Tatty Bumpkin’s Kid’s Yoga activity for the week is Peacock – great for strengthening tummy muscles and stretching hamstrings!

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 Peacock

In 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’ which other people when they are moving with them, and finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch! Remember if you have any concerns whether you should do peacock pose always consult a health professional - if you feel any pain - do stop.

• Firstly find a non-slip mat or an area of carpet where you can both do the pose. Make sure you both have enough room around you to avoid bumps and knocks. 

• Take off your socks and shoes- it’s far better to do rainbow pose with bare feet. Barefoot your child will slip less and will be able to do the pose more accurately. Interestingly we rely on sensory information passed up through the soles of feet to balance.  

Peacock Pose Pointers! 

Baby Peacocks!

Baby Peacock 

• Lie down on your back with you child and encourage them to copy your movements

• Bend your knees, but keep your feet flat on the floor 

• Let your knees move away from each other out to either side, then bring them back together - just like a peacock opening and closing his tail. 

Want to make it harder? Make a bigger peacock tail!  

Lift up your tail and open it wide!

• Lie on your back with your child - try to keep most of your back on the mat or the carpet and encourage your child to copy you

• Bend your knees and carefully lift your feet up into the air, then gently straighten your knees as much as you can. Gently tighten your tummy muscles as you do this to support your back – your child will probably do this automatically

• Now slowly move your feet apart - a little way out to each side –and bring them back to the middle. Repeat a few times 

• Help your child to think about how the peacock’s tail looks dull when it’s closed but is amazingly beautiful when it’s open. Maybe ask them if they can think of something special about themselves that people cannot see? Maybe being kind, or patient or friendly. 

Younger children - Note to parents 

To begin with, your child may need you to gently guide their knees out to the side and back to the middle - so they can feel the movement. Then see if they can do the pose whilst copying you.  

Helping the peacock open his tail!

Why Peacock Pose is Good for Your Child

Peacock pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Stretch their hip muscles
As your child takes their knees out to each side and back to the middle they will be stretching the muscles around their hips. 

2. Stretch their hamstring muscles
If your child does the harder version of peacock pose they will be stretching their ‘hamstring’ muscles. The hamstrings muscles run down the back of the leg, from the back of the pelvic bone down to just below the knee. Often these muscles can get tight in children, especially if they are growing fast and are having to sit for long periods. Tight hamstring muscles could affect your child’s overall sitting position as to relieve the tightness your child may slide their bottom forwards in their chair and this will cause them to slump. 

3. Activate their tummy muscles
As your child lifts their legs in the air they will use their tummy muscles.

4. Develop their imagination and self-confidence
As your child does peacock pose, encourage them to think about the colour of their beautiful feathers. Then encourage your child to think of something about themselves they like -   something as beautiful as a peacock’s tail. Do they like their clever fingers, their wavy hair, their smile, their eyes, their jumpy legs or their kindness to their friends?

The Tatty Bumpkin Multi-sensory Yoga Adventure This Week ..

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 stories are aligned to the Early Years Foundation Stage (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

This week Tatty Bumpkin finds herself in the rainforest - there, with the animals  -  she helps peacock to celebrate the differences which make us all special. 
In this week’s story your child will have the chance: 

1. To improve their physical skills as they wriggle as snakes, swing on the trees as monkeys, and open their peacock tails.

2. To use gestures or words to express their thoughts: Feeling ‘hot’ with Tatty Bumpkin in the Rainforest, caring for peacock with Tatty Bumpkin, feeling ‘confident’ with peacock as he realise he has a magnificent tail!

3. Come up with their own ideas and feel confident to talk about them - wondering which creature could make that squawking noise? Deciding which shape to wriggle their body into as a snake?

4. Become more aware of their breathing as they blow the Peacock’s feather. 

5. Learn to dance to a rhythm as they move to the Tatty Bumpkin Monkey, Snake or Frog songs. 

6. Most important of all - have fun with their friends as they: creep through the rainforest, swing with the monkeys and jump with the jumping Tree Frog! 

A peacock's feather is full of wonder! 

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. 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

Tatty Bumpkin's Rainbow Pose for your child- Encourage them light up the sky in their imagination as they stretch out their body

This week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is Rainbow 

In all the Tatty Bumpkin poses we encourage parents and carers to do the pose along with their child. This is because:

• Your child will learn a great deal from watching your movements. 
• Moving with your child is a great way to strengthen the bond between you both. 
• Finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch!

