2013 – 2014 Term 2 Week 4: Tatty Bumpkin's Pose for the Week is Boat!

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

The posture for the week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is boat.

This week Tatty Bumpkin finds herself on a beach along with her friend Rabbit. 

Lying on the sand, at the water’s edge, she spies some pieces of wood, a square of cloth and an old sturdy box. Tatty B has a think, what can she build out of all these bits? Of course a boat!
 
Soon Tatty Bumpkin and Rabbit are sailing on the wavy ocean and it is not long before they discover a little Island. Ever ready to explore Tatty Bumpkin and Rabbit creep through the island’s forests and find a group of enormous statues, standing still and tall in the middle of the island!  

BOAT Pose - Older Children

Row back and forth with your friend!

 

Description of Boat Pose - Older children

Note to parents – Boat pose is a pose for two people, as you do boat pose with your child you will not only be having fun but will be strengthening the bond between you both.
 

 What to tell your child

Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front with a friend or grown up. Hold each other’s wrists, and put your legs either inside and under or, outside and over your partner’s legs. Rock gently backwards and forwards with your friend. You might feel a tightness at the back of your legs as you stretch your hamstring muscles.

Want to Make it Harder? 

With a friend or partner, rock further forwards and backwards and side to side. Be careful that you both rock in time to each other and definitely do not pull too hard! Talk about different boat shapes or the creatures you might see in the waves.

The waves are getting bigger!

Variation

To go canoeing on your own; sit with your legs stretched out in front and reach forward to grasp one of your feet with both hands. Wrap one hand round the top of your foot and the other round your heel so the sole of your foot faces inwards. In line with your stretched out leg, gently bring your foot towards your body, then move it away from your body, in a rowing action. Be careful not to take your foot across your outstretched leg as this can cause an unwanted strain.

Go exploring in your own canoe..

Why Boat pose is ‘Good For Me’ - Older Children

As you child does boat pose they will have the opportunity to:

• Develop their social and communication skills - whilst they are moving and playing with their friends or you!

• Refine their sitting posture. The rocking action of boat pose will promote your child’s sitting balance and provide them with a gentle hamstring stretch. In addition your child’s core muscles, their abdominal, spinal and shoulder muscles, will be activated. All these effects will assist your child’s sitting posture. 

• Stimulate their ‘movement senses’ and manage their ‘level of alertness’ for learning. When your child rocks forwards and backwards in boat pose they stimulate their movement senses, especially their vestibular sense (see toddler section for further info). Stimulation of the vestibular sense can directly affect our ‘levels of alertness’ i.e. slow, rocking actions can be soothing and quietening whilst more vigorous head movements which can be intensely alerting. There is some evidence to suggest that rocking head movements (forwards and backwards) are organising in nature whilst spinning head movements can be quite disorganising for the brain, as in a fairground ride. Boat pose, if done rhythmically, at a moderate speed and not for too long, can gradually raise your child’s ‘levels of alertness’, in an organising way. This makes boat pose an excellent activity for your child to do as a ‘movement break’ if they need to increase their levels of concentration for a difficult, abstract task i.e. writing or maths. But remember not for too long, 1 minute is probably enough!

Description of Boat pose – Younger Children and Toddlers

 

Option 1

Option 1

Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with your toddler. Stretch your legs out in front of you and either gently sit your toddler on your thighs facing you, or invite your toddler to sit in between your legs (see picture). Remember to keep smiling and talking to your toddler! Then, holding their forearms and wrists, gently rock forwards and backwards with your toddler – like a boat on the waves. After two or three rocks, if your toddler is happy, try rocking a little faster and do the pose to the ‘Row, row your boat’ song.

Option 2

Option 2

This is a fun adaptation to do with another adult or part of a group so your toddler can look at someone else. Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with space in front of you. Stretch your legs out in front and place your toddler on your thighs facing away from you, supporting them with your hands around their hips. Shuffle forwards on your bottom, gently rocking your toddler from side to side as you go. After you have moved forward a little way - shuffle backwards. Once again sing the ‘Row, row, row your boat’ song as you do the movements. If your toddler is enjoying the game, make the rocking movements bigger so that they are challenged to keep their balance on your lap. Your toddler will enjoy the movement of their body against gravity, but do keep checking to make sure that they are not starting to feel anxious.

When doing either of the above poses, with your toddler remember not to do the more vigorous rocking movements for too long as this can overstimulate them and cause them anxiety.

