2013 Week 4:Tatty Bumpkin's Activity for the Week is CROCODILE POSE!!

By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
 
The pose for this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is CROCODILE. In the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin and her friends to the scary Crocodile’s river, don’t worry too much -  he might be scary but he is also very sleepy!

 

What CROCODILE Pose Looks Like

Be a snappy, scary crocodile with your Carer or friends

How To Do It (What to Tell your Child)

Lie on your tummy, with your arms above your head, roll onto one side and SNAP your arms and hands together. Then roll onto your other side and SNAP. Try to keep your elbows straight when you are doing your snaps. Make scary, snapping, crocodile sounds or count the number of snaps you do.
 
Note to parents: younger children may find it hard to snap with their arms above their head. If this is the case, encourage your child to stretch their arms out in front at shoulder level, and then snap.

 

Want to Make it Harder? 

Lie on your tummy lift your head, shoulders and arms off the floor and do a SNAP out in front. Then rest your arms down on the floor. This activity is harder as you have to lift both your arms off the floor – and arms are heavy! So do be careful and if anything hurts stop.

Note to parents: if you are doing this pose with your child, tighten your buttocks before lifting your arms off the floor, in this way your will use the correct muscles and not strain your back. 

Snap with your arms out in front

 

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

When your child rolls from side to side in Crocodile pose, snapping with their arms and hands they will increase:

• The activity and awareness of their shoulder, back, tummy and hip muscles, their ‘core muscles’. Strengthening and increasing awareness of these muscle groups will improve your child’s sitting posture and increased activity in their shoulder muscles will aid their fine motor skills.

• Their co-ordination of their right and left hand sides. This is a basic motor skill which your child will draw upon if they start doing more complex sporting activities like football, dance or rugby.

 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class Crocodile 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. 

If your child is attending a Tatty Bumpkin class this week they are likely to be doing Crocodile pose along to the Tatty Bumpkin Crocodile song whilst snapping at our toy fish. This will make the activity truly multi-sensory for them and will promote both their eye-hand co-ordination skills and their sense of rhythm. 

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

In Crocodile story your child will go deep into the jungle with the elephants, monkeys and Tatty Bumpkin – they will need to work out a way to cross the Crocodile’s river without waking him … Umm they could do with some ideas!  
Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html