Relax and bond with your child - Tatty Bumpkin’s Kid’s Yoga Activity for the Week is Bee!

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

This week Tatty Bumpkin helps her friend Bee to get fit and 'beelieve' in himself! 

As with all the Tatty Bumpkin poses we encourage parents and carers to do the pose along with their child. This is because children learn a great deal from watching, they also ‘bond’ with other people whilst they are moving and playing with them.  

This week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity is Bee

You can do Bee pose lying down ....

or sitting up ....

...or even whilst you are waiting in queue! 

Bee Pose Pointers! 

Bee Pose for Parents and Carers
Bee pose is actually a form of breathing in Yoga. It is called ‘Brahmari’ from the Sanskrit for a humming black bee. Bee pose will give you the chance to focus on your own breathing and help you to relax (see ‘Why it is good for me’ section in this blog).

• Start by finding a comfortable place to sit

• Relax your shoulders. To do this it is often easier to imagine you are increasing the distance between your ears and your shoulders. Let your shoulders move downwards and slightly backwards but be careful not to force this movement. Breathe normally and close your eyes.

• Keeping your lips lightly sealed, breathe in through your nose and then breathe out making the sound of the letter ‘M’, basically a humming sound, until you need to breathe in again. 

• The longer you sustain your ‘Bee hum’, the more relaxing Bee pose is likely to be—but forcing the breath beyond your capacity can have the reverse effect, causing even more stress. So only do ‘Bee hums’ for as long as it is comfortable. 

• With your eyes still closed, repeat this Bee breathing pattern for a few minutes, or less. Just hum for as long as it feels good. Do not overdo it as it can make you feel dizzy. 

• To make the sound feel more ‘intense’ you can put your hands over your ears whilst you do the hums. 

• Finally, spend a few breaths sitting quietly and seeing if you notice a change in your mood – hopefully you should be feeling calmer! 

Bee pose for your child   

• Now encourage your child to ‘buzz’ along with you! 

• Guide your child to take a deep breath in and then to make a buzzing sound ‘Bzzzz!’ 

• Once they have the idea of buzzing, see if your child can put their hands over their ears and have a go at buzzing again.  If your child is younger you may have to help them. Ask your child if the buzzing seems louder or softer and does it feel nice? 

• Older children might now want to have a go at buzzing with their hands over their ears and with their eyes closed!

• Remind your child not to do more than 3 breaths in a row, otherwise they may feel dizzy!

Bee Relax for All Ages 

After doing Bee pose with your child, lie down together and listen to the Tatty Bumpkin Bee song. You can download this song from  ITunes. For a free preview go to  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/bendy-giggly-clever-strong/id376349531 

Relax with your child to Bee song

Why Bee pose is Good for You and your Child

As you do Bee pose with your child you will both have a chance to:

1. To relax together  

Recent research (1) highlights the powerful effect a child’s cry has on most adults, regardless of whether they look after children or not. Areas in our mid-brains associated with the ‘fight, flight and fright’ response appear to be quickly activated when we hear a baby crying as opposed to any other man–made sound. 
This research is backed up by findings which show we also have a hormonal response to a crying baby or child i.e.

• Men produce more testosterone which can lead to increased stress levels. Interestingly, fathers who are more involved with the care of their baby or child seem to produce less testosterone on hearing a child’s cry - this may mean that they are less vulnerable to stress when coping with a crying child.  

• Women release more cortisol - a hormone associated with the stress response.

As a result of these neurological and hormonal responses:

• Our blood pressure and heart rate rise.

• Our breathing becomes shallower and faster. 

Researchers suggest that these changes in body state possibly reflect an increased need for our bodies to be ‘ready for action’ and more alert. However, over time, these responses can lead to an increase in overall stress levels. 
Young children will often respond to ‘increased state of alertness’ by becoming more anxious themselves - breathing quicker and perhaps crying more and so the tension builds.... 

