This week Cockerel forgets to put his 'Farmyard Alarm Clock' forward an hour for the summer so Tatty Bumpkin wakes up late…she rushes downstairs but still has time for breakfast of course ….
Oh no! Tatty Bumpkin misses her plane to the ‘Bug’s Spring Equinox Party’ in the Enchanted Wood. But she keeps calm and has a think .. Who can she phone to take her to the party instead?
Maybe her friend the eagle, or maybe her friends the spiders? She just needs to call ‘EasyWeb!’
Do you have an idea about who Tatty Bumpkin can call? Come and share it at your local Tatty Bumpkin class…
In ‘The Cockerel Story’ your child will have the opportunity to...
1. Stretch their shoulders and practise taking deep breaths as they ‘crow’ as cockerels!
2. Improve their balance, as they ‘have a go’ at landing as planes to pick up Tatty Bumpkin.
3. Use gestures or words to express their thoughts i.e. Feeling
‘Excited’ with Tatty Bumpkin about the ‘Bug Spring Party’
‘A bit worried’ along with Tatty Bumpkin as she is late
‘Determined’ with Tatty Bumpkin as she thinks about how to get to the party
‘Happy’ and ‘pleased with themselves’ as they manage to solve the problem and find a way to get to the party.
4. Come up with ideas on who they could call to take them to the bug’s party and then share their thoughts with the group.
5. Develop their sense of rhythm, and co-ordination skills, as they move and wriggle to the Tatty Bumpkin Cockerel song. 6. Have fun with their friends whilst: flying as aeroplanes or eagles, creeping on their tummies through the ‘Enchanted Forest’ or dancing with all the different bugs at the Spring Bug Ball!
Cockerel Pose for Children
Crow like a Cockerel!
Description of Cockerel Pose (For Parents)
Guide your child to sit or kneel on the floor or mat opposite you.
If your child is about 3 or 4 years old they will be relying on vision a great deal to learn new movements so copying you will be really helpful for them.
Put your hands on your hips so your elbows stick out to each side, then flap your elbows (your wings) and wriggle your bottom whilst singing out “Cockle-doodle-doo!” Encourage your child to copy you!
Talk your child through the pose as well as doing the actions i.e.You could say “1, 2, 3 Cockle-doodle-doo!” and as you say ‘Cockle-doodle-doo!’ do the actions.
Encourage your child to think up some ‘chicken sounds!’
Repeat the pose several times so your child has a chance to learn the movement and enjoy doing it with you – Then give them a hug!
Want to Make it Harder?
Encourage your child to be a cockerel standing up. See if they can bend their knees and squat down low to wriggle their bottoms right down close to the ground – like a chicken laying an egg!
Other Games to Play in Cockerel Pose
Be Cockerels to the Tatty Bumpkin Cockerel Song. Download the Tatty Bumpkin Cockerel song from iTunes and follow the actions of the song with your child. See if you and your child can make up your own actions to parts of the song.
If your child is younger, kneel or sit on the floor and guide your child to stand up or sit in front of you then do simple actions to the song and encourage them to copy you. It might be easier to just ‘open’ and ‘close’ your arms in front of you, keeping your elbows straight, in a ‘snapping’ action. Encourage your child to make sounds along with you as you move to the song. Picture courtesy of developachild.net.
Why the Cockerel Pose is ‘Good for Me’
1. Shoulder Stretching! Cockerel pose gives your child a great shoulder stretch. Specifically, as they do the stretch, your child will be stretching out their pectoralis muscles at the front of their chests. Cockerel pose is the perfect antidote to ‘screen time’ when your child may be sitting in a more slumped position.
2. Strengthening and developing key co-ordination skills. As your child bends their knees and wriggles down to the floor they will be strengthening their leg muscles and working on their balance and co-ordination skills.
3. Developing breath awareness and learning to calm. The ‘crowing’ activity will enhance your child’s:
Breath control. Steady, deep breathing is important for both movement and speech.
Ability to ‘self-regulate’ their emotional state. As your child takes deeper, slower breaths their heart rate and blood pressure will automatically decrease slightly and this will help them to calm themselves. A few ‘cockle –doodle-doo’s might well help your child to calm if they feel worried or anxious about something as well as making them smile!
Cockerel Pose For Toddlers and Older Babies
Baby Cockerel!
Description of Pose
This adaptation of Cockerel pose is suitable for toddlers or babies about 6 mths or over i.e. your baby is able to sit on your lap with support either around their lower body or with their hands held. If you do cockerel pose with your baby/toddler in front of a mirror they can then see how they are moving their arms. Alternatively, ask a partner to sit in front of your baby and do the actions to cockerel pose (see overleaf) – so your baby can watch the movement as they do it themselves.
Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with your baby/toddler. You may find it comfortable to sit up against a wall so your back is supported.
Settle your baby/toddler so they are sitting on the floor in front of you, they can then lean back against you for support.