However, do look after your own body - if anything hurts do stop. If you are not sure whether Fish pose is suitable for you - consult a health professional. 

To Start ...

Firstly find a non-slip mat, or an area of carpet, where you can both do Rainbow pose. Make sure you both have enough room to avoid bumps and knocks. Take off your socks and shoes- it’s far better to do Rainbow pose with bare feet :-).

Pose Pointers..

You and your child can do Rainbow pose in many positions - here are our suggestions: sitting back on your heels, kneeling, standing up or lying down! We will start sitting back on our heels.

Sitting back on heels is easier - kneeling needs more coordination

• Guide your child to sit back on their heels opposite you.

• Start by saying “1, 2, 3, rainbow!” to your child. As you say ‘rainbow’, do Rainbow pose so your child can copy your movements i.e.

• Stretch your arms up above your head so your elbow are straight
• Bring your palms together and look up at your hands.
• Then, slowly take your arms, in wide arc, down to your sides, and look straight ahead.
• To make this pose even more effective and relaxing for yourself – try taking a deep breath in as you stretch your arms above your head and then breathe out as you take your arms down to your sides. 

• Reverse your arm movements - bring your palms back together above your head, once again encouraging your child to copy.  You are now both back in the starting position - ready to do the pose again. 

• Repeat Rainbow pose several times so your child has a chance to learn the movement and enjoy doing it with you – Finally give them a hug!

Older children - Want to make it harder? 

• If your child is older you can sing or say the colours of the rainbow together as you do Rainbow pose lying down – repeating the pose seven times. I always remember the colour order by the phrase “Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain!”

Older children can do Rainbow pose themselves whilst lying down

• Then imagine it’s starting to rain... guide your child to stretch their arms out so their hands are above them and then to point their index fingers. 

• See if your child can bring their pointed index fingers down to touch their nose one at a time - like raindrops! 

• To make it even harder, encourage your child  to ‘have a go’ at doing the same 'raindrop' movement - only this time with their eyes closed - be careful!!  You can also do this 'raindrop' game sitting up. 

Younger children 

Young children may find Rainbow pose easier to do standing up

• Younger children may enjoy doing Rainbow pose standing up.  

• Start sitting back on your heels with your child standing opposite, see picture.  

• Take your arms out to the side, bring your hands together above your head, then take them back down to your sides - encourage your child to copy you. 

• Make the activity more fun by making a ‘rainbow ribbon’ for your child to hold and wave. This is easily done by attaching several short, coloured ribbons to a shower ring.  Remember - always use your own common sense about what objects may be dangerous for your baby. Whilst they are playing with the suggested props supervise your baby closely and NEVER leave them unattended, or with another child. Ribbons and streamers over 25 cm long can pose a strangulation risk.

Rainbow Ribbon Ring

Make a ‘ribbon ring’ for your child to wave and shake about! These can be made from a selection of coloured ribbons and a shower curtain ring - see http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/rainbow-ribbon-rings/ for ideas. Your child will love to hold these above their head and wave them across their body – developing their ‘midline’ skills. See ‘Why it is good for me’ section. 

A rainbow ring! 

Why Rainbow Pose is Good for Your Child

Rainbow pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Stretch out and activate their shoulder muscles 
Even young children can spend a great deal of time sitting, this can result in them adopting a poor sitting posture.  Rainbow pose offers your child a great opportunity to carefully stretch out their neck, upper back, shoulder and arm muscles. After doing the pose they will have a clearer idea of how they should be sitting or standing. 

2. Activate their tummy muscles
As your child raises their hands above their chest and takes them back down to their sides they will be gently using their tummy muscles. Active tummy muscles are essential for good posture and more complex physical skills. 

3. Increase their awareness of their ‘midline’
Your child will be taking their hands towards and then away from their ‘midline’. This is the imaginary ‘line’, down our body, which separates our left and right hand sides. Interestingly, it is quite hard for children to move their hands away from their midline and back down to their sides. Activities, like Rainbow pose which encourage children to work in their ‘midline’ area are great for developing pre-writing skills 

The Tatty Bumpkin Multi-sensory Yoga Adventure This Week ..

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 (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

This week Tatty Bumpkin finds herself way up in the sky, amongst the clouds. As the wind blows around her, so the clouds change shape … what cloud shape would you be, I wonder? But Tatty Bumpkin is not alone  … there are also some very busy fairies flying around her hanging out their washing! 