But help is at hand.... if you take slower breaths whilst doing Bee pose - your child will be also be encouraged to slow their breathing.  As a direct result of taking slower breaths your heart rates will automatically decrease and this will hopefully lead to in an increased feeling of calmness between you and your child. 

The Tatty Bumpkin Adventure this Week

Remember, for you and your child to gain the full benefit of all the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga and multi-sensory activities, find out about your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html. Or, ask your child’s nursery if they are doing Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity sessions as part of their day. 

Our qualified Tatty Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in aspects of child development and Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians. All the Tatty Bumpkin stores are aligned to the Early Years Foundation Stage this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

If your child is going to a Tatty Bumpkin class this week they will have the chance to: 

• Improve their physical skills as they get fit with Bee - doing bee press ups, bee jumps and even swimming in the duck pond! 

• Develop their imagination and thinking skills as they imagine they're in a garden full of flowers and think about games which will  make Bee stronger.

• Progress their communication skills as they listen to the Tatty Bumpkin frog song and follow the moves. 

• But most of all, your child will have fun with others as they count out Bee star jumps and press ups and investigate the multi-sensory Tatty Bumpkin props. 

Investigating with all our senses! 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

1 - C. Parsons, et al (2013) Ready for action: a role for the human midbrain in responding to infant vocalizations; Journal of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. http://f1000.com/prime/718046035?key=2jnd7zRjkErCSQv 

A New Start with Tatty Bumpkin?  

Or, maybe, you are thinking of a new career which gives you:

• The opportunity to work with kids
• A great sense of job satisfaction and
• Flexible working to fit around your own family

Find out how you could be trained to deliver Baby and Tatty Bumpkin classes in your area at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/business/index.html. 

Movement and Pre-writing Skills

By Sue Heron Paediatric Physiotherapist and Head of Training at Tatty Bumpkin Ltd.

This week I have been inspired by two things. 

• Firstly, a Blog on pre-writing skills by ‘Liz’. Liz is an Australian Early Years Teacher who is interested in current research. Her March Blog has a great infographic ‘On the importance of developing pre-writing skills in early childhood’ see - http://www.lizs-early-learning-spot.com/pre-writing-skills-essential-for-early-learners

• Secondly, the lovely pictures sent into Tatty Bumpkin HQ by the children attending: N16 Tots, Stoke Newington; Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary school, Towester and Broomgrove Infants School, Wivenhoe - at the end of their Tatty Bumpkin classes. (See below) 

In her Blog Liz lists essential ‘building blocks’ needed for writing. Working as a paediatric physiotherapist with children who had delayed gross and fine motor skills the areas she identifies are all areas we focus on to support children with their handwriting skills.
It is not enough to practice ‘handwriting’ – often it is far more helpful for the child to revisit activities they did at a younger age - to fill in the gaps.  

Now whilst working at Tatty Bumpkin, I'm becoming increasingly aware that most children would benefit from activities which support these building blocks to avoid handwriting becoming a frustration. I shall concentrate on just two for now! 

1. Good Postural Control 
Interestingly of all the postures we use: lying, sitting and standing – sitting is the most complex! Think about the shape of your body when you sit – all the bending and straightening at the ankles, knees, hips, back and neck compared with your body position whilst you are lying or standing. 

To write easily children need to be able to sit well and ‘automatically. This allows their brain to focus on how and what they are writing rather than how they are sitting. To have good postural control in sitting children need to have refined their balance skills and have a good awareness of how their body parts relate to each other. Sitting balance and body awareness are largely developed as children move not whilst they sit. Movement then is not just for health and as a ‘way to let off steam’ - it is vital for sitting skills.


2. Shoulder Muscle Activity and Strength 
The old adage ‘the thigh bone is connected to the knee bone’ comes to mind. So our hand is connected to our arm and then our shoulder. It makes sense for our large shoulder muscles to be the ones which support the weight of our arms as we write. This means the ‘load is taken off’ the delicate hand muscles – allowing them to do the indicate movements. Maybe it is part of modern life, we don’t take much weight though our arms these days, but I have often noticed how weak and inactive some children’s shoulder muscles are. We need to include shoulder activating and strengthening movements into our children’s nursery or school day as pre-writing activities! 

