Happy New Year to everyone! The posture for this week is STARFISH.
To ‘get away’ from the January rain and wind Tatty Bumpkin decides to go on an adventure to the sea. As she runs over the hot sand and breathes in the sea air she suddenly comes across a starfish, who is frantically waving his arms at her!
Guess what? The starfish loves shoes and he proudly shows Tatty Bumpkin his collection of trainers, smart shoes and slippers – but which shoe to wear when?
Tatty Bumpkin might need your help – I mean which shoe would you choose if you were going to visit jumpy frog?
Starfish Pose – Older Children
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| 5 arms are the best! |
Description of Pose
Note to parents – It is always best to do starfish pose with your child so they can copy you; this is especially true if your child is younger. Recent research demonstrates that doing activities and movements together helps the bonding process between parents/carers and their child.
Find a clear, non-slip area of floor or carpet. Ideally take off your shoes, so you can use your feet to help you balance. Stand with your feet wide apart and stretch both your arms out to the side - in the shape of a starfish. See how wide you really are! Have your grown over Christmas?
Want to Make it Harder?
Start by standing quietly, with your feet together and your arms by your sides, imagining you are on a beach. Then jump into a starfish shape imagining you have seen one on the sand.
In standing or lying practise waving your five starfish tentacles: wave one leg in the air, then the other, then wave your arms and finally your head – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Ask an adult for a little bit of support if needs be.
Note to parents – If your child is finding it hard to balance on one leg as they wave their other starfish leg, it is best to offer them some support so they can experience balancing in a ‘straight position’. If your child keeps trying to balance by themselves in a crooked position i.e. with their legs wrapped round each other this might become a habit. As soon as your child starts to ‘get the idea’ of balancing in a good position, stand back, and let them try by themselves. Maybe suggest they use a wall or a chair rather than your hand for support. Image Courtesy of www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com
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| Balance using a chair to help |
Games to Play in Starfish Pose with Your Child
North beach – Stretch your hands above your head
South beach – Take your hands down to the ground (remember to bend your knees if this is more comfortable)
East beach – Take your hands over to your left side
West. – Take your hands over to your right side
In the sea – Jump forwards as if you are jumping into the waves
Out the sea – Jump back onto the sand
Starfish are the best! – Wave your arms and legs as dancing starfish!
Try being a starfish on a piece of driftwood - Find a low wall, bench or log. Make sure it is safe on either side. Walk down your piece of driftwood then imagine you’re a starfish balancing. Image courtesy of happyhooligans.ca.
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| Maybe a starfish on a piece of driftwood? |
Why Starfish pose is ‘Good for Me’ - Older Children
As you child does starfish pose they will have the opportunity to:
- Find out more about their body shape. Your child might be quite surprised to see how far their arms can reach. This awareness of body shape results, in part, from stimulation of the proprioceptive sense (the receptors are in our muscles and joints). As your child grows they will benefit from having reminders on how their body shape is changing, this will give them a deeper body confidence and increase their understanding of their own bodies.
- Stretch out their chest arm and leg muscles. Encourage your child to hold their starfish pose. As they move their arms and legs out to either side they will not only be stretching their arm and leg muscles but also giving the muscles across their chest a good stretch. Starfish pose is a great stretch to do after sitting for a while - the perfect antidote to the IPad or mobile phone!
- Progress their balance skills and core stability. Encourage your child to wave with their five starfish arms in turn (their legs and their arms and their head). As your child waves each of their arms and legs in turn they will be honing their balance reactions which form part of their ‘postural control mechanism’. This ‘mechanism’ keeps our bodies balanced up against gravity whilst we are sitting, standing, waking etc. and is part of normal development. It largely matures during the first seven years of life. As part of their developing postural control your child will learn to activate their core muscles i.e. the muscles round their shoulder, back, tummy and hips. Your child will use their core muscles when they are sitting on a chair in the classroom so they can attend to the class, read or write or maybe on the sports field so they can smoothly kick or catch a ball.
