By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
Find your local Tatty or Baby Bumpkin class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html and have a go at the wavy Seahorse pose with your baby, toddler or child at home – see below for ideas and games.
The Adventure This Week ..
This week Tatty/Baby Bumpkin dive through the Giggle Tree, and find them-selves by the sea.
The sand is warm and soft and soon everyone is making sandcastles of all shapes and sizes! Then they discover a Mermaid sitting inside one of the sandcastles - holding a beautiful jewel.
Oh no! A big wave comes crashing in! Everyone goes flying and the jewel is whisked out of the Mermaid’s hands and goes tumbling down into the sea.
What to do? Who can find the jewel for Mermaid? Tatty or Baby Bumpkin have a think …
Why not come and see if you can help Tatty or Baby Bumpkin find the Mermaid’s jewel …
In the ‘Mermaid’s Jewel Story’ your Child will have the Opportunity To
1. Improve their awareness of the right and left sides of their body and how they smoothly ‘work together’ - as they do seahorse pose and roll like giant waves on the seashore. 2. Develop their fine motor skills (hand movements) - as they explore the Mermaid’s jewel and the different textures and shapes of the sea shells. 3. Use gestures or words to express their thoughts i.e. Feeling
'Full of wonder’ with Mermaid and Tatty Bumpkin as they look at the precious jewel.
‘A little worried’ along with Tatty Bumpkin as she sees the giant waves.
‘Sad’ with Mermaid when she loses her jewel.
‘Excited’ with Tatty Bumpkin as she dives with the dolphins and plays with her friends the seahorses.
‘Guilty’ with the cheeky oysters.
4. Talk about their ideas on - sandcastle shapes and show everyone the shape of their own sandcastle. 5. Develop their sense of rhythm, and co-ordination skills, - as they tiptoe on the hot sand and dive and twist as dolphins to the Tatty Bumpkin Dolphin song. 6. Have fun with their friends altogether whilst:being sandcastles of all shapes and sizes, looking and exploring the precious jewel and seashells, diving with the dolphins and waving their seahorse tails in amongst the underwater sea grass.
Seahorse Pose for Children and Toddlers
Seahorses in the sea grass!
How to do Seahorse Pose with your Child or Toddler
If your child is about 3 or 4 years old or younger they will be relying on their vision a great deal to learn new movements, so ideally try to do Seahorse pose with them. Research is increasingly showing that children bond with their parents through movement as well as touch. If you have back problems do take care when moving your knees from side to side.
Find a space to lie on your back on the floor with your child or toddler. It will be more comfortable to do Seahorse pose on a mat or carpet.
Do the Seahorse pose yourself first so your toddler or child can see what to do. Make sure you do the movements slowly and if you feel any pain in your back do stop.
Lie down on your back and stretch your arms out a little way to either side.
Bend your knees so they are pointing straight up to the ceiling but keep your feet on the floor.
Gently rock both your knees together from one side to the other, only taking them as far as is comfortable.
Keep your feet on the floor but let them roll from side to side as your move your knees. As you move your knees to each side, tighten your tummy muscles and breathe out. Take a breath in, with your knees over to the side, then breathe out and tighten your tummy muscles again as you move your knees back up to the middle.
Now it is your child’s or toddler’s go! Encourage them to lie down on their backs and take their arms out to each side.
Then they bend their knees, so they are pointing directly up to the ceiling, and gently rock them side to side whilst keeping their back as still as possible on the floor – just as you did.
Your child or toddler should also keep their feet on the floor but roll the soles of their feet from side to side as they rock their knees.
To Make Seahorse Pose Extra Fun
Firstly place a soft ball, bean bag or ‘rice sock’ (Sturdy sock partly filled with uncooked rice grains and securely closed at the top. Sewing the sock closed is best but if your sock is long enough you could knot it) between your child or toddler’s knees. Picture courtesy of evitchka.com.
Then guide them to grip the ball, bean bag or rice sock between their knees and see if they can hold it there whilst they rock their knees from side to side.
To start with, gently take your child or toddler’s knees from side to side to give them the idea of the movement. Once they ‘get the idea’, do not use your hands so much and see if they can do the knee rolling movements themselves.
