7 Acro-Yoga Exercises for Parents and Children, ages 3y to 12y (or more)

In this post Sharon hosts Sarit, who is an Ashtanga instructor from Kiryat Shmona, and together we want to introduce you to Acro-Yoga (light) for parents and children.

Parents-children Acro-Yoga strengthens the parental connection, builds trust, builds confidence, improves self-esteem and generally speaking broadens the heart.
We recommend that you perform the exercises when another adult is around to stand on guard and prevent injuries. The exercises are performed slowly and while maintaining balance and attention of the child.
2 basic terms are: a. base – whoever lifts the other (in this case the parent) and b. flyer – the person being lifted up and balancing on the base (in this case, the child).

1.  "Airplane" – parent as base, child as flyer.
The parent lie on the ground, lifting his legs with a mild spread of the hips, while the child "free-falls" on the parents legs and shifts all his body-weight to it. The parent then stretched its legs at a 90° angle, while the child spreads his hands to both sides while maintaining balance.

2. "Bat" – from the airplane position the child will move the weight of his upper body downwards with the parent supporting him by the back, while the parent legs are still in a 90° angle to the ground in order to maintain balance. Later on the parent can fold his legs if it's comfortable (in our case the height differences were too big).



3. "Bridge" – the parent is base, the child is a flyer.
The parent places his legs around the upper buttocks (where they meet the back) with a mild spread against the waist, while the child leans backwards when he is supported around the shoulder by the parent. The parent stretched his legs, and the child can hold the parent ankles, and with the help of another adult roll up towards the parent head and all the way to standing up.

4. "Bridge on the ground" - the parent stand with his legs spread above the child's head. The child holds his hands against the parent's ankles while his buttocks leans outside. While lifting the pelvis and placing the head on the ground the parent helps the child by holding his pelvis until a full bridge is formed.

Games to Practice Patience, Restraint, Coping with Frustration and Error

Playing games can teach us many skills, both formally and informally. In this post I will be presenting you with 2 easy games that work on:

1. Social cooperation
2. Developing patience and restraint
3. Memory
4. Responsiveness speed
5. Requires the ability to continue and play though we were mistaken or defeated
6. Making connections to other topics and creating a casual learning of important topics by playing other games, such as: colors, numbers, letters, word patterns, connections etc.

What's in the Hoop?
You place 2 hoops on the ground, and place 4-5 identical objects in each of them. You call out the name of one of the objects. The first child that grabs this object from their hoop and run to you is the winner. You can exercise colors, numbers, pictures of different categories etc.

What's hiding underneath…(game of speed and luck)
Place a handkerchief or a box at some distance from the children.
Show them two objects and hide one of them when they don't notice. The children need to run, and the first who reached the spot gets to be the first to guess. If they were right, they receive the hidden object or a hug. If guessed wrong, the turn goes to the other.
The advantage of this is luck and speed, so it has no connection to knowledge, only guessing.

You are invited to look at our post that deals with how to teach restraint (and off course consult with us on it).


Togi app

All the responsibility is on the parent and/ or educator. 

 All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer ©

Playing catch and self esteem

Playing catch with a ball demand motor skills:

1. eye hand coordination.
2. power adjustment.
3. catching with hands/ legs/ accessories.
4. coordination (basic or complex).

social skills:
1. willingness to play with others.
2. sharing
3. plying with friend/ friends

emotional skills:
1. diligence.
2. don't being frustrated.
3. self confidence.

Children who succeed catching and throwing a ball are exited and full of pride, while playing football or catching. the excitement is most highly to toddlers (up to 4-5 years old), but recognized in any new game, with special balls, and after sequence of no success, if happened.

The skill of catching and throwing is building gradually from very young age while rolling ball to a baby and improving the eye- tracking, the eye- hand motor, touching the ball and eventually rolling it back.
The ability to catch and throw different sized balls in games and real life, and being afraid of "not catching" might cause anxiety. we wrote is another post on gender equality and it's connection to motor skills- those are important once.

Here are five catching games that work on all the skills and increasing self esteem :)

1. Rolling balls at different sizes from one to another-
   start with big ball (to toddlers) and change the sizes.
   you can play with two balls- roll two with both hands, or roll in the same time.

2. Playing catch (soft ball in the beginning)- slowly increasing the space between and players.
   you can also play standing on one led (from age 5), in movement (from age 4).

