2013 Week 10: Tatty Bumpkin's POSE for the Week is COCKEREL!

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

The pose for this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is COCKEREL POSE; in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin and she is late!!!

What COCKEREL POSE Looks Like

Crow Cockle-doodle-doo with Tatty Bumpkin

How To Do It (What to tell your child)

Start in sitting or kneeling with your elbows bent and your hands on your waist. Flap your elbows like wings and wiggle your body side to side! Then stretch your arms up above your head, bringing your palms together, and take them back down to your sides, like bigger wings. Repeat several times and crow “cockle-doodle-doo!”

Want to Make it Harder? (What to tell your child):

Move into standing. Put your hands on your waist and flap your elbows as before but  this time also bend your knees and wriggle your bottom down to the floor – just like a chicken settling down in the straw! Once again crow “cockle-doodle-doo!”

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Cockerel pose is another great shoulder stretch for your child, giving them the opportunity to stretch the pectoralis muscles at the front of their chests. Hence it is the perfect antidote to ‘screen time’ when your child may be sitting in a more slumped position. Adding knee bends and wriggling are a fun way to refine co-ordination skills.
 

• The ‘crowing’ activity will enhance your child’s:

• Breath control. Steady, deep breathing is important for both movement and speech.

• Proprioception (body awareness). As your child takes a deep breath in and out, really activating their diaphragm, they will develop their body awareness

• Ability to ‘self-regulate’ their emotional state. Deeper, slower breaths cause an automatic decrease in heart rate and blood pressure leading to a more ‘relaxed state’. A few “cockle-doodle-doos” might well help your child to calm if they feel worried or anxious about something as well as making them smile!

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class Cockerel 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 will be balancing and crossing their midline in Cockerel pose whilst crowing, listening and joining in with the actions to Tatty Bumpkin Cockerel song. This multi-sensory activity will promote your child’s engagement, concentration skills and creativity, all vital aspects of 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.

Wrapping Cockerel pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find Cockerel pose and the other activities more meaningful and hence more fun to do. This week poor Tatty Bumpkin is late for her adventure! She misses her plane because Cockerel was confused about the new summer time. Tatty Bumpkin is a ‘thinker’ and I am sure she will solve her problem, after listening to everyone’s ideas ….
 
Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at  http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html