By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
Tatty Bumpkin's Yoga activity for this week is SNAKE.
In this blog I will:
- Give reasons why the week's Tatty Bumpkin Yoga activity is beneficial for your child or toddler
- Describe how to do the activity with your child or toddler
- Give ideas on how to progress the activity along with games you can play around the activity.
However for your child to gain the full benefit of all the Tatty Bumpkin Yoga and multi-sensory activities:
Or, ask your child’s nursery or school 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.
And..if 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
The Benefits of Tatty Bumpkin’s Snake Yoga Activity for Your Child or Toddler
The Tatty Bumpkin Snake Yoga activity encourages your child/toddler to move on their tummy and.... tummy time is not just for babies! As your child does Snake Yoga activity they will be:
1. Strengthening their core muscles i.e. their shoulder, back, tummy and hip muscles
Strength and activity in these muscles groups will help your child to:
- Automatically sit comfortably on a chair - without having to think too hard. They can then pay more attention to cognitive tasks such as listening to instructions or coming up with new ideas.
- Look up at the white board and then down at their paper easily to copy things down or understand new ideas.
- Hold a pen or pencil comfortably and accurately.
2. Stretching out their back and hip muscles
Snake Yoga activity is great to do following a long car journey!
3. Improving their concentration skills
Your child will be stimulating and organising many senses as they do Tatty Bumpkin Snake Yoga activity i.e. Their,
- Visual sense – as they look at the Tatty Bumpkin props, each other or you!
- Hearing sense – as they wriggle and ‘hiss’ as snakes along to the Tatty Bumpkin Snake song. This can be downloaded from iTunes for 79p see http://bit.ly/1ogqNke if you are doing Snake yoga activity at home.
- Proprioceptive sense – as they use their muscles, and bend and straighten their joints, whilst moving across the floor.
Sensory organisation, amongst other things, helps your child to 'filter out' unwanted sensations which may be distracting and hence disrupt their concentration. For example, your toddler or child will be able to concentrate better at their nursery/school if they can ‘filter out’ distracting noises or the bright lighting.
4. Refining their co-ordination skills
Young children need practice to move their right and left sides in and smooth alternating way. Once they have mastered this skill they will find other, more complex, activities easier to do - such as using a knife and fork, dressing and using a pen or pencil.
You may find that your child is able to move their right and left arms – but they are unable to move their arms and their legs together in this way. Younger children will often only use their arms to wriggle along in snake pose. If this is the case, encourage your child to use their legs as well – so they are ‘commando crawling’ across the floor.
5. Developing their fine motor skills
As your child puts weight through their hands they will be stretching and strengthening their delicate hand muscles.
6. Improving their social skills
If your child does Snake Yoga activity as part of a group they will become aware of others and their needs e.g. giving others enough room to move or maybe encouraging the quieter children to come and wriggle with them.
Description of Snake Pose for Children and Toddlers
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| Hissing snakes!! |
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| Wriggle together! |
- Encourage your toddler or child to lie down on their tummy on a mat or soft floor area. Ideally do the activity with your child as:
- Children under 3 years, largely learn new movements by copying the actions.
- Research is showing that toddlers and young 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 activity with your child you give your own body a chance to move and stretch!
However, be careful if you know you have back issues. Do not do Snake Yoga activity for too long and, after you have done the activity, always curl up the other way to ease your back.
- Guide your child to bend their elbows so their forearms are on the floor.
- Then encourage them to wriggle forwards by moving both their arms and legs
Progressions for Snake Yoga Activity
1. Guide your child to bend their knees and wave their lower legs from side to side in the air, like a ‘rattlesnake!’
As they do this your child will:
- Use their tummy muscles more
- Be crossing the 'midline' of thier body - a key co-ordoantion skill.
2. See if you and your child can wriggle backwards as snakes - or maybe sideways!
Games to Play with Snake Yoga Activity
Older children may enjoy the challenge of wriggling as snake round a ‘jungle obstacle course’ picking up objects on the way. Make the course by putting a few chairs or a low table in your 'wriggling area'. Then encourage your child to wriggle around and underneath them.
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Love Tatty Bumpkin x