‘Why Boat Pose is Good for Your Toddler’

As you do boat/rowing pose with your toddler you will give them a chance to:
 

• Gradually develop their ‘postural control’ becoming more stable in the sitting position. From about 3 months your baby will be relying less and less on their baby reflexes and will be learning how to move and control their body in space. If your toddler is about 8 months or older you may notice they are starting to consistently put their arms down to either side to ‘save’ themselves when they feel they are losing their balance. This saving action is a mature ‘postural reaction’ which we all use to protect ourselves throughout our lives. As you do rowing pose option 2 with your toddler try gently tipping them to either side to see if they are starting to put their arm out on that side to keep their balance. Remember always do this movement slowly and when your baby is old enough as you do not want to make them anxious! (Image courtesy of safehandsbabysitters.com)

For example: Babies will put their left hand down to 'save' themselves as they tip to the left

• Activate their tummy and spinal muscles in a coordinated way. As your toddler gently rocks back and forth with you in boat/rowing pose they will be alternatively activating and working their tummy and then their back muscles. These muscle groups have to work together for activities such and sitting and rolling

• Organise their sensations and movements. Our vestibular sense tells where our body is in relation to gravity and whether we are moving or still, the receptors for this sense are in our inner ears. This sense begins to function in the womb, at about 5 months after conception, and is well developed at birth. As your toddler starts to move into standing their vestibular sense starts to play a bigger role in the overall organisation of their senses and movements. This is because stimulation of vestibular sense helps the brain to sort out and combine the huge variety of other sensations it will be experiencing and it also underpins the control of posture, balance and movement.  Although you cannot see this organisation happening you will probably know when your toddler wants to be rocked as in rowing/boat pose – sensations that make your toddler feel happy tend to be ‘organising'.

• Start to control their ‘levels of alertness’ ready for learning. The vestibular sense plays an important role in balancing our ‘state of alertness or activity’ i.e. faster rocking movements, which quickly stimulate our vestibular system, tend to raise our alertness levels and increase our overall muscle tone and activity, whilst gentle rocking movements, slowly stimulate our vestibular system and lower our levels of arousal helping our muscles to relax and our body to calm down. Hence if you wish to calm your toddler, try doing gentle rocking in rowing/boat pose, alternatively if your toddler is wide awake, and wanting to play, they will probably enjoy more vigorous rowing actions as they experience the movement of their body against gravity. However, do not do these more vigorous rocking movements for too long as they may become too much for your toddler and then their overall effect will become disorganising. As your toddler’s vestibular system matures over the first few years of their life they will be increasingly able to keep themselves in a calm but alert state, which is the ideal state for investigating and learning about new things. 

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

In Tatty Bumpkin classes we use unique storylines to make the activities meaningful and to fire the imagination.

All our classes are multi-sensory comprising of:

• Adapted yoga poses and activities which both stimulate and calm the body senses
• Dedicated songs and rhythms which are relevant to the stories
• Bespoke hand-woven props to look at and feel. Tatty Bumpkin has its own range of fairly traded animal props to back up the yoga poses and bring the stories to life. Our teachers are supported to use natural props in the classes which are great to feel as opposed to smooth plastic

We have carefully linked each Tatty Bumpkin to the new 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Importantly supporting children to learn ‘how to learn’ not just focusing on what on they learn.

So … The Adventure This Week  ..

In this week’s adventure Tatty Bumpkin takes on the challenge of building a boat so that she and Rabbit can explore the open seas.

As the two friends bob up and down on the ocean they meet their friend the octopus. They give him a friendly wave before heading on their way.

Soon Tatty Bumpkin and Rabbit come across a desert island – all seems still and quiet as they set off to explore. Then right in the middle of the island they come across a group of huge statues standing still and tall.....
 

This story will give your child an opportunity to:

1. Develop their social skill as they do boat pose with their friends

2. Come up with their own ideas to help Tatty Bumpkin build her boat

3. Use gestures or words to express their feelings. Feeling:

• ‘Excited’ as they set sail on the open seas 

• ‘Happy’ when they meet their friend the octopus

• Perhaps a little ‘worried’ as they set off to explore the island

• ‘Surprised’ and ‘curious’ as they meet the statues.

4. Develop their sense of rhythm as they wave their arms and legs to the Tatty Bumpkin Octopus song
 
5. Calm themselves and become more aware of their breathing as they stand ‘still as statues’
 
6. Develop their fine motor skills as they explore the statues and help Tatty Bumpkin build her boat
 
7. Have fun with their friends: rowing across the ocean, dancing with the octopus and meeting and exploring the statues.

 

Strange statues ....

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

2013 – 2014 Term 2 Week 3: Tatty Bumpkin's Pose for the Week is Butterfly!

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

The posture for the week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is butterfly.

This week Tatty Bumpkin sets off on an adventure into the mountains. She finds one mountain full of very busy people and animals and another mountain full of very gloomy people and animals.

Tatty Bumpkin has a think – what to do? How can she help?