- Increase their awareness of their right and left hand sides. Starfish pose is great for developing your child’s awareness of their right and left hand sides in a fun lively way. They will be moving from their right to left legs and moving their right then left arms as they imagine they are waving starfish.
Starfish Pose –Babies and Toddlers
For Babies
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| Stretch out like a starfish! |
Description of Pose
N.B. Remember, when you are doing the poses with your baby, never force the movements and keep looking at your baby to make sure they are comfortable. If you feel any resistance, or your baby becomes unsettled, do stop. Once your baby has settled, gently try the pose again, perhaps making clicking sounds or using a toy to distract them. If your baby remains unsettled, do not persist with the pose instead ask your Baby Bumpkin teacher for advice.
This adaptation of starfish pose is ideal if your baby is about 3-4 months or younger and has yet to gain good control of their head and upper body. Settle your baby on a mat in front of you.
Then, put your left index finger in your baby’s left palm (this will encourage them to grasp hold of your finger and helps your baby feel ‘in control’) and gently grasp hold of your baby’s right leg just above their ankle.
Now, slowly and carefully, bring your baby’s right foot and left hand together over their chest and then ‘open’ them out diagonally to either side. The first time you do this ‘opening’ movement do not add in a stretch – this gives your baby a chance to get used to the action. As you repeat the pose add in a gentle ‘diagonal stretch’. Keep looking at your baby to make sure they are comfortable and say ‘Streeetch’ to your baby.
Remember:
- Never to ‘force’ your baby to stretch out if they do not want to
- If your baby is under 5 months, they will not yet have ‘full’ movement at their elbows, shoulders and hips so be very careful not to over-stretch these joints – be guided by your baby and stop if feel any resistance
- As you do the stretch make sure the back of your baby’s head and neck stay on the floor and that their spine is extending back rather than flexing forwards.
For Older Babies/Younger Toddlers
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| Streeetch!! |
Description of Pose
If your baby is about 4 months or older they are likely to able to sit on your lap for a short time with support just around their lower body or with their hands held.
Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with your baby, you may find it more comfortable to sit up against a wall so your back is supported. Guide your baby to sit in front of you or on your outstretched thighs so they can rest back against you for support if needs be. If possible guide your baby’s legs out to either side.
Place your index fingers in your baby’s palms and gently guide their arms out to each side – so they are stretching out like a starfish!
See if your baby can anticipate the movement by saying, “1, 2, 3 starfish!” as you do the movement. Hold the stretch for a few seconds, if your baby is comfortable, then bring their hands back to their middle so they can ‘relax’. To make starfish pose more fun and meaningful for your baby, either do the pose in front of a mirror or opposite another baby or person who is also doing starfish pose –either way your baby will then be able to see what their arm movements look like.
For Toddlers
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| Standing starfish! |
Description of Pose
If your toddler is still unsteady on their feet it is best to do starfish pose with the help of another adult or older child.
Start by holding your toddler gently around their hips facing the other person. Ask the person opposite your toddler to move into starfish pose spreading their arms and legs out to each side, this will hopefully encourage your toddler to copy them. Meanwhile keep supporting your toddler round their hips – this will help them keep their balance whilst allowing them to move their arms and legs out to the side. Make the game more playful by:
- Giving both the person demonstrating starfish pose and your toddler ribbons to hold in each hand – this may make it easier for your toddler to follow the change in arm position
- Starting the game by being be very still (standing on the beach), then saying “1, 2, 3, Starfish!” at which point everyone moves/jumps into starfish pose!
Games to Play with Your Baby/ Toddler in Starfish Pose
Do starfish pose to the ‘starfish rhyme’ – this is a lovely little rhyme all about starfish which you may well have done in your Baby Bumpkin classes. Start with your baby either lying or sitting in front of you (if you are in sitting you might want to do the rhyme in front of a mirror so your baby/toddler can see their movements). Place your index fingers in their palms so they can feel in control of the movements.