So perhaps I should not have been surprised when our Franchisees sent me the lovely pictures their classes had created.
On their Tatty Bumpkin adventure the children moved in many different ways; wriggling on their tummies as worms, crawling as cats, jumping as frogs. As they did these movements the children would have refined their balance and postural control. 

Having fun and refining postural control skills in a Tatty Bumpkin class!

The Yoga activity of the week was horse - http://tattybumpkinltd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/help-your-child-to-regain-focus-tatty.html

Horse Pose Tatty Bumpkin style!

This activity is a great way for children to strengthen and activate their shoulder muscles. 

So well done to all the children at N16 Tots, Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary school and Broomgrove Infants School you have great pre-writing skills! 

Tatty Bumpkin Classes 

Find out about your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html. Or, ask your child’s nursery if they are doing Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity sessions as part of their day. 

Our qualified Tatty Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in aspects of child development and Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians. All the Tatty Bumpkin stores are aligned to the Early Years Foundation Stage this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

Or find out how you could be trained to deliver Baby and Tatty Bumpkin classes in your area at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/business/index.html. 

Love Tatty Bumpkin and Sue!

Help your child to regain focus - Tatty Bumpkin’s Kid’s Yoga Activity for the Week is Horse!

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

This Week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is Horse 

Kick up your heels in horse pose!

This week Tatty Bumpkin stays at home on Wobble Farm – but it is far from quiet!
Horse has suggested that the animals make a huge picture of Wobble Farm for Earth Day.
  
As with all the Tatty Bumpkin poses we encourage parents and carers to do the pose with their child. This is because children learn a great deal from watching, they also ‘bond’ with other people when they move with them, and finally it gives parents and carers a chance to be active and discover their 'inner child' for a moment or two! Remember - horse pose is an active pose so do check with a health professional before you do the pose if you have any health concerns. If you have low pressure be careful as horse pose can make you dizzy.  

Horse Pose Pointers 

Before you have a go at doing horse pose with your child:

• Check you both have a clear space around you so you can do the pose without bumping into objects or indeed each other! 
• Do the pose on a non-slip surface. For example: a non-slip mat, an area of carpet or even the grass. 
• Take off your shoes and socks – this will actually mean you both slip less and can do the pose better – as you will both be receiving accurate sensory information through the soles of your feet. 

Ready? Okay...

• Bend forward and downwards together - placing your hands about shoulder width apart on the floor in front of you. Don’t bump heads!! 

• Make sure your child’s hands are flat on the mat or carpet and their fingers are spread out wide. 

• Now start doing little steps, on the spot, with your feet - just like a horse trotting. Keep your heads looking downwards between your legs. 

• Do a few trots and then carefully stand or sit up to have a break. Doing this pose for too long can be disorientating for your child as they are moving their head upside down.  

• If your child is older they might want to try kicking their legs up higher behind them (see picture). It is very wise to supervise this activity closely as your child can overbalance and bump their head on the mat if they kick their legs up too high. 

Younger children 

If your child is younger, please watch them closely as they do horse pose. It is a good idea to put your hands around their hips to give them extra support - so they do not fall forwards and bump their head.  

Why Horse Pose is ‘Good for Me’

Horse pose gives your child the opportunity to:

1. Strengthen their shoulder muscles 
To write comfortably the shoulder muscles need to be ‘active’. Then they can support the weight of the arm, allowing the delicate finger muscles to do the intricate work of holding and manipulating a pen or crayon. If your child's shoulder muscles are inactive or weak this can lead to hand-ache as they try to use their little finger muscles to 'hold up' their arm. 

