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Tatty Bumpkin™ and the classes were born out of yoga and fun. Based loosely on yoga postures, the world of Tatty Bumpkin is suitable for any child from about 18 months to 5 years. The classes encourage your child to explore their physicality, expand their confidence and excite their minds. The sessions are designed for you to join in so you get a good stretch too.
The sessions are great for children on many levels (the physical side of the sessions, music, storytelling etc) as well as great fun. They start with a warm up song, 'Bendy, Giggly, Clever and Strong' (music developed by educational musicians), then a specially adapted 'Salutation to the Sun' which uses rhyme to aid memory then we go on a magical adventure through the Giggle Tree, meeting animals, helicopters, sausage rolls and more!
The sessions use yoga poses, props, puppets and games throughout the adventure, a relaxation to music at the end helps the children assimilate the session and then it finishes with specially designed animal stickers. The stories have a strong theme which often deal (subtly!) with issues pertinent to children in a fun way. The Tatty Bumpkin bendy doll (voted no. 1 eco-toy by The Independent) is used to help children with the poses and the classes are carefully structured to give alternative postures for you and younger children - so everyone can have a go! It makes for a great class and parents say they often find their child in the snake pose in the bath or roaring like a lion in their bedroom!
Physical Benefits
- provide you and your child with stimulation and physical exercise, engaging your child and aiding energy levels, contentment and sleep
- exercises within the sessions help maintain natural flexibility, works on core stability & muscle tone & help reduce obesity. Also helps balance and co-ordination as well as brain development??
- calms the nervous system and raises endorphin levels helping children to deal with stress
- breathing exercises aid concentration and the relaxation helps to clear the mind
- The classes will provide you with skills and techniques to use outside the class
- All your child's bodily systems are stimulated
Psychological & Emotional Benefits
- Helps you and your child communicate as you do the session together
- Helps your child to interact with others and play actively
- Songs and animals stimulate your child's vocabulary and speech
- Closing relaxation encourages an inner calm
- Helps to develop creativity, confidence and imagination in a non-competitive environment.
- Helps children deal with difficulties
Why Tatty Bumpkin is different:
- the company has a very strong ethical stance: winning a Social enterprise award for its impact on parents, children, the community and the fair-trade co-operative in Sri Lanka from which the dolls and yoga mats are sourced. There are training bursaries available to encourage those on low incomes to train to teach and the Tatty Bumpkin clothing range is certified organic.
- parents encouraged to join in which helps the child to get the most from the sessions and something great they can share and younger siblings are also welcomed (who love it!).
- games & props help them to learn including breathing, using props like feathers, physiotherapy balls, bubbles, soft balls to practise catching etc.
- as the sessions are based on yoga rather than actually a yoga session they can include singing, games as well as bringing in things of interest to add to the story (e.g. vegetables at harvest time to weave into a farmyard story) which helps the educational content. There is scope within the session for free play and creativity.
- educational - room to explore themes, do counting games, incorporate facts about e.g. animals (the sessions fit all the government's Foundation Stage targets).
- multi sensory - the classes are designed to use movement, music, language & story as well as using visual props to help learning across a wide range of ages.
- the emphasis on story helps language development and can incorporate pertinent themes.
- ideally suited for children with learning disabilities or special needs.
- unusually, suits a wide range of ages within the same session and actually works well as the older ones help the younger ones who are keen to keep up with them.
- educational music has been developed to aid learning & we often incorporate dancing too.
- games such as catching, sharing turns on props etc aid social development.
- last but not least, the sessions are great fun, the kids will often be found around the house/tent in the lion pose or singing the spider song.
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