2013 Week 14: Tatty Bumpkin's POSE for the Week is BEE!

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

The activity of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is BEE POSE; in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin to help Bee get fit, with his ‘BEEfit’ Programme! Have you ever seen a Bee do press ups?

What BEE POSE Looks Like

Close your eyes and cover your ears then buzz like a bee!

Try buzzing like a bee in bed!

How To Do It (What to tell your child)

Start in lying, sitting or standing.  Take a deep breath in and then make a bee buzzing sound ‘Bzzzz!.’ Once you have the idea of buzzing close your eyes and have a go at buzzing again! Do you hear the buzzing in your head? Does it feel nice?!  Try to do three or four long bee buzzes with your eyes closed remembering to take a breath in before you buzz. Be careful do not to more than 3 breaths in a row, otherwise you may feel dizzy!

Note to parents: If your child is younger, you may need to guide their hands over their ears until they get the idea, then step back and see if they can do the activity by themselves. Do stop your child from doing more than 3 breaths in a row otherwise they may make themselves dizzy.

 

Want to Make it Harder?

In lying or sitting, close your eyes and gently put your hands over your ears to block off the sound. Take a breath in, buzzing as you breathe out. Does the buzzing seem louder? Just do 3 buzzes at a time.

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Bee pose will help your child to:

• Become more aware of their breathing – This is a useful starting point for your child as they will then begin to associate deeper slower breath with feeling calmer ….

• Calm themselves -  as your child takes  deeper, slower breaths in Bee pose  their heart rate will automatically decrease and this will help them to calm down if they have become over excited or over tired

• Focus on a task which they find daunting or difficult. Often we find it hard to tackle a difficult task, even as adults, as the anticipation makes us anxious and raises our ‘levels of alertness’ too high for us to think straight. Think about a time when you were trying to complete an important form or exam. It is the same for your child. As they slow their breathing and buzz in bee pose, especially with their eyes and ears ‘closed’, your child is learning a way to self – regulate their ‘levels of alertness’ bringing themselves back to a ‘just right level of alertness’ so they can confidently & calmly approach something new. 

Doing activities with your child is a great way to bond with them. Research shows that children, especially boys, bond with others when they move with them. Doing bee pose with your child can be both fun and give you the opportunity to slow your breathing, calm and possibly lower your levels of anxiety if you have a difficult task ahead.

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class Bee 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. We construct the class to give children opportunities to both raise their ‘levels of alertness’ and to calm themselves, this prevents them from becoming either overexcited or bored, keeping them at the ‘just right level of alertness’ for learning.

If your child is attending a Tatty Bumpkin class this week they will be doing the calming Bee pose, combined with the more alerting Frog and Fish poses. This variety of activity, changing both body position and pace, will promote your child’s engagement and concentration skills both 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 Bee pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find Bee pose and the other activities more meaningful and hence more fun to do. This week Bee asks Tatty Bumpkin for help with his ‘Beefit’ programme as he has become too heavy and cannot fly! Bee starts: stretching like his friend the Starfish, doing press ups like his friend Cat, he even swims like Fish – yes bees really can swim! Tatty Bumpkin encourages Bee on his quest, seeing that he is really concentrating and putting in the effort – but I am sure she needs more exercises ideas for the ‘Beefit’ programme. 

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

2013 Week 13: Tatty Bumpkin's POSE for the Week is HORSE!

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

The activity of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is HORSE POSE; in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin right back Wobble Farm! Horse, and the other farm animals, need help to paint a picture of the farm for Earth Day.

 

What HORSE POSE Looks Like

Kick up your heels!

How To Do It (What to tell your child)

Place your hands on the floor in front of you, make sure the palms of your hands are on the floor and your fingers are spread out wide. Keeping your elbows straight, do little steps with your feet on the spot – just like a horse trotting!! 
 
Note to parents: If your child is younger, watch them closely, providing support at their hips if necessary so they do not fall forwards.

 

Support your child round their hips, being careful that they do not fall forward

Want to Make it Harder?

Put your hands on the floor as before keeping your elbows straight. Now try to kick your feet up behind you. To do this you will have to take more weight through your shoulders, arms and hands. Be Careful not to fall forwards. Kick up with your preferred leg first then try to lead with your other leg..

