By Sue Heron – Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist This week most Tatty Bumpkin sessions have been, or will be doing, 'Boat' pose as part of their Yoga inspired adventure. Tatty Bumpkin rows across the seas to explore an island of statues....
Boat Pose - Older Children
Row back and forth with your friend!
Boat Pose for Older Children
Find a clear place on a non-slip surface e.g. mat or carpet. Sit down opposite your child -or your child can do the pose with a sibling or friend.
Take off socks and shoes and stretch your legs out in front so you can get close to each other.
Hold each other’s wrists - this is more comforting than griping hands.
Rock gently backwards and forwards. Encourage your child to work with you, waiting their turn. As your child pulls you forward, give them a little resistance so they have to 'work hard' - this stimulates their proprioceptive sense (see below). You or your child might feel a tightness at the back of your legs as you stretch your hamstring muscles.
Keep the rhythm fairly slow and steady. You can sing 'Row, row the boat' to help you keep in time.
Want to Make it Harder?
As the waves get bigger ... sway side to side as well as back and forth. Talk about different boat shapes or the creatures you might see in the waves.
The waves are getting bigger!
Take a Canoe!
Older children may prefer to go 'canoeing' by themselves.
Guide you child to sit up straight with their legs out in front. Encourage them to reach forward and grasp one foot with both hands. Show them how they can wrap one hand round the top of their foot and the other round their heel so the sole of their foot faces inwards.
To 'row' your child needs to gently bring their foot towards their body and then move it away. It is important that they don't take their foot across their outstretched leg as this can cause unwanted strain.
Go exploring in your own canoe..
Why Boat pose is ‘Good For Me’ - Older Children
As your child does boat pose they will have the opportunity to:
Develop their social and communication skills - whilst they are moving and playing with their friends or you!
Refine their sitting posture. The rocking action of boat pose promotes sitting balance and provides your child with a gentle hamstring stretch. In addition your child’s core muscles (their abdominal, spinal, shoulder and pelvic) muscles, will be activated.
Stimulate their ‘movement senses’ and manage their ‘level of alertness’ for learning. Your child's 'movement senses' - their proprioceptive and vestibular senses - will be stimulated as they rock back and forth in boat pose. Both of these senses have a significant impact on alertness levels. Proprioceptive 'rich' activities (pushing, pulling, lifting and squeezing) tend to help a child to feel more organised and grounded. The pulling movements of boat pose stimulate this sense. Movement of the head stimulates the vestibular sense. This sense directly effects ‘levels of alertness’ - it's the volume control for the body! Slow, rocking head movements tend to be soothing and organising whilst up and down and spinning head movements are intensely alerting. So Boat pose, if done rhythmically and fairly slowly and not for too long, can gradually raise your child’s ‘levels of alertness’, in an organising way. This makes the pose an excellent activity for your child to do as a ‘movement break’ if they need to increase their levels of concentration for a difficult, abstract task i.e. writing or maths. Remember not for too long, 1 minute is probably enough!
Description of Boat pose – Younger Children and Toddlers
Option 1
Option 1 - Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with your toddler. Stretch your legs out in front of you and either gently sit your toddler on your thighs facing you, or invite them to sit in between your legs (see picture above). Remember to keep smiling and talking! Holding their forearms and wrists, gently rock forwards and backwards with your toddler – like a boat on the waves. After two or three rocks, if your toddler is happy, try rocking a little faster and sing the ‘Row, row your boat’ song.
Option 2
Option 2 - This is a fun adaptation to do with another adult or as part of a group as your toddler can look at other people. Find a comfortable place to sit on the floor with space in front of you. Stretch your legs out in front and place your toddler on your thighs facing away from you, supporting them with your hands around their hips. Shuffle forwards on your bottom, gently rocking your toddler from side to side as you go. After you have moved forward a little way - shuffle backwards. Once again sing the ‘Row, row, row your boat’ song as you do the movements. If your toddler is enjoying the game, make the rocking movements bigger so they are challenged to keep their balance on your lap. Your toddler will enjoy the movement of their body against gravity, but do keep checking to make sure that they are not starting to feel anxious. When doing either of the above poses, with your toddler remember not to do the more vigorous rocking movements for too long as this can overstimulate them and cause them anxiety.
‘Why Boat Pose is Good for Your Toddler’
As you do boat/rowing pose with your toddler you will give them a chance to:
Refine their ‘postural control’ in sitting - a foundation skill for sitting at a desk.From about 3 months your toddler will have been be relying less and less on their baby reflexes. Instead they will be developing their postural control mechanism- learning how to move and control their body in space. If your baby/toddler is about 8 months or older you may notice they are starting to consistently put their arms down to either side to ‘save’ themselves when they feel they are losing their balance in sitting. This saving action is a mature ‘postural reaction’ which we all use to keep ourselves safe throughout our lives. As you do this activity with your toddler try gently tipping them to either side to see if they are starting to put their arm out on that side to keep their balance. Remember always do this slowly and carefully-you do not want to make them anxious! (Image courtesy of safehandsbabysitters.com)
For example: Babies will put their left hand down to 'save' themselves as they tip to the left
Activate their tummy and spinal muscles in a coordinated way. As your toddler gently rocks back and forth with you in boat pose they will be activating and strengthening their tummy and back muscles. These muscle groups have to work together for activities such and sitting, standing, walking etc.
Organise their sensations and movements. The vestibular sense tells us where our body is in relation to gravity and whether we are moving or still, the receptors for this sense are in our inner ears (see above). This sense begins to function in the womb, at about 5 months after conception, and is well developed at birth. As your toddler starts to toddle their vestibular sense begins to play a bigger role. Helping the young brain to sort out and combine the huge variety of sensations, and underpinning their early control of posture, balance and movement. We cannot see this sensory organisation happening - but your toddler may naturally seek out spinning or rocking experiences - spinning round and round or wanting to play on the swings over and over. These vestibular sensations help your toddler to feel happy and 'more organised'. The trick is not to let your toddler carry on for too long - as it can 'end in tears' as they become over-stimulated.
Make it Multi-Sensory, Educational & Fun
In Tatty Bumpkin classes we use unique storylines to make activities and poses 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 weekly Tatty Bumpkin adventure to the 2014 Early Years Foundation Stage (England) and the Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland).
So … The Adventure This Week ..
Your child will have the opportunity to: 1. Develop their social skills as they do boat pose with their friends
2. Come up with their own ideas to help Tatty Bumpkin build a boat
3. Use gestures or words to express their feelings. Feeling:
‘Excited’ as they set sail on the open seas
‘Happy’ when they meet their friend the octopus
Perhaps a little ‘worried’ as they set off to explore the island
‘Surprised’ and ‘curious’ as they meet the statues.
4. Develop their sense of rhythm as they wave their arms and legs to the Tatty Bumpkin Octopus song
5. Calm themselves and become more aware of their breathing as they stand ‘still as statues’
6. Develop their fine motor skills as they explore the statues
7. Have fun with their friends: rowing across the ocean, dancing with the octopus and meeting and exploring the statues.