2. Improve their awareness of their hands
In horse pose your child will be taking quite a bit of their body weight through their hands. As they do this they will be gently activating their hand muscles and opening out their hand joints. This activity will bring your child's awareness to their hands and also help to both activate and relive any tension in their hands. So horse pose can be a godd activity for your child to do if they have been writing or drawing for awhile. See below for further reasons why horse pose is a good movement break.

3. Improve their co-ordination and awareness of their right and left hand sides
As your child’s trots in horse pose they will be quickly alternating between their right and left legs, bringing their awareness to both sides of their body.  

4. Develop their balance skills 
Horse pose is great for balance skills! Especially if your child starts to kick their feet up behind them. Careful though with this movement! 

5. Refine their sensory processing ability – helping them to manage their alertness  

A word on the senses 
When we do movements we often focus on just that - the movement.  We forget that with every move we make we stimulate our senses. 
A well-known occupational therapist called Jean Ayres, working in the 1970’s and 80’s, recognised the importance of the senses in the development of the child’s brain and coined the term – ‘Sensations are the food for the brain'.  And horse pose is indeed a full meal for the brain! 

As your child does horse pose they will be stimulating their: 

• Vestibular sense. This sense develops before birth and continues to be refined throughout our lives. The receptors for this sense are located in structures deep inside our ears. Hence we stimulate this sense when we move our heads. Jean Ayres felt the vestibular system was fundamental to all our actions. It tells us when we are moving, when we are still, which direction we are moving in and which way up we are. The vestibular sense also helps us to calm or alert our whole body. For example, if your child moves their head into a very different position or spins round quickly – this will probably alert them. However, of your child is rocked slowly back and forth -  this movement will help them to calm down. 

• Proprioceptive sense. Proprioception is another body sense. However receptors for this sense are all over our body, deep within our joints and muscles, not just in our ears. We stimulate this sense more when we do 'hard work' activities for example lifting, pushing pulling movements. It is thought that stimulating the proprioceptive sense has an ‘organising’ effect on the brain – it can calm us down if we are feeling stressed or can make us feel more alert if we are losing concentration. 

As your child does horse pose they will be stimulating both their vestibular and their proprioceptive senses. The move involves big head movements (vestibular sense) so will raise your child’s ‘levels of alertness’. It also involves ‘hard work’ movements, taking weight through the hands and arms (proprioceptive sense) so will help your child to ‘organise’ themselves. If your child does horse pose – carefully and not for too long – they should be alerting their brain - but not ‘over exciting’ it! This means horse pose can be good ‘movement break’ for your child if they need to raise their concentration levels after sitting for a while.

The Tatty Bumpkin Adventure this Week

Remember, for you and your child to gain the full benefit of all the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga and multi-sensory activities, find out about your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html. Or, ask your child’s nursery if they are doing Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity sessions as part of their day. 

Our qualified Tatty Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in aspects of child development and Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians. All the Tatty Bumpkin stores are aligned to the Early Years Foundation Stage this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

If your child is going to a Tatty Bumpkin class this week they will have the chance to: 

• Improve their physical skills as they do horse, frog and snake poses. 

• Develop their imagination and thinking skills as they think about what they can add to the Wobble Farm picture.  

• Progress their communication skills as they listen to the Tatty Bumpkin spider song and follow the moves. Then make their own suggestions for the picture. 

• But most of all, your child will have fun with others as work together to build up a truly multi-sensory picture of Wobble Farm. They may be adding in grasses, twigs, different flowers! 

Wobble Farm by the children at Country Cottage nursery in Kent 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

A New Start with Tatty Bumpkin?  

Are you are thinking of a new career which gives you:

• The opportunity to work with kids
• A great sense of job satisfaction and
• Flexible working to fit around your own family?

Find out how you could be trained to deliver Baby and Tatty Bumpkin classes in your area at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/business/index.html. 

Don’t Forget Elephant Pose - Tatty Bumpkin’s Kid’s Yoga Activity for the Week!