 

Why it is ‘Good For Me' 

Horse pose gives your child the opportunity to:

• Strengthen their ‘core’ shoulder muscles, along with their arm and wrist muscles. Strengthening and increasing activity in the shoulder muscles is very useful for writing as these muscles need to be active for comfortable writing. If shoulder muscles are inactive or weak this can lead to children overusing their more delicate hand muscles when writing and hence getting hand ache

• Improve their co-ordination and awareness of their right and left hand sides as they take steps or kick up with alternate feet in horse pose

• Develop their balance skills as they shift their weight onto their arms and kick their feet up behind

• Refine their sensory processing ability and ‘raise their levels of alertness’. Horse pose will stimulate your child’s vestibular sense. As stimulation of this sense often raises ‘levels of alertness’, horse pose is an ideal ‘movement break’ for your child if they need to raise their concentration levels after sitting for a while.

Doing activities with your child is a great way to bond with them. Research shows that children, especially boys, bond with others when they move with them. So doing horse pose with your child can be both fun and give you the opportunity to strengthen your shoulder muscles.

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class Horse 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 have the opportunity to do Horse pose, stimulating their body senses, whilst using their senses of touch and vision to make the Pony’s picture with their friends. These multi-sensory activities 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 Horse pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find Horse pose and the other activities more meaningful and hence more fun to do. 

This week Tatty Bumpkin is asked by Horse to come back to Wobble Farm to help the animals make a picture. Everyone wants to ‘have a go’ at painting a bit of the picture: Cat can use her paws and dog can use his tail to paint the grass and sky, Worm can wriggle in the brown paint to make long tree trunks, Spider with her eight legs can do the tiny flowers and leaves and Frog can leap high into the air to add the sun! There will be lots more to add to the picture and Tatty Bumpkin is always ready to listen to new ideas ….

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

2013 Week 12: Tatty Bumpkin's POSE for the Week is ELEPHANT!

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

The activity of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is ELEPHANT POSE; in the sessions your child will go on an adventure with Tatty Bumpkin to the 'Circus' to see clowns and tightrope walkers along with the animals. Tatty Bumpkin might even do a trick herself!

What ELEPHANT POSE Looks Like

Swing your arm like an elephant's trunk!

 

How To Do It (What to tell your child)

Stand with your feet hip width apart and stretch one arm up above your head. Slowly bend forward at your waist and wave your outstretched arm side to side like an elephant’s trunk.  Straighten up and bend forward again to wave your outstretched arm up and down. Imagine you’re a heavy elephant and stomp slowly round the room. Swap over arms to give your other arm a go at being an elephant’s trunk! 

Want to Make it Harder? (How to progress the activity with your child)

Give your child a length of blue ribbon or fabric (not more than 30 cm long for safety) to hold in their outstretched hand. They can then wave this up and down like elephant spraying water. Put a bowl or bucket in front of your child and encourage them to dangle their ribbon into the bucket like an elephant sucking up water with his trunk! Your child can also try making an elephant train with their friends by linking their arms through their legs.

Make an elephant train with your friends!

 

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

Elephant pose gives your child the opportunity to:

• Stretch out their back, leg and arm muscles - especially their hamstring muscles down the back of their thighs which can often get stiff and tight after sitting for long periods

• Strengthen their back and tummy muscles as they bend forward and straighten up to wave their outstretched arm up and down as an elephant’s trunk

• Improve their co-ordination as they cross the midline of their body whilst they are waving their outstretched ‘trunk’ arm from side to side

• Develop their balance skills as they shift their weight from one foot to the other to stomp like heavy elephants

• Refine their eye-hand co-ordination skills as they wave their blue ‘water’ streamer in and out of the bowl

• Develop their social skills when they make an elephant train with their friends.

Doing activities with your child is a great way to bond with them. Research shows that children, especially boys, bond with others when they move with them. So doing elephant pose with your child can be both fun and give you the opportunity to gently stretch out your back and hamstrings.

 

 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

Through the magic of a Tatty Bumpkin class Elephant 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 stomping and swinging their trunks to and fro as elephants to a Tatty Bumpkin Rhythm track. Maybe your child will be waving blue streamers whilst imagining they are elephants spraying water up high and down low or they might be making an elephant train with their friends! These multi-sensory activities 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 Elephant pose inside a story, means your child will get involved in the story and find Elephant pose and the other activities more meaningful and hence more fun to do. This week Tatty Bumpkin is curious about a big, white tent with a flag on top, what might be going on there? Tatty Bumpkin enjoys adventures so she sets off on her bike, with Cat, to explore and discovers the tent is circus tent! Will Tatty Bumpkin ‘have a go’ at tightrope walking? Will she be startled by the lions? Will she think of an act of her own? Tatty Bumpkin is always ready to listen and I’m sure there will be lots of ideas ….

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