2013 Week 2:Tatty Bumpkin's Pose for the Week is SPIDER!

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

The posture of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is SPIDER pose, in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin… back to her house! There you will help 'Spider' find her baby spiders!

 

What SPIDER Pose Looks Like

How to do it (What to tell your child)

On the floor crawl on your hands and knees - crawl quickly as a scuttling spider, and then crawl slowly as a sleepy spider. Crawl forwards, backwards and maybe sideways! If you are doing spider pose with friends, gently tickle their toes but, be careful, they may tickle you back!
 

Want to make it harder? 

Squat on the floor and rock from side to side on your toes, you can use your hands for support. Try to creep forwards, backwards and sideways staying in the squat position.

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

When your child crawls in SPIDER pose they increase the activity in their shoulder, back, tummy and hip muscles. Activity in these ‘core’ muscles will encourage your child to adopt a good sitting posture; activity in their shoulder muscles will aid your child’s fine motor skills.

Your child will also benefit from having the opportunity to ‘return to crawling’, as crawling:

• Helps your child to refine their visual tracking skills, especially looking upwards & downwards. Your child has to do this ‘tracking’ action many times during their day, when they look up at a person, or at a whiteboard, and then down to their paper, so it is important the action is as smooth as possible.

• Promotes and strengthens the connections between the right and left hand sides of your child’s brain. These neural connections enable your child to: smoothly co-ordinate the right and left sides of their body and to retrieve, sort and sequence information. If these connections are not well established a child may have difficulties with knowing their left from right sides, number, letter and word reversals (b/d, on/no) and memory.  

Moving to Tatty B Spider song in the adventure will have supported your child’s sense of rhythm. The breath activity of blowing the baby spiders home would have helped your child to calm, ready for the rest of their day. 

Blowing the baby spiders home!

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class spider 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 spider pose this week as she meets mummy spider whilst giving her home at Wobble Farm a good clean after the Christmas muddle. Spider has some crazy ideas on where to spin her web; in the washing machine, on the toaster, even on the telephone! Oh dear! Can you please help spider find a better place for her spider family?

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