North beach – gently take your baby’s hands above their head – being careful not to over-stretch their shoulders or elbows
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| North Beach |
East beach – guide both your baby’s hands over to their left - being careful not to over-stretch their shoulders or elbows
West – guide your baby’s hands over to their right - being careful not to over-stretch their shoulders or elbows.
In the sea – bring both your baby’s hands together in the middle of their chest
Out the sea – guide your baby’s hands out to either side - being careful not to over-stretch their shoulders or elbows.
Starfish are the best - gently wave your baby’s opposite hands and feet whilst smiling and nodding at them!
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| Starfish are the best! |
‘Why Starfish Pose is Good for Your Baby or Toddler’
As you do starfish pose with your baby or toddler, you will give them a chance to:
- Gently stretch out their back, arms and legs. Note that your young baby’s shoulder, elbow and hip joints are delicate and they will not be able to move them through their full range until they are about 5 months old but, if done gently, starfish pose will provide your baby with a lovely ‘whole body’ stretch. This may be especially pleasant for them if they have been sitting in a car seat or baby seat for a while. Remember to encourage your baby to ‘join in’ with the movement as much as possible. If they are doing the movement for themselves, this not only boosts their self-confidence, but will also help them to remember the game when you play at being starfish again!
- Develop their body awareness/proprioception. Starfish pose allows your baby/toddler to experience a wide range of body positions i.e. first their opposite hand and foot are held together across their chest, then their hand and foot are guided out in a diagonal stretch away from their body. These variations in body position stimulate your baby’s/toddlers proprioceptive sense and help your baby/toddler to build up an image of their body shape in their mind. Proprioception is a ‘body’ sense which starts to develop in the womb at around 12 weeks. This sense provides us with information on how ‘stretched’ or ‘contracted’ our muscles are, how tight our tendons are, and the position of our joints at any one time. Hence proprioception tells us about our body position both when we are still and when we are on the move. Stimulation of the proprioceptive sense can be either gently calming or alerting for your baby/toddler, depending on their own nature and/or whether they were previously feeling drowsy or excited. If they were drowsy - stimulation of this sense by gently alert them, if they were previously excited - stimulation of this sense may gently calm them. Creating an accurate picture of their body in their mind, knowing where it starts and finishes, will be deeply reassuring for your growing baby and will help them develop confidence in their body and hence in themselves.
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
So … The Adventure This Week ..
In this week’s adventure Tatty Bumpkin finds herself on a beautiful beach, she stands still for a moment to breathe in the sea air and wriggle her feet in the sand.
The beach stretches for miles and miles in front of her and soon she is running over the sand on her tiptoes as it is so very hot!
Then, suddenly, Tatty Bumpkin spies a starfish waving at her.
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| A starfish on a beautiful beach! |
The starfish explains to Tatty Bumpkin that he has a huge collection of shoes which he has found on the beach – but which ones should he wear when he visits frog, or when he visits the bees or if he wants to swim with his dolphin friends?
This story will give your child an opportunity to:
1. Develop their body awareness as they stretch into starfish pose and or curl up as hiding frogs
2. Increase their balance skills as they wave as starfish or twist and turn as dolphins
3. Use gestures or words to express their thoughts i.e. Feeling
- ‘Surprised’ with Tatty Bumpkin when she discovers the starfish
- ‘Puzzled’ with starfish as he decides which shoe to wear in the thunderstorm
- ‘Tired’ with starfish after he has jumped with his friend the frog
- ‘Shy’ with the bees as they show starfish how to buzz!
5. Problem solve with starfish as they help him to choose the right shoes
6. Suggest their own ideas and spark their imagination as they think of different shapes they can draw at ‘starfish school!’
7. Develop their fine motor skills as they explore the starfish and shell props
8. Have fun with their friends as they wave as starfish, jump as frogs, buzz as bees and swim as dolphins!
Find your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html
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