This is perhaps one of my favourite Tatty Bumpkin stories. In this story your child will have the chance to: 

1. Improve their awareness of their ‘midline’ - to aid their early writing skills, and to stretch out tight muscles - all as they do Rainbow pose.

2. Use gestures or words to express their thoughts i.e. 

• Feeling ‘excited’ with Tatty Bumpkin when she finds herself on a cloud!
• Feeling a bit ‘anxious’ with Tatty Bumpkin when it starts to rain.
• Feeling ‘amazed’ with Tatty Bumpkin when she sees the fairies.

3. Come up with their own ideas and feel confident to talk about them i.e.
Which cloud shape they are going to be?
Wondering which item of washing the fairies are missing?

4. Become more aware of their breathing pattern, and progress their sense of rhythm, as they blow different coloured butterflies to the Tatty Bumpkin Butterfly song. 

But most important of all - to have fun with their friends as they: change shapes as clouds, fly with the fairies, and make rainbow shapes across the sky. 

Relaxing under our rainbow!

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. 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

This week Tatty Bumpkin’s Yoga activity is Rainbow Pose – A chance for your child to bring colour to their imagination and to find their ‘mid-line'!

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

This week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is Rainbow 

In 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’ which other people when they are moving with them, and finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch!

To Start ...

Firstly find a non-slip mat or an area of carpet where you can both do the pose. Make sure you both have enough room around you to avoid bumps and knocks. 
Take off your socks and shoes- it’s far better to do rainbow pose with bare feet. Barefoot your child will slip less and will be able to do the pose more accurately. Interestingly we rely on sensory information passed up through the soles of feet to balance.  

Pose Pointers..

You and your child can do Rainbow pose in whatever position you like – but here are our suggestions: standing up, sitting back on heels or kneeling up or lying down! 

Young children may find Rainbow pose easier to do standing up

Sitting back on heels is easier - kneeling needs more coordination

Older children can do Rainbow pose themselves whilst lying down

• Guide your child to sit back on their heels, kneel or stand opposite you.

• Start Rainbow pose by saying something like “1, 2, 3, Rainbow!” to your child.

• As you say ‘Rainbow’ - do the pose yourself i.e.
• Stretch your arms up above your head so your elbow are straight
• Bring your palms together and look up at your hands.
• Then, slowly take your arms, in wide arc, down to your sides, and look straight ahead.To make this pose even more effective and relaxing for yourself – try taking a deep breath in as you stretch your arms above your head and then breathe out as you take your arms down to your sides. If you have any concerns whether you should do the movement always consult a health professional. If you feel any pain - do stop.

• Encourage your child to copy your movements.

• Continue the pose by reversing the movement i.e. bring your palms back together above your head.  You're now back in the starting position.

• Repeat Rainbow pose several times so your child has a chance to learn the movement and enjoy doing it with you – Then give them a hug!

• If your child is older you can sing or say the colours of the rainbow together – repeating the pose seven times. I always remember the colour order by the phrase “Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain!”

Want to Make it Harder? 

Guide your child to imagine it’s starting to rain - encourage them to stretch out their arms so their hands are away from their body and point their index fingers. 
Then see if they can touch their nose with their pointy fingers one at a time-like raindrops! 
To make it even harder – encourage your child  to ‘have a go’ at doing the same movement only this time with their eyes closed. Be careful!!  

Younger children 

Younger children they find rainbow pose easier if you show them what to do. 

• Start sitting back on your heels with your child in the same position facing you, see picture above. 

• Take your arms out to the side, bring your hands together above your head, then take them back down to your sides - encourage your child to copy you. 

• Make the activity more fun by making a ‘rainbow ribbon’ for your child to hold and wave. This is easily done by attaching several short, coloured ribbons to a shower ring.  Remember - always use your own common sense about what objects may be dangerous for your baby. Whilst they are playing with the suggested props supervise your baby closely and NEVER leave them unattended, or with another child. Ribbons and streamers over 25 cm long can pose a strangulation risk.

Rainbow Ribbon Ring

Make a ‘ribbon ring’ for your child to wave and shake about! These can be made from a selection of coloured ribbons and a shower curtain ring - see http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/rainbow-ribbon-rings/ for ideas. Your child will love to hold these above their head and wave them across their body – developing their ‘midline’ skills. See ‘Why it is good for me’ section. 

A rainbow ring! 