Start by doing the baby cockerel pose yourself, this will give you a nice back stretch and will help you to loosen up your arms. If you are doing the pose in front of a mirror, your baby can watch. Stretch your arms out to the side then bring your arms across your chest to place your hands on the shoulder on the opposite side i.e. place your left hand on your right shoulder and your right hand on your left shoulder.
Feel the stretch in your upper back. Then ‘open and close’ your elbows like a bird’s beak. Do a gentle ‘cockle-doodle-doo!’ for your baby. Repeat the pose but this time swap over your arms so a different arm is uppermost.
Now it is your baby’s or toddler’s go! Remember, if they are tending to slide their bottom away from you – gently bring it back towards you and encourage them to lean forwards from their hips.
Place your index fingers in your baby’s palms and gently guide their arms out to each side – so they are stretching out wide! Only go as far as is comfortable for your baby. Remember if your baby is under 6 mths they will not yet have full movement at their shoulders and elbows. As your move your baby’s arms out say “1, 2, 3, …”
Then guide your baby’s/toddler’s hands and arms across their chest taking their hands towards the opposite shoulder whilst saying “Cockle-doodle-doo!”
Guide your baby’s arms back out to either side and repeat the movement only this time swapping arms so a different one is uppermost. Then encourage your baby to let go of your fingers so they can give their arms a wiggle!
Repeat the whole pose 2-3 times, remember to keep looking at your baby to make sure they are enjoying themselves.
As your baby ‘gets the idea’ of the movement – wait and see if they start to do part of the action by themselves. You may have to support your baby to start with but then they may ‘take over’ for a bit. Smile and encourage them – as this is the start of them doing things for themselves!
Why Baby Cockerel Pose is Good for Both You and Your Baby or Toddler’
As you do Baby Cockerel pose with your baby or toddler, you will give them a chance to:
Activate, stretch and co-ordinate their upper body muscles. See notes for sun pose for the previous week. Cross their midline for crawling and hand skills. As you guide your baby’s hands across their chest towards their opposite shoulder you will be giving them a chance to feel what it is like to move their arms across the middle of their body or their ‘midline’.
From about 7 mths your baby may have been able to sit without using their hands for support. Given many opportunities to sit on the floor throughout their day, you will find your baby is able to sit in different positions and to reach out either side and across their body for toys. This variety of sitting positions and reaching actions will often lead to your baby moving up into crawling from sitting.
It is important for older baby’s and toddlers to become comfortable with crossing the midline of their body as they will draw on this skill to develop their early dressing and writing skills.
Calm themselves. As your wrap your baby’s/toddler’s arms across their chest you will be stimulating both their sense of deep touch and proprioception (body awareness). Stimulation of these two senses together is often very calming for your baby. Develop their early communication skills. When you do a gentle ‘cockle-doodle-doo’ for your baby or toddler, wait and see if they respond to your sounds with sounds of their own.
From about 5 – 7 mths you may notice your baby is starting to ‘babble’. These are sounds, generally without meaning or referring to anything specific which your baby will make when they are feeling emotionally calm.
From 6 mths your baby will continue to build up their repertoire of sounds when they move. Continued movement will help your baby to build up the stability in their tongue musculature. This extra co-ordination of the tongue will help your baby to produce new ‘consonant’ sounds i.e. p, b, t, m, d, n, k, ɡ, s, h, w, j sounds.
From 8–9 mths, your baby is likely to be making more advanced sounds linking vowel and consonants together i.e. “babadoobe”. This is called ‘variegated babbling’.
At around 9–10 mths your baby’s babbling may start to sound like your own native language.
The final stage is known as ‘conversational babbling’ or the ‘jargon’ (usually occurring from ten mths). During this stage your baby or toddler will use adult-like stress and intonation as they babble. When your baby starts to babble in this way they will be very close to saying their first words.
Your toddler will continue to use the speech patterns and timing that match the language they will soon be speaking.
At about one year your toddler may start to say ‘ma ma’ or ‘da da’ for mummy and daddy.
But it is probably between 12- 18 mths that your toddler really starts to take an interest in words. As well as saying between six and 20 recognisable words, they will start to understand many more. Play is a great way of encouraging your toddler’s speech skills. E.g. When pretending to feed a teddy or doll, or talking on a toy telephone. Talk to your toddler about the things they can see, read to them and talk through simple Baby Bumpkin stories as you do the actions! You will probably find your toddler speaks more either during or after they have moved about. (Picture courtesy of everydaylife.globalpost.com)
Baby Cockerel Pose In Lying. Younger Babies
Littliest Cockerel!
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 cockerel pose is ideal if your baby is about 6 months or younger and has yet to gain good control of their head and body in sitting.
Settle your baby on a mat in front of you and sit back on your heels.
Gain good eye contact with your baby - to make it more fun and to encourage your baby to look at you – why not wear a silly hat! A bath cap or woolly hat is ideal.