Then she remembers her friends the ‘Magical Mountain Butterflies’. Maybe they would be able to calm and cheer up these busy and gloomy mountain folk?

Come and find whether Tatty Bumpkin’s idea works out at your local Tatty Bumpkin class – do remember to pack your hat, climbing shoes and sun cream!


 

Butterfly Pose

What colour are your butterfly wings?

 

Description of Butterfly Pose - Older children

Note to parents - It is always best to do butterfly pose with your child so they can copy you; this is especially true if your child is younger.

 

Two butterflies flutter by!

 

How to do it (What to tell your child)

Sit on the floor, or on a little cushion, and bring the soles of your feet together. Hold onto your feet with both hands and gently move your knees up and down as if your legs are butterfly wings. Imagine what colour your wings might be.
Note to parents: It is helpful for your child to become aware of a ‘good’ sitting posture whilst they are doing butterfly pose (See section on ‘Why Butterfly pose is Good for Me’). To realise this ‘good sitting position’ your child needs to sit up as straight as they can by pushing up through their ‘sit bones’. To help your child find out where their sit bones are guide them to sit on their hands whilst in butterfly pose and then to slowly rock forwards and backwards over their hands. They will feel a ‘boney’ bit in each of their buttocks – this is their ‘sit bone’ (the bone at the base of their pelvis). It maybe that your child finds it quite hard to sit up in this way they will have to gently arch their lower back and sit up tall!

Want to make it harder? 

Sit on the floor with your knees out to the side and your feet together as above. This time hold onto your big toes with your index fingers, balance on your bottom, and lift your legs up one at a time. Try to straighten your knee as much as you can!

It can be hard work being a butterfly!

Then try to lift both your legs up together! Slowly try to straighten your knees to make really big butterfly wings! To rest, lean forward over your feet like a sleeping butterfly.

Being a King or Queen Butterfly!

Butterfly pose – Younger children and Toddlers

 

Being butterflies together

 Description of pose

Find a comfortable place to sit with your young toddler. If it is comfortable to do so,  sit with the soles of your feet together, letting your knees fall out to either side like fluttering butterfly wings. If this position is not comfortable either try siting on a small cushion or sit cross legged. Now sit your toddler in front of you, if you are sitting in butterfly pose yourself it is nice to let them sit inside the circle of your legs. Gently encourage your toddler to bring the soles of their feet together so that their knees also fall out to the side in butterfly pose.
N.B.Some mums may find sitting in the butterfly position very uncomfortable especially if they have had ‘pubis symphysis’ pain during and after pregnancy. If this is the case do not strain your pelvis and sit either in side sitting or back on your heels.

Other Games to Play in Butterfly Pose

 

Blow those butterflies up high!

Blowing Butterflies - Cut out some paper butterflies (origami paper is best as this is stronger). Then spread out a piece of blue fabric or maybe a flower drawn on a large piece of paper in front of you and your child. Encourage your child blow the paper butterflies up into the sky (the blue fabric) or onto the flower.  Giving your child something to aim at when they blow their butterfly will help them to focus and to persist.
If your child is finding it hard to ‘get the hang of’ blowing, you can make this easier by placing the butterfly on the back of your hand and encouraging your child try and blow the butterfly from this position. Once they have the idea, your child can try to put the butterfly from the back of their own hand. 

Do butterfly pose and the blowing game to Tatty Bumpkin Butterfly song – you can either download Tatty Bumpkin Butterfly song from iTunes or ask your Tatty Bumpkin teacher about the Tatty Bumpkin CD – Butterfly song has a lovely, relaxing beat which you can follow as you do butterfly pose with your child.

Why Butterfly Pose is ‘Good For Me’

As your child does butterfly pose they will be:

• Improving their sitting posture for better hand skills. Butterfly pose will help to improve your child’s sitting balance, sitting posture and arm movements. As your child does butterfly pose encourage them to ‘push up’ from the surface they are sitting on, through their ‘sit bones’ (these are called the ‘ischial tuberosities') which are at the base of their pelvis. It is interesting to note that generally babies develop this ability to push up through their ‘sit bones’ and lengthen their spines at around 6 months and this action is extremely important for allowing freer movement of the arms whilst in the sitting position (see below). Over time we fall into bad habits and start to slump whilst sitting down - putting extra strain on our lower backs.

Most classroom chairs do nothing to encourage a good sitting posture as  they tend to be ‘bucket’ shaped which tend to cause children to sit in a ‘slumped’ position. In a slumped position your child may tend to scoot their bottom forwards on their chair, rocking their pelvis backwards and hence curling their lower back rather than arching it. This incorrect pelvic position leads to a poor sitting posture which consequently might affect their fine motor skills (i.e. writing skills) or cause back stiffness. By doing Butterfly pose your child will become more aware of their sitting posture, which will help them throughout their lives. 