Why Rainbow Pose is Good for Your Child

Rainbow pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Stretch out and activate their shoulder muscles 
Even young children spend a great deal of time sitting, which often results in the adopting a poor sitting posture.  Rainbow pose offers them a great opportunity to carefully stretch out their neck, upper back, shoulder and arm muscles. After doing the pose they will have a clearer idea of how they should be sitting or standing. 

2. Activate their tummy muscles
As your child raises their hands above their chest and takes them back down to their sides they will be gently using their tummy muscles. Active tummy muscles are essential for good posture and more complex physical skills. 

3. Increase their awareness of their ‘midline’
Your child will be taking their hands towards and then away from their ‘midline’. This is the imaginary ‘line’, down our body, which separates our left and right hand sides. Interestingly, it is quite hard for children to move their hands away from their midline & back down to their sides. Activities, like Rainbow pose which encourage children to work in their ‘midline’ area are great for developing pre-writing skills 

The Tatty Bumpkin Multi-sensory Yoga Adventure This Week ..

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 (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills.

This week Tatty Bumpkin finds herself way up in the sky, amongst the clouds. As the wind blows around her, so the clouds change shape … what cloud shape would you be, I wonder? But Tatty Bumpkin is not alone  … there are also some very busy fairies flying around her hanging out their washing! 

This is perhaps one of my favourite Tatty Bumpkin stories. In this story your child will have the chance: 

1.To improve their awareness of their ‘midline’ (to aid early writing skills) and to stretch out tight muscles as they do Rainbow pose. 

2.To use gestures or words to express their thoughts i.e. 
Feeling ‘excited’ with Tatty Bumpkin when she finds herself on a cloud!
Feeling a bit ‘anxious’ with Tatty Bumpkin when it starts to rain.
Feeling ‘amazed’ with Tatty Bumpkin when she sees the fairies.

3.To come up with their own ideas and feel confident to talk about them i.e.
Which cloud shape they are going to be?
Wondering which item of washing the fairies are missing?

4.To become more aware of their breathing and promote their sense of rhythm as they blow different coloured butterflies to the Tatty Bumpkin Butterfly song. 

5. Most important of all - to have fun with their friends as they: change shapes as clouds, fly with the fairies, and make rainbow shapes across the sky. 

Relaxing under our rainbow!

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. 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

Tatty Bumpkin’s Yoga activity is Fish Pose – A chance for your child to refine co-ordination skills for those summer sports!

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 Fish

In 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’ which other people when they are moving with them, and finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch!

Firstly find a non-slip mat or an area of carpet where you can both do the pose. Make sure you both have enough room around you to avoid bumps and knocks. 
Take off your socks and shoes- it’s far better to do fish pose with bare feet - interestingly we rely on sensory information passed up through the soles of feet to balance.  

Pose Pointers! 

• Lay a strip of, ideally blue, fabric on a non-slip surface – pretend this is the river!  Your piece of fabric should not be too long – just enough for a couple of rolls! 

• Either encourage your child to lie at one end of the fabric and then to roll down it – like a fish. 

• Or your child can try rolling with a friend or you - it’s often easier to do this activity in pairs.  Lie down next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, decide which direction to roll in, and then roll down the fabric side by side. 

• Don’t let encourage your child roll for too long as this can lead to them becoming over-stimulated and finding it difficult to calm back down! 

Progressing Fish Pose 

Try rolling head to head (be careful not to bump heads!). 

• Lie down with your child so that you are facing one another. Then wriggle a little way away from each other so you can both put your arms above your heads – but keep your finger-tips touching. 

• Decide which direction you are going to roll in, and then see if you can roll together - keeping your finger-tips touching. Rolling with arms above your head is harder to do! 

Fish Pose for Younger children

If your child is younger they may enjoy rolling down your legs! 

• Start sitting the floor with your legs out in front of you, and then guide your child to lie across your thighs keeping their arms snug in by their sides and making sure their head is ‘free’. 

• Rock your child side to side so they get the idea- then gently guide them to roll down your legs and back towards to you. Be careful to protect your back whilst you are doing this activity with your child. 

Fish pose with your little one! 

Why Fish Pose is Good for your Child

Fish pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Refine and stimulate their ‘vestibular’ sense

A word on the ‘Vestibular Sense’ 

Through our vestibular sense we know which way we up we are, where our head is in relation to our body and the ground, whether we are moving or stopping and which direction we are going. The receptors for this sense are found in deep in our ear area – our ‘middle ear’.

