Stretching to music

Put some gentle music on (Bach’s ‘The well-tempered clavier’ is a lovely piece of music) and start by warming up with stretches. Model the moves and give them a purpose, starting from the toes and ending up with the head. 

Some ideas are ‘We are stretching our legs like a giraffe’ or ‘We are tickling the sky with our fingers’ and ‘We are wiggling our bottom like jelly.’

When you are nicely warmed up, and if your child is still interested, change the music to a faster rhythm (Rodrigo y Gabriela’s Tamacun is extremely awakening) and start modelling different movements. You can start by crunching up like a seed and grow slower into a tree. Add the idea of the wind to move side to side. If your child is not yet mobile, you can do similar movements on the floor by lying on your back or tummy.