• Improving their eye/hand coordination. As your child plays with the paper butterflies they will be continuing to develop their ability to follow an object with their eyes as it moves through the air – ‘tracking skills’ -  and time their hand movements to reach out for it. Paper butterflies are ideal as they float through the air slower, giving your child time to react.

• Gently stretching their hip and thigh muscles. Butterfly pose will give your child the chance to stretch the muscles on the front and inside of their thigh – an ideal pose to do, along with other games, after sitting for a while!

• Practicing their breathing skills. Blowing the paper butterflies is a great way to encourage your child to become more aware of their breath. Taking deeper breaths will help your child to calm themselves.

‘Why Butterfly Pose is Good for Your Toddler'

As your toddler sits with you in Butterfly pose they will be:

• Developing the control of their upper body and arms movements in the sitting position.Being able to sit in a variety of positions is vital for efficient development of arm and hand movements i.e. 

1. Crucially from about 7 months your toddler will be starting to push down through their ‘sit bones’ against the floor or seat (The sit bones are the boney projections at the base of your pelvis - to feel your own ‘sit bones’ sit on your hands  and slowly rock forwards, you will gradually feel the two boney areas). When your toddler starts to actively push down through their sit bones their arms will be able to do freer movements 
2. From about eight months you may notice your baby or toddler is tending to sit by themselves in a kind of 'butterfly pose' - bringing one of their legs closer to their body. This sitting position requires more control and balance but allows your toddler to both reach for toys and move between sitting and crawling with greater ease (see picture courtesy of yaymicro.com). As your toddler reaches forward in butterfly pose, maybe to catch a paper butterfly, they will be learning how to move their chest and body over their hips and legs. Encourage your toddler’s ‘reaching skills’ by placing the paper butterfly to either side of them so they have to reach diagonally and/or twist round to pick it up.

Sitting with one leg held closer to their body

• Gently stretching their hip and thigh muscles. Butterfly pose will give your toddler the chance to stretch the muscles on the front and inside of their thigh – an ideal pose to do, along with other games, after sitting in the buggy for a while!

• Becoming more aware of their feet. As you guide your toddler to bring their feet together in butterfly pose you will be bringing their attention to their feet. Even in the sitting position, your toddler will be using their feet to keep themselves steady - next time you are playing with your toddler in sitting look closely at how they change the position of their feet to balance themselves. It is a great idea to give your toddler time to sit with just bare feet so they have a chance to actively move and strengthen their foot and ankle muscles. In butterfly pose you may see your toddler curling their foot inwards and up strengthening these muscles around their ankle (see picture courtesy of colourbox.com).

Using foot muscles to keep balance whilst sitting

• Improving their eye/hand coordination. As your toddler plays with the paper butterflies they will be improving their ability to follow an object with their eyes as it moves through the air (tracking skills) and time their hand movements to reach out for it. Paper butterflies are ideal as they float through the air slower, giving your toddler time to react. N.B do not make your ‘butterflies’ out of tissue paper as the dye can come off if your toddler puts them in their mouth!

• Improving their hand (fine motor) skills. Picking up paper butterflies in and out of butterfly pose will give your toddler the chance to perfect their finger movements. Progress the game by putting a pot or bowl in the middle of the room then encourage your toddler to pick up a butterfly, walk over to the bowl, and then drop it into the pot!

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

In Tatty Bumpkin classes we use unique storylines to make the activities meaningful and to fire the imagination.

All our classes are multi-sensory comprising of:

• Adapted yoga poses and activities which both stimulate and calm the body senses

• Dedicated songs and rhythms which are relevant to the stories

• Bespoke hand-woven props to look at and feel. Tatty Bumpkin has its own range of fairly traded animal props to back up the yoga poses and bring the stories to life. Our teachers are supported to use natural props in the classes which are great to feel as opposed to smooth plastic. 

We have carefully linked each Tatty Bumpkin to the new 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Importantly supporting children to learn ‘how to learn’ not just focusing on what on they learn.

 

So … The Adventure This Week  ..

In this week’s adventure Tatty Bumpkin sets off into the mountains. She is amazed by the stillness and quietness of the huge mountains and is filled with wonder at their beautiful snowy tops.
 
But all is not well. On one mountain she discovers all the people and animals are rushing around like crazy, never taking the time to stop! They are flying aeroplanes, driving trains – just busy, busy, busy! Whilst on another mountain all the people and animals are very sad. They are crying and making mournful faces…
 
What can Tatty Bumpkin do to calm the ‘busy mountain’ folk and cheer up the ‘gloomy mountain’ folk?