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

In this blog I:

• Describe how to do a Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity with your child or toddler 
• Give you reasons why the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity is beneficial for your child or toddler 
• Give you some ideas on progressions for the activity and games you can play around the activity. 

This week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is Elephant

Imagine you are a huge, stomping elephant!

This week Tatty Bumpkin goes deep into the jungle to visit her elephant friends. 

Remember when you encourage your child to have a go at elephant pose – try to do the pose with them or encourage brothers and sisters to join in. This is because: 

1.Children, and definitely those under 3 years, learn new movements best by copying others.

2. Research is showing that toddlers and young children bond with their parents and ‘key people’ not only through touch but also by moving with them.

3. Elephant pose gives you the chance to gently stretch out your own back and hamstrings (the muscles at the back of your legs) whilst strengthening your tummy and back muscles. Remember to check with a health professional before doing the pose if you have health concerns.

• Find a clear space on the carpet or a mat, make sure you and your child have space around you so you are not likely to bump into anything! Take off your shoes and socks off. This is because we receive more accurate sensory information through your feet if we are barefoot.

• Why not start by doing an  ‘Elephant Ears’ warm up stretch. This activity allows you both to stretch out and relax your shoulders, arms and hands. 

Wave your 'elephant ears!'

• Sit or stand up tall and place your hands on your waist. Then, keeping your hands on your waist, slowly roll your shoulders backwards and outwards, to stretch out your lower neck and upper chest muscles. Do 2 - 3 shoulder rolls in a backward direction then roll your shoulders forwards before shaking out your arms and fingers.

• Now it’s time for Elephant pose!

To make elephant pose fun for your child, follow the actions of the Elephant rhyme below - See the ‘why it is good for me’ section for why this is important.

The Elephant Rhyme	The Pose
“An elephant goes like this and that … Lower your voice  and speak in a slow rhythm to encourage your toddler or child to play with you!	Stand with your feet hip width apart on the mat. Start taking slow steps on the spot as if you are elephants going through the undergrowth.
He’s really tall and everso fat Use lots of expression in your voice	Really tall - Reach both arms up high above your head. Everso fat - Stretch your ams out to either side.
He has no fingers Do a sorrowful expression and voice.	Bring your hands together in front of you - look at them and wiggle your fingers. Encourage your child to copy you. You can wriggle your fingers together!
And he has no toes .. Keep looking and sounding sad but reassure your baby by smiling a little!	Look down at your feet and wriggle your toes.
But my! He has a very long nose!”	Stand with your feet hip width apart and stretch one arm up above your head. . Slowly bend forward at your waist (Adults tighten your tummy muscles to control your movements!) and wave your outstretched arm side to side like an elephant’s trunk.  Straighten up – then bend forward again from your waist to wave your outstretched arm or ‘trunk’ up and down!

  

Other Games to Play in Elephant Pose

Elephants spraying water!

• Clear a space in a room or outside. Find a bucket sized empty container and gather one or two blue ribbons or streamers made out fabric for you and your child to play with. The bucket will be your ‘waterhole’ and the streamers will be your ‘elephant water’. Make sure the ribbons/fabrics are not too long and supervise your child closely whilst they are playing with them. Never leave your child alone with the ribbons/fabrics or with another child- as younger children may explore them by putting them round their necks or in their mouths.

• To spray your water - hold the streamer in one hand and stretch out your arm to be an elephant’s trunk.

• Wave your streamer high above your head then ‘dip’ it down into the bucket as if to ‘suck’ up more water. Lift your streamer out of the bucket and wave it over your head again – to spray your water all around! If your child is younger, make your movements big and clear – then it is easier for them to copy you. As you do the actions make swishing ‘water’ sounds. 

• If your child is younger, help their early communication skills by backing up their movements with speech .For example say ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘in’ or ‘out’ as they do the actions.