Start by giving yourself a stretch in baby cockerel pose! Stretch your arms out to the side then bring your arms across your chest to place your hands on the shoulder on the opposite side i.e. place your left hand on your right shoulder and your right hand on your left shoulder. Feel the stretch in your upper back. Then ‘open and close’ your elbows like a birds beak. Do a gentle ‘cockle-doodle-doo!’ for you baby. Repeat the pose but this time swap over your arms so a different arm is uppermost. Your baby will love to see you move and to listen to your voice.
Give your shoulders a lovely stretch!
Now it is your baby’s go! Once again establish good eye contact with your baby – this is important as they will be able to move their arms in cockerel pose better if they are holding their head in the middle.
Place your index fingers in your baby’s palms, hopefully this will encourage them to grasp hold of your fingers and helps your baby feel ‘in control’.
Whilst your baby is gripping your fingers, guide their arms out to either side. Remember if your baby is under 5 mths they will not be able to fully straighten their elbows – so do not force this movement.
Then gently guide your baby’s arms, across their chest, one above the other and take hands towards the opposite shoulder. Just like you are guiding your baby to give themselves a hug. Only go as far as is comfortable for your baby – remember they may not yet have full movement at their shoulders.
Guide your baby’s arms back out to either side and repeat the movement – this time swapping arms so a different one is uppermost.
Encourage your baby to let go of your fingers so they can give their arms a wiggle!
Repeat the pose 2-3 times, looking at your baby to make sure they are enjoying themselves.
As your baby ‘gets the idea’ of the movement – wait and see if they start to do part of the action by themselves. You may have to support your baby to start with but then they may ‘take over’ for a bit. Smile and encourage them – as this is the start of them doing things for themselves!
Other Games to Play in Cockerel Pose with your Baby or Toddler
Be Cockerels to the Tatty Bumpkin Cockerel Song. Download the Tatty Bumpkin cockerel song from iTunes and follow the actions of the song with your baby. You will probably have to make up your own actions to parts of the song.
Do Baby Cockerel Rhyme with your baby in sitting (older babies or toddlers) or lying (younger babies). Open, shut them. Start with your baby’s arms out to each side and bring them across their body as in baby cockerel pose. Open, shut them. Repeat actions above. Don’t get in a muddle! Let your baby’s hands go and shake your head at your baby if they are lying down. If your baby is sitting – encourage them to move their hands up and down in front or perhaps rock your baby gently from side to side. Open, shut them. Open, shut them. Repeat as above Give Baby Bird a cuddle! Give your baby a cuddle!
Why Baby Cockerel Pose is ‘Good for You and Your Baby’
As you do Baby Cockerel pose with your baby, you will give them a chance to: Activate, stretch and co-ordinate their upper body muscles. See notes for sun pose for the previous week.
Cross their midline for rolling or crawling. As you guide your baby’s hands across their chest towards their opposite shoulder you will be giving them a chance to feel what it is like to move their arms across the middle of their body or their midline.
From about 6 mths you may notice your baby increasingly twisting their body, whilst they are lying on their backs, and reaching over to the opposite side of their body – this is the start of learning to roll.
From about 7 mths you may find your baby is able to sit without using their hands for support. With many opportunities to sit on the floor throughout their day, you will find your baby sitting in different positions and reaching out either side and across their body for toys. This variety of sitting positions and reaching actions will often lead to your baby moving up into crawling from sitting.
Calm themselves. As your wrap your baby’s arms across their chest you will be stimulating both their sense of deep touch and proprioception (body awareness). Stimulation of these two senses together is often very calming for your baby.
Develop their early communication skills. When you do gentle ‘cockle-doodle-doos’ for your baby, wait and see if they respond to your sounds with sounds of their own.
From about 2 mths you may find your baby is increasingly starting to respond to you with sounds of their own – often they sound quite nasally. You will notice that your baby makes more sounds when they are moving.
From about 3-5 mths your baby will continue to make more sounds, especially as they move their body. You will find your baby makes different sounds in different body positions, in this way they gradually build up their range of sounds. I.e. the sounds they make will be different in pitch and tone when they are lying on their backs compared to when they are lying on their tummy. This is another good reason to encourage your baby into different positions whilst they are on the floor.
From about 5–7 mths you may notice your baby starting to ‘babble’. These are sounds, generally without meaning or referring to anything specific which your baby will make when they are feeling emotionally calm.
From 6 mths your baby will continue to build up their repertoire of sounds when they move. Continued movement will help your baby to build up the stability in their tongue musculature. This extra co-ordination of the tongue will help your baby to produce new ‘consonant’ sounds i.e. p, b, t, m, d, n, k, ɡ, s, h, w, j sounds. Picture courtesy of www.komonews.com.
Talking to your baby..
Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun
In Tatty and Baby 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 and Baby 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.