Activities which stimulate the vestibular sense - help a child to update and refine a mental picture of their body in their mind.  As they grow, and change their body shape, it’s important that your child builds this mental body map – which tells them how their body parts relate to one another and work together. An accurate body map gives your child a deep inner body confidence - enabling them to tackle a wide range of tasks in different situations. 

The vestibular sense also influences our levels of alertness - it is like a ‘volume control’ for our body. 
Activities which involve rapid head movements e.g. jumping - strongly stimulate our vestibular system and make us feel more alert. Whilst activities that move our head slowly e.g. rocking in an arm chair -  gently stimulate our vestibular system and make us feel sleepy. 

So as your child does fish pose they will not only be refining their balance skills they will also be alerting themselves. Hence fish pose can make a great ‘movement break’ for you child.

2. Increase their awareness of their ‘mid-line’
As your child rolls in fish pose they will have to cross the ‘mid-line’ of their body again and again. If your child is more aware of their mid-line they will be able to do more complex activities such as dressing quickly or writing more easily. 

3. Strengthen their tummy and spinal muscles
As your child rolls from their back onto their front they will be largely using their tummy muscles, as they move from their tummy onto their back they will be using their spinal muscles more. As they are working these muscles alternatively and in quick succession they will be building up great co-ordination between these two muscle groups which is important for overall stability and balance.

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 (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) this means the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop their communication, social and thinking skills. 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

Tatty Bumpkin’s Crab Yoga activity is great for self-regulation and concentration skills

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. 

In 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’ which other people when they are moving with them, and finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch!

This week’s Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is Crab

Crawl as crabs along the seashore! 

Pose Pointers!

• Firstly find a non-slip mat or an area of carpet where you can both do the pose. Make sure you both have enough room around you to avoid bumps and knocks. 

• Take off your socks and shoes- it’s far better to do crab pose with bare feet. Barefoot your child will slip less and will be able to do the pose more accurately. Interestingly we rely on sensory information passed up through the soles of feet to balance.  

• Sit down alongside your child with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor – encourage your child to copy you. 

• Show your child how they can place their hands flat on the floor behind them and then lean back onto their hands to wave their feet in the air. 

• Once your child has the idea of taking weight through their arms, encourage them to keep their feet on the floor, as they lean back on their arms, and to then push up through their feet so they are lifting their bottom and hips off the floor. Show your child the movement so they can copy you. 

• Now you should both only be balancing on your hands and feet in crab pose! 

A cluster of crabs on the sand!!

Progressions for Crab Pose 

• Encourage your child to try walking like a crab, forwards, backwards, even sideways!!

• Play crab football with your friends using a soft foam or lightweight ball!        

Footballers play crab football to improve their skills

Younger children

• Guide your child to lie down on the mat or carpet with their knees bent and feet flat on the floor. 

• Then encourage them to lift their bottom off the floor. You may need to help your child to bend their knees and position their feet flat on the floor so they get the idea of pushing up through their feet to lift their bottom off the floor. 

• To make this activity fun, pass toys underneath! Whilst they are playing with the suggested props supervise your child closely and NEVER leave them unattended, or with another child. 

Baby crab creeping on the sand!

Why Crab Pose is Good for your Child

Crab pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Activate and strengthen their hip muscles
Crab pose is excellent for strengthening your child’s ‘gluteal’ muscles around their hips. Strong, active gluteal muscles improve balance skills for sport and may even help to prevent a ‘knock kneed’ standing and walking position in later life. 

2. Activate and strengthen their ‘shoulder’ muscles
Active shoulder muscles help your child to control their arm for writing.

3. Gently organise themselves to focus
As your child does crab pose they will be stimulating a body sense called ‘proprioception’. 

A word on the 'body sense' - PROPRIOCEPTION
Our proprioceptive sense tells us about the position of our body. Tiny receptors, deep in our muscles and joints tell us if our muscles are squeezed or stretched or if our joints are bent or straight.

Why is it important for your child? 
The proprioceptive sense is often called the ‘safe sense’ by paediatric physiotherapists and occupational therapists. This is because when this sense is stimulated it can either gently alert or calm your child - either way helping them to feel more grounded. Therefore doing 'proprioceptive rich' activities with your child can help them to re-focus if they are bored or to ‘calm their mind’ if they are overexcited.