Then Tatty Bumpkin remembers her fiends the ‘Magical Mountain Butterflies’ – surely they can help? So off she goes - striding down the mountain paths and scrambling over the rocks and boulders.
 
Will Tatty Bumpkin find the magical butterflies and will they be able to help? Come and find out at your local Tatty Bumpkin class!

Climbing over the mountians

This story will give your child an opportunity to:

• Become more aware of a good sitting posture as they do butterfly pose
• Use gestures or words to express their feelings – imagining they are feeling:
• ‘Rushed’ and ‘tired’ with the busy mountain people and animals
• ‘Sad‘ with the unhappy mountain folk 
• ‘Happy’ and ‘Calm’ with the magical Mountain Butterflies 
• Develop their sense of rhythm as they stretch and flutter to Tatty Bumpkin Butterfly song
• Express their own ideas as they think of:

      1. Things to pack in their rucksacks on this mountain adventure
      2. The different shaped mountains or different coloured butterflies they would like to be 

• Calm themselves and become more aware of their breathing as they blow the paper butterflies
• Have fun with their friends: standing as still as mountains, flying as aeroplanes, climbing over the rocks and boulders and then playing with the magical butterflies. 

 

Flying as aeroplanes on the busy mountain!

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

2013 – 2014 Term 2 Week 2: Tatty Bumpkin's Pose for the Week is Cat!

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

The activity for this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is cat pose.

This week Tatty Bumpkin meets the stretchy, stripy cat and together they set out to discover what people do all day.

They meet:

• The bus driver taking the children to school and the people to the shops
• The farmer  working in his field
• The builders carefully building houses of all different shapes and sizes.

Lookout! A house is on fire! Tatty Bumpkin thinks fast and calls the fire brigade – in no time the fire fighters are tackling the blaze.

Which job would you like to do when you are older? Would you like to be a bus driver, a farmer, a builder or a fire fighter or maybe something completely different? 

 

What Cat Pose Looks Like

Description of Cat Pose - Older children

Note to parents - It is always best to do cat pose with your child so they can copy you, this is especially true if your child is younger. If you know you have back problems then be careful as you arch your back up in cat pose and do stop if the movement hurts or irritates your back further.

How to do it (What to tell your child)

Kneel on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips imagining you are a very clever cat. Sowly arch your back upwards towards the ceiling then downwards towards the ground. Be careful not to arch your back downwards too deeply. Then meow just like a cat!  Stretch out one arm or leg to shake either your paw or tail. Put them back on the floor and shake your other paw or tail as you are a magic cat with two tails!!

Want to make it harder? 

Wave your magic tail!

Start kneeling on all fours, stretch out one arm or paw and then your opposite leg or tail, lifting them both off the floor at the same time! Put them back on the floor and repeat, this time stretching out your other arm and leg.

Description of Cat pose – Younger children and Toddlers

 

Crawl as cats - looking for mice!

Note to parents 
As with all poses it is best to do the pose yourself so your toddler can copy you. Find a mat or area of carpet and move onto your hands and knees into cat pose, encouraging you toddler to join you.If you do not have any back problems, you can tuck your chin in towards your chest and gently arch your back towards the ceiling – like a cat having a stretch. Try to breathe out and tighten your tummy muscles as you do the movement. Hold this arched position for a few seconds, breathing normally but keeping your tummy muscles tight, then gently bring your back down to the starting position - once again encourage your toddler to copy you.
 

Other games with Cat Pose

Once in cat pose you can:

• Make meowing ‘cat’ sounds with your toddler or young child along with funny faces – this is great for early communication skills.

• Go looking for mice! Hide a toy under a rug or chair and then pretend to be cats – setting off to find it! If your child is younger, you may have to repeat this game several times so they get the idea, remember to make questioning/ thinking gestures  with your toddler as you ‘wonder’ where the toy is. 

• Find a blanket or sheet and place over two chairs to make a little cat house – then do cat pose with your child crawling in and out of your new home!

• Cut out a small piece of white fabric and place it on the floor in front of your child, this is their ‘milk’! Often giving your child a ‘goal’ makes the activity more meaningful for them and helps their motivation to ‘keep on trying’. Encourage your child to come forward onto their hands more and to bend their elbows so they touch the 'milk' with their noses – just like a cat sniffing the milk to see if it will taste good!(see picture above)

• Download Tatty Bumpkin Cat song from iTunes or ask your Tatty Bumpkin teacher for the Tatty Bumpkin CD. Then move and stretch as cats along to the words of the song.

