘bucket’ shaped and can cause your child to slump. In a slumped position your child will rock their pelvis backwards, curling their lower back rather than arching it. This incorrect pelvic position leads to a poor sitting posture which consequently might affect their arm movements. By doing Butterfly pose your child will be reminded to rock their pelvis into a better position, this will improve their sitting posture and the quality of their arm movements. Who would have thought Butterfly pose is as prewriting skill?!

 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class butterfly pose can become both a multi-sensory and an educational activity.  In Tatty Bumpkin classes we always try to stimulate a variety of senses, to add to the fun, give choice & to help the learning process.
 
All our classes are linked to the new 2012 EYFS framework meaning that your child will have the opportunity to progress in all areas of their development, giving them a truly holistic experience. 
 
Children love doing things together, by watching others they also learn a great deal – often finding out a better way of doing things.
 
Tatty Bumpkin will be doing BUTTERFLY pose as part of her adventure into the mountains; she will be off on a quest to find the calming and happy butterflies to cheer up the gloomy frogs and calm the busy people!

Wrapping the pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find the exercises more meaningful and hence more fun to do.

Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html

Posture Of The Week - CAT pose

 by Sue Heron - Head of Training at Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist

The posture of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is CAT pose, in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin to help ‘Cat Find Out about Different Jobs!’
 

What CAT pose looks like

Cat Pose with a 'saucer of milk' to help motivation!

How to do it (What to tell your child)

Kneel on all fours with your hands under your shoulders. Arch your back up then down, being careful not to arch your back too deeply. Meow like a cat!  Stretch out one arm or leg to shake either your paw or tail. Put them back on the floor and shake your other paw or tail as you are a magic cat with two tails!!

 Want to make it harder?  

Start kneeling on all fours, stretch out one arm or paw and then your opposite leg or tail, lifting them both off the floor at the same time! Put them back on the floor and repeat, this time stretching out your other arm and leg.

Aid Motivation

Often giving you child a ‘goal’ makes the activity more meaningful for them and helps their motivation to ‘keep on trying’. Cut out a small piece of white fabric and place it on the floor in front of your child, this is their ‘milk’! Encourage your child to come forward onto their arms more and bend their elbows so they touch the milk with their noses – just like a cat sniffing the milk to see if it will taste good!(see picture above)

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Cat pose encourages your child to stretch out their back muscles – perfect after sitting for a while. The pose strengthens their core muscles i.e. hip, spine, tummy and shoulder muscles and develops balance skills, especially when they lift an arm or leg from the floor. The activity of stretching out one arm whilst using the other for support mimics the writing action; hence it is a great pre-writing skill.
 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class cat pose can become both a multi-sensory and an educational activity.  In Tatty Bumpkin classes we always try to stimulate a variety of senses, to add to the fun, give choice & to help the learning process. All our classes are linked to the new 2012 EYFS framework meaning that your child will have the opportunity to progress in all areas of their development, giving them a truly holistic experience. 
 
Children love doing things together, by watching others they also learn a great deal – often finding out a better way of doing things.
 
Tatty Bumpkin will be doing CAT pose as part of her adventure to visit people doing different jobs e.g. Tatty Bumpkin and cat will be visiting the firemen, the farmer and others! Wrapping the pose inside a story means your child will get involved in the story and find the exercises more meaningful and hence more fun to do. In addition your child will have the chance to think about the different jobs people do in their community. Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html

Children being held back at school because of their sedentary lifestyles – Children Need Movement!

by Susan Heron Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin / Paediatric Physiotherapist

Research conducted in a reception class at a school in the West Midlands by former headmaster, Pete Griffin and the Institute for Neurophysiological  Psychology  in Chester found the following: 

• Nearly a third of four and five-year-olds struggled with tasks such as balancing on one leg and crawling 
• The children who struggled with the basic physical exercises were significantly more likely to fall behind academically.

Sixty children in reception classes at a school in the West Midlands were given 14 short tests, including asking them to balance on one leg for three seconds and crawl a short distance.

The study found 30 per cent of pupils showed signs of physical immaturity and a further 42 per cent some signs of delays in development. Some children even appeared not to have lost primitive baby reflexes, such as their arms and head extending when their head moves to the side.
 
The study, carried out by former primary headmaster Pete Griffin in conjunction with the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, found that of pupils in the bottom half of the group for physical maturity, 77 per cent were in the lowest two groups for academic ability.
 