• Then show your young child all the different ways you can play with your ‘water streamers’!!! For example:

• Pretending to ‘wash the windows’ with your water streamer.
• Pretending to wash each other with your water streamers – saying the body parts as you ‘wash’ them. 
• Sitting down and threading the streamer between your fingers or toes.
• Whilst sitting down - seeing you see if you can wave one foot in the air whilst holding the streamer between your toes. For safety -  and to make the movement easier  - before they start this activity guide your child to put their hands down behind them on the mat or carpet so they can safely support themselves. Also make sure  your child is not sitting close to anything which they could bump their heads on as they tip backwards.  
• Encourage your child to come up with their own play ideas! 

Why Elephant Pose is Good for Both You and your Child

The benefits of elephant pose:

1. Gently stretches and activates shoulder and arm muscles

Elephant pose is another great activity to do with your young child after they have been sitting in a car seat for a while, where they have not been able to fully stretch out. As they do the actions - your child will be stretching and strengthening their shoulder and arm muscles.

The ‘Elephant Ears’ stretch will give you both the chance to stretch out your neck and chest muscles. This stretch is especially good for you - as these muscles often become tight as you lift and carry your child.

2. Gently stretches and activates back and tummy muscles

As you both move in elephant pose - your child and you will be strengthening your tummy muscles, as you bend forward, and strengthening your back muscles as your straighten up.

3. Develops eye-hand co-ordination skills

As your child waves their blue streamer up and down and in and out of the bucket in elephant pose - they will be developing their eye-hand co-ordination. It’s important for young children to work on visual skills early on, as they provide the foundations for activities such as reading, writing and looking up and down at a whiteboard in a classroom situation.  And of course they are useful for ball sport activities.

4. Progresses early ‘movement planning’ skills

As your child follows the actions to the elephant rhyme, and plays with their streamer in different ways, they will be constantly adjusting their body position and their grip on the streamer. This ability to change body and hand position quickly and smoothly to do an activity is crucial for more complex skills such as dressing or eating.  

5. A playful activity – to combat stress and support communication skills

As you play with your child, either doing the ‘Elephant rhyme’ or being ‘Elephants spraying water’, you could be helping them to combat stress and  progress their early communication skills.  Interesting research (1) highlights that:

• When young children have the chance to actively play with others, they produce smaller amounts of a stress hormone called cortisol. This is helpful because consistently high levels of cortisol have been shown to damage nerve cells in the brain. Hence playful activities appear to protect the young brain.  

• When parents play with their young child, rather than just do a series of movements with them, they tend to use far more gestures, sounds and facial expressions – all of these have been found to really help early communication skills.

The Tatty Bumpkin Adventure this Week

Remember, for you and your child to gain the full benefit of all the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga and multi-sensory activities, find out about your local Tatty Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html. Or, ask your child’s nursery if they are doing Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity sessions as part of their day. 

Our qualified Tatty Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in aspects of child development and Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians. All the Tatty Bumpkin stores are aligned to the Early Years Foundation Stage this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

If your child is going to a Tatty Bumpkin class this week they will go on an adventure into the jungle to visit the jungle animals very own circus. As they follow the adventure with Tatty Bumpkin they will have the chance to:

1. Improve their physical skills as they co-ordinate their body in elephant and horse poses and  balance in lion pose.  

2. Develop their imagination and thinking skills as they pretend to be playful clowns and think about how to balance their circus props in different ways.

3. Progress their communication skills as they listen to the elephant rhyme and the Tatty Bumpkin rhythms and talk about the tricks they are going to do.

4. But most of all, your child will have fun with others as they stomp in an elephant train and bounce Tatty Bumpkin on her trampoline!  

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

A New Start with Tatty Bumpkin? 

Maybe, you are thinking of a new career which gives you:

• The opportunity to work with kids
• A great sense of job satisfaction and
• Flexible working to fit around your own family

Find out how you could be trained to deliver Baby and Tatty Bumpkin classes in your area at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/business/index.html. 

1.     National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play (2010). From Playpen to Playground – The Importance of Physical Play for the Motor Development of Young Children. www.headstartbodystart.org.