Why it is ‘Good For Me’

It is good for children of all ages to have the chance to play on their hands and knees in the crawl position as this activity has so many benefits. In cat pose your toddler or child will be:

• Strengthening their whole body. As your child moves into cat pose they will be have to use a range of muscles to keep their body up off the floor. In cat pose they will be strengthening their back, tummy, shoulder, arm, leg, and hand muscle.
• Stretching out their back muscles. Perfect after sitting for a while.
• Developing their fine motor skills. If your child is younger, cat pose encourages them to take weight through their hands and stretch their wrist joints as they do this they will be developing the arches in their hands and their fine hand muscles. If your child is older, cat pose will increase the overall activity in their shoulder muscles and this will indirectly help their hand and writing skills. The activity of stretching out one arm whilst using the other for support mimics the writing action; hence it is a great pre-writing skill
• Strengthening their shoulder and tummy muscles for development of their rib cage (toddlers). In cat pose your toddler will particularly strengthen their shoulder and their deeper tummy muscles. These two muscle groups work together to stabilise their rib cage into a more mature, downward position. Rib cage strength is important as more complex movements often rely on rib cage stability
• Forming their spinal curves (toddlers). The action of crawling will help your toddler to further develop the natural curves in their back. This is important for good posture as they get older
• Advancing their visual skills (toddlers).  As your toddler crawls round the room, negotiating furniture, they will be using their “distance vision” to look ahead.  Occasionally they will be stopping to play with a toy or look at their hands and this will require them to use their ‘near vision’. This refocusing and adjustment is excellent training for their eye muscles and will help your toddler to start to use their eyes together – binocular vision.  Good binocular vision is essential for reading and writing.
• Progressing their social, cognitive (thinking) and emotional development (toddlers). Crawling will open up a whole new world for your toddler giving them the chance to experience a wider range of emotions and tackle new challenges i.e. As your toddler crawls: 

1. They will feel increasingly independent – they are now able to move to where they want to be by themselves!
2. They will be motivated to explore and will start to set themselves a variety of goals. For example, your toddler may decide to crawl across the room to pick up a toy they want. If they manage to get their toy - they will obviously experience those warm feelings of success and this will boost their self-confidence. If, on the other hand, the toy remains frustratingly out of reach, maybe having rolled under a chair, your toddler will then have to problem solve and this will boost their thinking skills. In this example they may try to reach forward with one hand or go down on their tummy to retrieve their toy.

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun

In Tatty Bumpkin classes we use unique storylines to make the activities meaningful and to fire the imagination.

All our classes are multi-sensory comprising of:

• Adapted yoga poses and activities which both stimulate and calm the body senses
• Dedicated songs and rhythms which are relevant to the stories
• Bespoke hand-woven props to look at and feel. Tatty Bumpkin has its own range of fairly traded animal props to back up the yoga poses and bring the stories to life. Our teachers are supported to use natural props in the classes which are great to feel as opposed to smooth plastic

We have carefully linked each Tatty Bumpkin to the new 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Importantly supporting children to learn ‘how to learn’ not just focusing on what on they learn.

So … The Adventure This Week  ..

In this weeks adventure Tatty Bumpkin and Cat find out about all the different jobs people can do. Each job has its good bits and bad bits – a bus driver might enjoy driving their bus but they do have to sit down all day. The farmer can move about – but then they might get cold if it rains. The fire-fighters seem to have an exciting job – but then it can be very hard work fighting fires!

What kind of job do you think is best for you? Do you like: moving about and being outside, making or growing things or maybe you enjoy doing something with machines or perhaps helping other people?

Come and think about different jobs whilst, of course, having fun at your local Tatty Bumpkin class.

Drive over the hills - whizz round corners in your bus!

Be careful as you plant those seeds!

 

This story will give your child an opportunity to:

1. Strengthen and stretch a range of muscles as they do cat and cycling poses 

2. Use gestures or words to express their feelings – imagining they are feeling:

• ‘Curious’ like cat at the beginning of the story - wondering what people do all day?
• ‘Cold’ like the framer in the field as it starts to rain
• ‘Tired’ and ‘hot’ like the builders and the fire-fighters
• ‘Happy’ and ‘pleased with themselves’ - like anyone who feels they have done their job well  

3. Develop their sense of rhythm as they crawl and stretch to Tatty Bumpkin Cat song

4. Express their own ideas as they think off different shaped houses they would like to build or different jobs they would like to do 

5. Calm themselves and try to stand really still as they ‘wait for a bus’! 

6.Have fun with their friends: driving over the hills and whizzing round the corners as bus drivers, carefully planting seeds in the ground as farmers, building different shaped houses as builders and working together to put out the fire as fire fighters!

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

2013 - 14 Term 2 Week 1: Tatty Bumpkin's Pose for the Week is Owl!

The posture of this week in Tatty Bumpkin classes is OWL – just right for this spooky time of year!