Examples of 'Proprioceptive Rich' Activities
Most ‘heavy work ‘activities - which require muscle effort -  will stimulate the proprioceptive sense. For example your child may love to sweep the drive or front room, maybe they can help you to pull the wheelie rubbish bins or help you push a chair back in place.  Lifting and carrying objects are also great proprioceptive rich activities. 
In crab pose your child has to lift their body weight off the floor using their own arm and leg muscles. 

Proprioceptive rich - 'hard work' activities 

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 (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) 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: 

1. Improve their physical skills as they move in different ways in crab, dog and air-plane poses.

2. Develop their imagination and thinking skills as they imagine they are by the sea and visiting the ‘fun day’ with crab!   

3. Progress their communication skills as they listen, creep and crawl to Tatty Bumpkin crab song and tell everyone what kind of dog they are going to be. 

4. But most of all, your child will have fun with others as they fly on the air-plane roundabout and ‘have a go’ at the coconut shy! 

Relaxing after the Crab adventure!! 

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

This week Tatty Bumpkin flies high in Seagull pose – let your little one spread their wings and challenge their balance skills

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 Seagull 

Be a big seagull on one knee (hardest!) 

Be a seagull sitting back on heels (easier)

In 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’ which other people when they are moving with them, and finally it gives you a chance to have a break and a stretch!

Pose Pointers

• Firstly find a non-slip mat or an area of carpet where you can both do the pose. Make sure you both have enough room around you to avoid bumps and knocks. 

• Take off socks and shoes as its far better to do the poses with bare feet. Barefoot your child will slip less and will be able to do the pose more accurately. Interestingly we rely on sensory information passed up through the soles of feet to balance. 

• Now imagine you’re seagulls - what kind of seagulls are you going to be? Seagulls flying high – or maybe a noisy seagull? 

• Begin seagull pose sitting back on your heels or kneeling up with your bottoms off the floor.

• Encourage your child to stretch their arms out wide to either side and to slowly flap them up and down. 

• Guide your child to keep their elbows as straight as they can.  If they are able to do this – they will be working their core muscles- this is helpful for their gross and fine motor skills  see ‘why it is good’ bit at the bottom of this post) 

• Encourage your child to start by doing big slow flaps then see if they can do quicker flaps without losing their balance! If your child is finding it hard to keep their balance as the move their arms – try doing the pose sitting down. This pose is about doing accurate, controlled shoulder and arm movements as well as balancing!

Progression for Seagull Pose 

Guide your child to start the pose in kneeling and this time to bring one foot in front of them so they so they are balancing on one knee with one foot out in front. This position requires more balance. Now encourage your child to move their arms up and down to complete seagull pose. 

Younger Children

If you child is younger it’s best to start doing seagull pose sitting down as your little one will feel more stable and confident in this position and hence will be able to concentrate more on their arm movements. 
If you give your child two brightly coloured ribbons to wave up and down in each hand – this can be really encouraging as it will help them see their arm movements. Whilst they are playing with the suggested props supervise your child closely and NEVER leave them unattended, or with another child. 

Why Seagull Pose is ‘Good for your Child

Seagull pose will give your child the opportunity to:

1. Activate and strengthen their ‘core’ muscles
Your child will strengthen their hip, tummy and back muscles as they move into and maintain the kneeling position. They will also strengthen their shoulder muscles as they move their arms up and down to flap their seagull wings. 

2. Progress their balance and co-ordination skills 
Kneeling is quite a hard position for children as it requires mature balance skills and adding in the arm movements will further challenge their co-ordination. If your child is struggling to wave their arms up and down whilst they are kneeling - guide them to sit back on their heels or even to just flap their arms in sitting. Once they have the idea then encourage them to do seagull pose in the harder positions. 

Always start sitting back on heels or in sitting to get arms movements accurate and sure!

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 (England) and  the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland) 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 move in different ways as seagulls, pirates and scary octopuses!

• Develop their imagination and thinking skills as they imagine they are sailing on the seas and looking for treasure!  

• Progress their communication skills as they listen and wriggle their arms and legs to Tatty Bumpkin octopus song – and make suggestions on what to take for their Treasure Island adventure - a map, spade or some sun-cream? 

• But most of all, your child will have fun with others as they work together to row across the ocean and explore the Treasure Island! 

Tatty Bumpkin's Pirate Map - Top Secret!

Love Tatty Bumpkin x

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. 

Dai - Tatty Bumpkin Franchisee working in North London