Children Inspired by Yoga with Tatty Bumpkin - Tunbridge Wells

03/12/2025

Urgent notice from South East Water - please share as widely as possible...

02/12/2025

What a week already, and it's only Tuesday!
For us here in Tunbridge Wells we've been without water since Saturday. Such a basic commodity that we absolutely take for granted.
At first we seemed to be managing well - we'd collected some bottled water, we changed what we were eating to reduce the water requirements, we were able to wash and brush teeth with the provided water, but it's the toilet flushing that's a killer! All whilst outside, the rain is continuing to fall.... We're now collecting buckets of rainwater to flush toilets as it feels so wasteful using bottled water.
'Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink' comes to mind!
We've certainly become more grateful for the little things that we completely take for granted...
Thankfully for us, the water has returned - but we feel for the ones who are still waiting - especially those with small babies/children or smelly teenagers! Hopefully not too much longer now 🤞
How's everyone faring?

28/11/2025

Pose of the Week - Orange Term Week 4 => 🛶BOAT🛶

This week we have been off exploring with Dog, being creative after finding some bits on the beach with which to make a Boat.
We worked together in pairs to row our boat across the seas.
We had to navigate past the wiggly, giggly Octopus - we gave them a tickle on the way past!
We bravely explored a desert island, finding lots of stone statues of some very random animals!

In Boat pose we:
🛶had fun with our friends and sang together
🛶worked to strengthen our tummy muscles
🛶improved our balance whilst sitting

21/11/2025

Pose of the Week - Orange Term Week 3 => 🦋BUTTERFLY🦋

This week we have been looking at different people's feelings and emotions, talking about how events and other people's actions can affect how we feel.
We decided that the calming movements of butterflies can help us all feel better and more in control of our emotions

In Butterfly pose, we:
🦋improved our balance in sitting, flapping our leg wings out to the side
🦋sat up straight to improve our posture
🦋blew floaty butterflies, which encouraged us to take big, deep breaths, helping us to calm
🦋developed our hand-eye co-ordination by balancing our butterflies on the back of our hand before blowing them to make them fly

14/11/2025

Pose of the Week - Orange Term Week 2 => 🐈‍⬛CAT🐈‍⬛

This week, Tatty Bumpkin has been off visiting to find out what jobs people do, and we squeezed so many developmental areas into the sessions:
When driving the big red bus, we sang 'the wheels on the bus' prompting memory skills and vocabulary, walked on our bottoms requiring concentration, co-ordination and core muscles and glutes.
When helping the farmer prepare his field for sowing seeds, we rolled over and over, which, whilst being great fun is also a complex movement skill, strengthening gross motor skills and promoting bilateral co-ordination between different parts of the body working together. The vestibular sense and inner ear balance are stimulated while aiding sensory motor integration that allows children to perform actions instinctively.
To learn more about the importance of babies and children rolling, and how it can affect their future development both physically and cognitively, see this article: https://parentingall.com/rolling-important-developmental-milestone/ #:~:text=This%20significant%20milestone%20stimulates%20the%20vestibular%20system%20and,between%20different%20parts%20of%20the%20body%20working%20together

On our adventure, we met Tatty Bumpkin's friend CAT, but she dreamed of having adventures instead of actually having them. In CAT pose we:
🐈‍⬛ stretched our back and strengthened our core muscles in Cat pose
🐈‍⬛ worked on balance as we waved our paws in Cat pose
🐈‍⬛ concentrated on actions using both sides of the body, by waving our paw and tail simultaneously

13/11/2025

Today is WORLD KINDNESS DAY

Is there just one little thing you could do today to bring some sunshine to someone?
Even just sharing a smile! 😊


credit: Charlie Mackesy Instagram

11/11/2025

09/11/2025

08/11/2025

Next week is World Nursery Rhyme Week 10th-14th November...

Our classes always include rhymes and repetition - but why is it so important for baby's and children's development?

> supporting language and speech development - repeating vocabulary helps to reinforce context and understanding (even if it feels like a never-ending earworm to us!)
> aids early literacy - by teaching children to recognise and identify sounds (sound discrimination) and change them (manipulation) - think Old MacDonald...
> early maths - evidence suggests we can improve children's mathematical development by practicing and repeating mathematical sequencing - think 5 Little Monkeys, bouncing on the bed...
> supporting self-regulation - rhymes which change slightly with each verse helps children develop their working memory, remembering to change each with each verse whilst remembering what they've just sung - think Tommy Thumb...
> more self-regulation - by singing songs with physical actions, children join in with a group and keep together by copying actions - think Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes...
> help build positive relationships with adults and children - by taking turns to choose the next verse, children have a sense of belonging and feeling respected

If you'd like us to visit your child's nursery or preschool, please get in touch

07/11/2025

Pose of the Week - Orange Term - Week 1 => 🦉 OWL 🦉

This week we have been helping to teach the baby owls how to fly. We've
🦉practiced our balancing, walking along a thin branch
🦉 strengthened our leg muscles by bending an jumping
🦉 activated our shoulder muscles and joints by flapping our wings
🦉 learnt that we need to practice new skills and keep trying again when things don't go right the first time

28/04/2025

Pose of the Week: 🐘ELEPHANT🐘

This week we are back in the jungle at the animal circus having fun with lots of animals, but specifically focussing on ELEPHANT as they sq**rt water at each other and work together to make an ELEPHANT train.
This pose is great for:
🐘stretching the arms, back and leg muscles
🐘developing hand-eye coordination
🐘develops social skills by working together to create a train

See more information on the benefits of ELEPHANT pose here: https://childreninspiredbyyoga.com/blog/2018/04/yoga-posture-elephant-pose/