Tatty Bumpkin wriggles through the Giggle Tree and finds herself under another big tree. Listening carefully she hears a 'hooting' sound coming from the branches and, filled with curiosity, she looks closely between the branches and spies a little hole in the sturdy tree trunk. Peeking through the hole Tatty Bumpkin catches site of a little nest with a family of owls snuggling inside...

How to do Owl Pose

Start by kneeling on the floor - sitting back on your heels with your arms by your sides. Then kneel up, taking your bottom off your heels, & spreading your arms out wide to either side & above your head. Hoot “Twit Twooo!”

Make it easier

It is important that your child feels they can succeed so if they find coming up onto their knees too hard, guide them to move their arms out to the side & over their heads whilst they are sitting on the floor, either cross-legged or with their legs straight out in front. In this seated position your child will find it easier to balance & hence they can concentrate on moving their arms in a better pattern. Remember there is no right or wrong way with Tatty Bumpkin, the important thing is your child feels they have enjoyed themselves!

Want to make it harder?  

Okay, start squatting down, balancing on your toes with your arms by your sides. Then rise up into standing waving your arms over your head as before. Hoot “Twit Twooo!” Bring your arms back down to your sides whilst you squat back down on the floor. Repeat a few times to become a truly wise owl!

Owl Pose with Younger Toddlers

Encourage your toddler to copy your 'owl' arm movements whilst they are either sitting or standing

Find a comfortable place to either sit or kneel on the floor and encourage your toddler to either sit or stand opposite you.  Start by doing owl pose yourself so your toddler can copy you i.e. Stretch both your arms out to either side and bring them slowly together in a wide arc over your head so you palms are touching. Then take your arms back down to your sides stretching out once more to each side. Encourage your toddler to stretch their arms out to each side as they flap their owl wings. Make it into a game by saying “1, 2, 3, twit twoo” as you do the actions. Repeat owl pose several times so your toddler has a chance to learn the actions.
  

Owl Pose with Older Toddlers/ Young Children

 

Encourage your young child to copy owl pose - this time kneeling up!

Once again do owl pose with your young child so they can copy you. This time, start sitting back on your heels and curl forwards, tucking your head in towards your knees, to be a ‘sleeping owl’. Then pretend to ‘wake up’ and say “1, 2, 3, twit two!” as you sit up and stretch your ‘owl wings’ out to each side and above your head. Flap your wings a few times before curling up again to be sleeping owls. Repeat the pose several times, so your toddler has a chance to learn the actions. Often young children find it hard to curl up completely, tending to lie on their tummies, if this is the case, encourage your toddler to curl up by saying ‘kiss your knees!’ 

 

Other Games with Owl Pose

Doing Owl Pose with Feathers

If your child is younger  they will find it easier, and more motivating, to copy your arm movements if you’re holding something in your hands - like a feather. Picking up and holding the feather will also improve their eye-hand  co-ordination and hand skills.  Either:  

• Find some feathers of different shapes and sizes (http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/hobbycraft-small-ostrich-feathers-in-black-x-2/569819-1000) N.B. safety first, it is great for your toddler to have a chance to explore a feather – seeing how it feels and moves in the air – but remember feathers can have sharp ends and are tempting to suck -  so do not let your young child play with them on their own Or: 
• Make your own feathers from spare fabrics or paper – just cut out the fabric or paper into various feather shapes.

First let your child explore the feather then do owl pose together- both of you holding a feather in each hand. You can then play a game of putting the feathers in and out of pots – this is great fun and also develops your toddler’s ‘pincer grasp’ (see benefits). 
  

Blowing Feathers

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. In actually doing owl pose your child will be stimulating their movement senses (proprioceptive & vestibular senses), but why not give them the opportunity to touch & blow a feather as well?
When blowing the feathers give your child a goal i.e. can they blow the feathers into a bowl? This will help them concentrate and works on eye-hand coordination. The blowing action as well as being calming also engages your child’s tummy muscles.

Exploring Feathers

Investigate feathers of different sizes with your child, then using gestures or talk, highlight to your child which one is BIG & which is SMALL.  Older children can sort their feathers according to size or colour. 

'Simon The Owl Says' Game

Guide your child to stroke their arms, elbows, feet, hands and chest with the feather to reinforce learning the names of body part. Then play Simon the Owl says game i.e. “Simon the Owl says touch your knee", "Simon the owl says touch your ear!"

"Simon the owl hoots touch your knee!"

"Simon the Owl hoots touch your ear!"

Picking up Feathers Between you Toes or Feeling Feathers with Both Feet

Encourage your child to try and pick up the feathers with their feet or toes and put them into a bowl. Alternativley they could try and balance on their bottom to stroke their feet with the feather - great for progressing balance skills and strengthening foot and tummy muscles.
 

