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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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
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