As you do Seahorse pose with your child make ‘swishing’ sounds with them as you both wave your sea horse tails! Remember to wait and listen for your toddler’s response.
A 'Rice Sock'
Other Games to Play in Seahorse Pose
Seahorses in the Sea Grasses. Did you know Seahorses are shy and live amongst the ‘sea grasses’ in the sea? Find 4 green strips of fabric or ribbon, 2 for you and 2 for your toddler. Make sure the lengths of ribbon/fabric are not too long and never leave your baby/toddler unsupervised with them as they are likely to explore them by putting them round their necks. Wave your ‘sea grass streamers’ up and down and round and round as you pretend to be Seahorses swimming in their sea grass homes. As your toddler waves their streamers up or down reinforce their actions by saying something like “Great moves! You’re waving your streamers up and down!” Coral Peek-a-Boo! Stretch your fingers out wide to make spikey coral shapes - encourage your toddler to copy you. Then play a peek-a-boo game – hiding behind your hands. Or find a leafy twig and hide your face behind it to play a peek-a-boo game. Remember do not leave your toddler alone with the twig as they are likely to mouth it and hence need to be supervised! Seahorse Subway! Find a sea side like prop – maybe a shell or a fishy toy. As your toddler bends their knees up in Seahorse pose pass the toy back and forth under their knees or As you bend your own knees up in Seahorse pose see if your toddler can crawl underneath them!
Why Seahorse Pose is Good for Both You and Your Child or Toddler
As you do Seahorse pose with your child or toddler you will have a chance to:
Stretch out your lower back muscles. As your child rocks their knees from side to side in Seahorse pose they will gently stretch out their lower back muscles. As you do Seahorse pose yourself you will also be giving your back muscles a gentle stretch. Hence Seahorse pose is an ideal pose for you to do after a long day of lifting and carrying! Activate and strengthen your deeper tummy muscles. As you both take your knees over to either side and bring them back up to the middle you will be working your right and left ‘abdominal oblique’ muscles. These are deeper tummy muscles which run, like seat belts, diagonally across your tummy.
Your child will have used these muscles when they learnt to roll and lie on their sides.
If your child is about 10-12 mths old they will need to use their obliques to move themselves into sitting from lying on their sides.
Throughout their lives this group of muscles will provide your child with critical stability around their middle. I.e. If your child has strong, active obliques they are likely to have a better sitting posture and be less prone to back pain. Hence it is important for these muscles to become active right from the start.
Increase their awareness of their left and right sides. As your toddler or child rolls their knees from one side to the other in Seahorse pose they will be crossing the ‘midline’ of their body. The midline is an imaginary line down our body which separates the left side of our body from the right, see picture. Your toddler will be becoming aware of their right and left sides and will have started to ‘map’ the middle area of their body in their mind. Being confident and aware of their midline will help your child to progress crucial skills i.e.
Dressing and toileting by themselves.
Early drawing, writing activities.
Baby Bumpkin Seahorse Pose for Babies
Baby Seahorse in the Sea Grass!
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.
Younger Babies
This adaptation of Seahorse pose is ideal if your baby is about 5 mths or younger. Settle your baby, on their back, on a mat in front of you and gain good eye contact with them.
Gently hold your baby’s legs, just below their knees, and slowly bend their knees up towards their chest taking their feet off the floor. Try to keep your baby’s knees directly in line with their hips as you do this i.e. Don’t bring your baby’s knees too close together.
Now, making sure your baby’s spine is on the floor, slowly rock both their knees from side to side – moving them a little way over to the left and then over to the right. Note your baby’s feet should remain off the floor.
Be careful to only roll your baby’s knees as far as is comfortable for them. If your baby is under 5-6 mths, you will find they tend to move their whole body in the direction you rock their knees and hence your baby will roll onto their side.
If your baby is happy, hold their knees over to each side for 1 – 2 secs before taking them over to the other side. This will give your baby’s lower back a gentle massage and lovely stretch.
As you roll your baby’s knees from side to side, keep eye contact with them and make ‘swishing’ sounds for them as they wave their sea horse tails! Remember to wait and listen for your baby’s response.
Do two or three rocks over to either side, then release your hold and let your baby have a rest and kick their feet.
