By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
In this blog I focus on our weekly Tatty Bumpkin ‘Yoga Activity’, giving a description on how to do the pose or activity with your child and describing some of it's benefits. If you wish to find out how to do Peacock Pose with your baby – wait for the ‘Mid-week Baby Bumpkin Blog!’
Please remember though, for your child to gain the full benefit of all the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga and multisensory 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 using the Tatty Bumpkin Kid’s Yoga Activity Programme. Our qualified Tatty Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in child development and children’s Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians.
Or, maybe, you are thinking of a new career, which gives you:
The Tatty Bumpkin Multisensory Yoga Adventure This Week ..
This week the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga Activity is ‘PEACOCK’. A great pose to help your child strengthen their tummy muscles and prevent their hamstring muscles from tightening – see ‘Why it is Good for Me’ section below.
On this adventure Tatty Bumpkin finds herself in the Rainforest .. the trees are tall with thick leafy branches and the air is hot and steamy…
As Tatty Bumpkin wipes her brow she listens to the chattering monkeys and hissing snakes … then a really strange, squawking sound fills the air – and a little Peacock flies into the clearing.
Poor Peacock! He tells Tatty Bumpkin he is very shy about his squawky voice – why can’t he sing like a nightingale?
Tatty Bumpkin has a think (she is good at that). Maybe Peacock ought to focus on the things he likes about himself and realise that those things he does not like so much are sometimes really useful..
Because each Tatty Bumpkin adventure is carefully linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) the sessions not only enhance your child’s physical skills they also develop your child’s communication, social and thinking skills.
In this week’s story your child will have the chance to:
1. Strengthen their tummy muscles and prevent their hamstring muscles from tightening as they do Peacock pose.
2. Develop their co-ordination and spatial awareness as they make different shapes in Snake pose. 3. Use gestures or words to express their thoughts:
Feeling ‘hot’ with Tatty Bumpkin in the Rainforest
Being ‘caring’ with Tatty Bumpkin towards Peacock
Feeling ‘more confident’ with shy Peacock as he realise he has a magnificent tail!
4. Come up with their own ideas and feel confident to talk about them i.e.
Wondering which creature could make such a squawking noise?
Deciding which shape to wriggle their body into whilst doing Snake pose?
5. Become more aware of their breathing as they blow the peacock’s feather. 6. Learn to dance to a rhythm as they move to the Tatty Bumpkin Monkey, Snake or Frog songs. 7. Build their confidence as they think about 'what is great about themselves' to Tatty Bumpkin Peacock song. 8. 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!
Peacock Pose
Raise your tail above your head...
....Then open your tail out wide!
Description of Pose
There are a number of very good reasons for doing the poses/activities with your child:
Younger children, those under 3-4 years, largely learn new movements by copying the actions.
Research is now showing that children bond with their parents and ‘key people’, not only through touch and by communicating with them but also, by moving with them.
As you do the pose/ activity with your child you give your own body a chance to move and stretch!
Peacock Pose 1
Lie on your back, keeping your feet flat on the floor, bend up your knees so they are pointing straight up in the air.
Allow your knees to fall out to the side a little way then bring them back to the middle – just like a peacock opening and closing his tail.
Now encourage your child to copy you and do Peacock pose!
Aid your young child to focus and develop their early communication skills by saying ‘1, 2, 3, open!’, then ‘1, 2,3 close!’ as you do the actions.
Repeat the pose several times so you child benefits from the movement and gains confidence.
Want to make it harder? Peacock Pose 2
Lie on your back as before.
This time tighten your tummy muscles and try to keep your back on the floor while you lift your feet up into the air above your chest. To protect your back, keep your knees bent as you lift your feet off the floor.
When your feet are in the air gently straighten your knees as much as you can
Then slowly take your feet a little way out to each side and once again bring them back to the middle.
Encourage your child to copy you, and repeat the pose a few times.
Encourage your child to think about how the peacock’s tail looks very dull when it is closed but is amazingly beautiful when it is open. Help your child to think about something special about themselves.
Other Games to Play Around Peacock Pose
Peacock Feather Games
Remember, for safety reasons, if your child is younger;
Do not let them play with the feather on their own as they may want to put it in their mouth to explore it!
It is wise to wrap tape round the bottom of the feather shaft so that it is not so sharp.
Preening Peacocks
Children find feathers really enchanting and are keen to explore them.
Encourage your child to investigate a range of feathers of different shapes and sizes to help them develop their fine motor (hand) and eye-hand co-ordination skills.
As your child looks at and feels their feather guide them to describe their feather to you i.e. is it soft, smooth, brown, white etc.?
Not only looking at a peacock's feather but also wearing a peacock dress!
Blowing Feathers
Encourage your child to take bigger breaths to blow their feathers up into the air and then catch them.
As your child takes bigger, slower breaths their heart rate will automatically slow and this will help them to calm themselves.
Catching feathers is a great activity to help your child develop their eye-hand coordination for ball games such as tennis.
Why Peacock Pose is Good for Your Child
Peacock pose will give your child the opportunity to:
Stretch and strengthen their hip muscles As your child gently takes their knees out to either side and back to the middle they are stretching and strengthening the muscles around their hips
Stretch their hamstring muscles If your child does the more advanced Peacock pose with their knees straight they will also be stretching their hamstring muscles. These are the muscles at the back of the thigh & often get tight if children are growing quickly and sitting for long periods. Tight hamstring muscles could cause your child to sit poorly as they may have a tendency to ‘scoot’ their bottom forwards when they are sitting in a chair to relieve the ‘tightness’
Activate their tummy muscles As your child raises their legs above their chest and takes them down a little way to their sides, they will be using their tummy muscles
Increase their awareness of their ‘midline’ In Peacock pose your child will be taking their legs away and then towards the midline of their bodies. Awareness of their midline will help your child build up their ‘body map’ or picture of how their limbs & body work together. A good body map is really helpful for more complex skills
Develop their imagination and self-confidence As your child does Peacock pose, firstly encourage them to think about the colour of their beautiful feathers. Then encourage them to think about something about themselves they like, something as beautiful as a peacock’s tail. Remember it may be something that most people do not see. Do they like their clever fingers, their wavy hair, their smile, their eyes, their jumpy legs or their kindness to their friends?