Be careful!

Listening to Tatty Bumpkin Feather song or Blowing an Owl Hooter!

Owl hooters are greast fun and encourage your child to take deeper breaths see http://www.percussionplus.co.uk
Or maybe download Tatty Bumpkin Feather song from iTunes and blow your feather to its relaxing melody. 

Blow your feather to the gentle beat of Tatty Bumpkin Feather song

 

Why Owl Pose is ‘Good For Me’

As you do Owl pose with your child they will be:  
1. Developing their postural control skills
When your child does owl pose with you in sitting, kneeling or standing they will be using their ‘postural control system’ to keep their body still and upright whilst they move their arms up and down.  

Between the ages of 0 -7 years your baby, toddler and young child will slowly be refining their ‘postural control system’. 'Postural control' is a complex process which allows us to keep and move our bodies up against gravity - whether we are: pushing up on our hands whilst we are lying down, sitting up straight or indeed standing up and moving. Postural control ensures that we keep control of our bodies and protect them whilst we are moving and doing things i.e. we might put our feet wider apart and stiffen our bodies to keep our balance on a rocking boat or to kick a ball, we might automatically put out our hand to ‘save’ ourselves if we trip over.

Postural control results from the maturation of our nervous system, our muscles and our skeleton, it develops from the head down and from the middle of our body out to our limbs. You will have noticed your child was able to control their head and body long before they were able to stand up and that they were able to control their ‘middle’ long before they could completely control their hands and fingers. 
If your child develops their postural control system well, in their early years, this will mean they:

• Have a good base for developing their hand skills
• Will be able to sit at a desk to concentrate without becoming too uncomfortable or tired.

Without good postural control, a child may have difficulty with dressing, writing or sporting skills and may tire more easily when sitting at a desk in school.

When you do owl pose with your child notice how you:

• Contract and ‘work’ your back muscles slightly when you put your arms out to the side and move your hands up above your head
• Contract and ‘work’ your tummy muscles slightly when you move your hands back down.

This is your postural control system working. 

Postural control is automatic, this means that unless we choose to think about it we are unaware of it happening -  but none the less it is so important. All through our lives our postural control system means we are able to: do things smoothly and efficiently, keep ourselves safe and focus our attention on more complex academic work.

2. Stretching their shoulder, chest and back muscles 
Because owl pose stretches these muscles it is a great pose for your child to do after they have been sitting for a while – remember muscles need movement to grow!

3. Develop eye-hand co-ordination and fine motor skills
As your child plays with a feather or feather shaped piece of cloth whilst you do owl pose together, they will be refining both their visual and hand skills. Spend a bit of time to see how your child picks up the feather – do they pick it up with their whole hand or do they use just their finger and thumb?  Young children can start to use their finger and thumbs to pick up things from about 10 months old – this is called the ‘pincer’ grasp.

Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun 

In Tatty Bumpkin classes we use unique storylines to make the activities meaningful and to fire the imagination.

All our classes are multi-sensory comprising of:

• Adapted yoga poses and activities which both stimulate and calm the body senses
• Dedicated songs and rhythms which are relevant to the stories
• Bespoke hand-woven props to look at and feel. Tatty Bumpkin has its own range of fairly traded animal props to back up the yoga poses and bring the stories to life. Our teachers are supported to use natural props in the classes which are great to feel as opposed to smooth plastic

We have carefully linked each Tatty Bumpkin to the new 2012 Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Importantly supporting children to learn ‘how to learn’ not just focusing on what on they learn.

So … The Adventure This Week  ..

In this week's adventure Tatty Bumpkin, and her friends the spiders, give a nervous, little baby owl a boost of confidence.

In the owl family there is a confident baby owl and one who is a little anxious about flying. Will Tatty Bumpkin and the spiders be able to help the nervous baby owl get over his fears? I am sure they will - but come and find out for yourself at your nearest Tatty Bumpkin class....

Will baby owl learn to fly?

 This story will give your child an opportunity to:

• Develop their balance and 'postural control' skills as they do the owl and tree poses and practice walking along a narrow mat (branch)
• Stretch and strengthen their shoulder and arm muscles as they do the owl and spider poses
• Use gestures or words to express their feelings – imagining they are feeling ‘confident' like one of the baby owls and then a little 'anxious' like the other 
• Develop their sense of rhythm as they creep and crawl to Tatty Bumpkin Spider song
• Calm themselves as they blow their feathers
• Think about 'not giving up' and ho wit is a good idea to keep going and persist with things
• Have fun with their friends: balancing on narrow mats as if they are branches, flying and hooting as owls, blowing and investigating feathers and pretnding to eat worms!! 

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