Day 6 Extending 2 Looking up
Many children lookup by using the eyes and neck. This lesson is about teaching them to involve hips and spine in the movement as well.
Even if your child cannot sit by himself, this lesson will help to get the spine more flexible in an extension and distribute the movement over more vertebrae.
You can use an object moving slowly up and down to initiate the movement.
You can adapt the sitting position of the child by putting some books or a small box under it. Adapt it to a height that is comfortable for you.
Place the head of the child on its crossed arms or in any way the movement of the neck is constricted.
Gently move your own body like in the first video.
Look for the easiest way up - it does not always have to be in the middle. Then turn a little bit, and try it in another position.
While doing this think about:
- movement in the hips
- moving as many parts of the spine as possible
- moving gently - the main problem with extension for most kids is not getting the back muscles to work - it is about relaxing the musculature of the front of the body. This means we have to go soft.
- As always, you can add sounds to the movement: going up and down with your voice as well. This makes it easier for the child to understand the duration and direction of the movement.