The researchers suggested that children increasingly spend their early years sitting in front of screens and being ferried around in prams and car seats, with fewer opportunities to roll, climb, crawl and enjoy rough-and-tumble play. 

Mr Griffin said: ‘The main issue is that children don’t have the same kind of physical challenge and upbringing they might have had 40 or 50 years ago. Children are strapped into travel systems and are not physically picked up as much. Babies also spend less time on the floor learning to roll and crawl. There’s less opportunity to climb, to roll, to jump.’ 

Mr Griffin also commented that the rise of screen-based entertainment was likely to be having a ‘dramatic effect’, both because it led to sedentary lifestyles and stunted concentration. ‘There’s less creativity involved in playing on the screen or watching TV,’ he noted.
 
Mr Griffin added that the pressures of today’s exam-focused schooling meant that children with immature physical skills were less likely to catch up.
 
This research is interesting, especially when looked at in tandem with other research on child development.  Shumway-Cook and Woollacott, both established researchers in the field of neuroscience, demonstrated that a child’s balance system (postural control mechanism) does not fully mature until approximately seven years of age and even then there is further refinement throughout life, especially in the teenage years (1).
 
In addition, a child’s sensory processing or sensory organisation ability is not mature until about seven years of age (2).  A child with good sensory organisation will be more able to filter out unwanted sensory stimulation i.e. Classroom lighting or sounds and prioritise the sensory information they need for the task.
 
As both of these processes are refined and developed through movement. Hence children need movement! 

Tatty Bumpkin class at Wobble Farm!

Without the opportunity for regular activity, these two fundamental processes of postural control and sensory organisation are at risk of not maturing as expected. As a consequence the child may have to expend more of their energy and conscious thought on skills which should be largely automatic i.e. sitting on a chair, looking up to the whiteboard and back to their paper, filtering out unwanted classroom noise or ignoring a slightly itchy label. If this is the case then the child will have less energy or focus to learn.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2229567/The-children-held-school-lazy-lifestyles-mean-t-stand-leg.html#ixzz2BiyayKUr

Read more: http://www.inpp.org.uk/http://www.inpp.org.uk/

1. Shumway- Cook, A . Woollacott, M. (2007) Motor Control – Translating research into practice.

2. Ayres,J. (2005) Sensory Integration and the Child

Owl is the Tatty Bumpkin Posture of The Week

The posture of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is OWL – just right for this spooky time of year!

How to do Owl Pose

Kneel on the floor & sit back on your heels with your arms by your sides. Then kneel up, taking your bottom off your heels, & spread your arms out to the side & over your head. Hoot “Twit Twooo!”

Make it easier

It is important that your child feels they can succeed. If they look unbalanced & worried whilst doing the pose, guide them to move their arms out to the side & over their heads whilst they are sitting on the floor, either cross-legged or with their legs straight out in front. In this seated position your child will find it easier to balance & hence they can concentrate on moving their arms in a better pattern. But remember there is no right or wrong way with Tatty Bumpkin, the important thing is your child feels they have enjoyed themselves!

Want to make it harder?  

Okay, start squatting down, balancing on your toes with your arms by your sides. Then rise up into standing waving your arms over your head as before. Hoot “Twit Twooo!” Bring your arms back down to your sides whilst you squat back down on the floor. Repeat a few times to become a truly wise owl!

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

1. Owl pose develops your child’s balance & core muscle strength i.e. their hip, back, tummy & shoulder muscles. 
2. Moving from squatting to standing positions will strengthen hip & leg muscles. 
3. When your child moves their arms as owl wings they will automatically activate their shoulder muscles which is great for developing writing skills i.e. when the shoulder muscles are active & strong, they will support the weight of the arm, leaving the smaller hand muscles free to do more dextrous activities. Hand ache from writing or a tight pencil grip could be a sign that your child is tending to use their hand muscles to support their arm rather than their shoulder muscles.

Make Owl Pose Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class owl pose becomes both a multi-sensory and an educational activity.  In Tatty Bumpkin classes we always stimulate a variety of senses, to add to the fun, give choice & to help the learning process.

Our classes are all linked to the new 2012 EYFS framework meaning that your child will have the opportunity to progress in all areas of their development, giving them a truly holistic experience. 

Children love doing things together, by watching others they also learn a great deal – often finding out a better way of doing things.

Tatty Bumpkin will be doing owl pose as part of her adventure to visit the owl family. Wrapping the pose inside a story, means your child will not realise they are doing an exercise & their imagination will take flight too! Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html