Once your baby has the idea of the rolling movement, try not to guide them so much with your hands and see if they can do the movement more by themselves – in this way your baby will be starting to learn to roll.
You may find your baby rocks their knees further to one side compared with the other – this is quite normal.
If your baby’s hips make a ‘clicking’ sound as you move them – stop and ask your health visitor or GP for advice.
Now try doing Seahorse pose yourself. Make sure you do the movements slowly and if your feel any pain in your back do stop. Lie down on your back, with your baby, take your arms out to your sides, bend your knees up so they are pointing straight up and keep your feet on the floor. Gently rock both your knees from one side to the other only taking them as far as is comfortable. Keep your feet on the floor but let them roll from side to side as you move your knees. As your move your knees to each side, tighten your tummy muscles and breathe out. Take a breath in, with your knees over to the side, then breathe out and tighten your tummy muscles again as you move your knees back up to the middle.
Seahorse Pose for Older Babies
If your baby is over 5mths they will probably enjoy a more energetic rolling movement. If your baby is about this age they will be increasingly twisting their body from side to side as they play on the floor, rolling from their back or front onto their sides and then back again. Encourage these little rolling movements as they are the start of your baby learning to roll completely over by themselves.
Position your baby on their backs on the floor, gently bending their knees up to their chest with their feet off the floor, as explained overleaf.
Roll your babies knees over to one side and then the other. Never force the movements but your baby may enjoy rolling further over to each side at a slightly faster pace than when they were younger. However, be careful not to overdo it as this may over-stimulate your baby and lead to them finding it hard to settle down again.
As you roll your baby’s knees from side to side, keep eye contact with them and make ‘swishing’ sounds for them as they wave their sea horse tails! Remember to wait and listen for your baby’s response.
Other Games to Play in Seahorse Pose
Seahorses in the Sea Grass Did you know Seahorses are shy and live amongst ‘sea grasses’ under the sea? Find a green strip of fabric, slightly sparkly is good as this will ‘catch your baby’s eye’. Gently wave it over your baby as they lie in front of you. Encourage your baby to follow the streamer with their eyes or to reach out and ‘bat’ it with their arms. If your baby is older, make sure the lengths of ribbon/fabric are not too long and never leave your baby unsupervised with them as they are likely to explore them by putting them round their necks.
Coral Peek-a-boo! Stretch out your fingers to make spikey coral shapes and play a peek-a-boo game with your baby – hiding behind your hands. Your can also play ‘coral peek-a-boo’ by hiding behind your baby’s feet. Then encourage your baby to place their hands on your face to hide you! Pictures courtesy of womenworld.org, tinylove.com and whattoexpect.com.
Play 'Coral Peek-a-boo!'
Find a leafy twig and hide your face behind it to play a peek-a-boo game with your baby. Remember do not leave your baby alone with the twig as they are likely to mouth it and hence need to be supervised!
You can play all these peek-a-boo games with your baby in sitting if they prefer.
Why Seahorse Pose is Good for Both You and Your Baby
As you do Seahorse pose with your baby you will give them a chance to:
Stretch out their lower back muscles. As your baby rocks their knees from side to side in Seahorse pose they will gently stretch out their lower back muscles in preparation for rolling. From about 4 mths you may notice your baby twisting their body and rolling onto their side as they play on the floor by themselves – this is the start of being able to rotate their spine. If you are doing Seahorse pose yourself you will also be giving your back muscles a gentle stretch. Hence Seahorse pose is an ideal pose for you to do after a long day of lifting and carrying your baby. Activate and strengthen their deeper tummy muscles. As your baby takes their knees over to either side and then brings them back up to the middle, they will be working their right and left abdominal oblique muscles (these are deeper tummy muscles which run like seat belts diagonally across your baby’s tummy). Your baby will use these muscles as they learn to: roll, lie on their sides, push themselves up from side lying to crawl (at about 8 mths) and to move from side lying up to sitting (at about 10-12 mths). These muscles will provide your baby with critical stability throughout their life. Learn about rolling. At about 6 mths your baby may be able to roll over by themselves from their back to their front. Seahorse pose is a gentle way to introduce the idea of rolling 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.