3. Kicking- great for power adjustment, from age 2-2.5.
4. Throwing a ball while catching it with an object/ tool-
   using box, basket, bag or etc.
   It is a fun game that improves eye- hand coordination and movement planning.
5. Touch and throw, with no catching- you can play with balloons, balls, beans bags (above 6 you can use a hoop).
   The aim it to leave the ball/ balloon in the air.
   you can count up to 10/21/30 with no falls.
   The game demand high precision.

* You can challenge the children - standing on a firm bench or togo.

Enjoy :)

- Remember to fit the difficulty levels to the age and abilities of the children.
- you can play all the games also in groups.

   
Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or ourYoutube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay


All the responsibility is on the parent and/ or educator.

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

TOGI With Balloons Coloring page, Download, Print, Color, Share :)

TOGI  With Balloons - Coloring page

TOGI Jpeg A4

Download
Print
Color
Share :)
Download A3 PDF file from our Google Drive.
ENJOY :)

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Air balloons games

We are happy to introduce you to a game with 8 difficulties levels.

Balloons are accessible, cheap, light weighted and fun. Even adults enjoy playing with balloons (soap bubbles, for example).

I always keep balloons at home and in the stroller. I also keep them in my classroom, because they are perfect for playing with my pupils when we need a break, when I want to raise their energy, and when I want to exercise specific materials, or just for fun in the middle of day.

Age The games are suitable to all ages, starting from the moment toddlers can walk, given each age and developing stage it's own adjustments.

Remember, the aim is fun with added value of:

1. Eye-hand coordination.
2. Response speed.
3. Coordination.
4. In some stages we also work on collaboration and understanding instructions.

Participants The games can fit to parent-s and one child or more, and up to a teacher with a class.

Time from 5 to 20 minutes.

Accessories balloons.

Aim The balloon must stay in the air J

Difficulty levels:

1. Everyone keeps their balloon in the air; they can do it with the help of different body parts. Everyone keeps their balloon in the air but only with one body part- only hands/knees/shoulders/feet etc. The instructor or the players can determine which one body part to use and then change it after a few minutes.Playing catch with the entire group with 1 balloon- up to 21 catches.
2. Playing catch with the entire group with an identical number of balloons as number of the players.
3. Playing catch with several balloons, while every player can touch a balloon only once.
4. Every player has his / hers own area, balloons shouldn’t fall there. If a balloon falls the player is disqualified.
5. Group game- the last one who touched a balloon and didn't keep it in the air is disqualified.
6. Free play J

 Short video about Air balloons games in Togi youtube channel:

ENJOY :)

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay
Or visit our Indiegogo Campaign for contributions.
:)

written by Sharon Ramon

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Stretches are the muscles meditation

Most of us spend most of the day sitting down; in the office, in meetings, in classrooms and in our car. One of my dreams is that all educators will hold a stretch time and/ game time at least once a day. Until then, we would like to suggest you with some stretch exercises that we recommend to do with your kids, for four critical areas in your body.

Flexibility and range of motion are two parameters which greatly influence our ability to move, help preventing injuries, influences our everyday activities and our posture.
We chose to focus on those areas:

1. Shoulder belt and the upper back.
2. Lower back and hamstrings (back of the hip).
3. Feet.
4. Joints.

You can do all of the stretches alone, but we recommend that you turn it into a family activity - shared implementation gives motivation, collaboration, closeness and new ideas. You can help others in their stretches, but do it gently and with their approval.
We recommend that you exercise 2-3 times a week, 4-5 stretches every time.

* It is imperative to keep still in each posture for 10 sec. minimum.

1. Shoulder belt and the upper back

In this stretches you need to feel the work in your upper back, the area between the shoulders and the center of the back. The more you will curve your back, your buttocks and belly will also workout.
For six revisions- convex and arch your back (A)
Bring your knee toward the chest (B)

Send your hand up and far back while arching your back (A). If done correctly, you will also feel the stretch in the side of your and ribs (B).

Sit straight, and slowly move your chin back and forth. Don't force your chin to touch your chest if it's not comfortable. In this stretch we work on our upper back and the back of the neck.

2. Lower back and hamstrings (back of the hip)

The next stretches work on the area which tends to shortens and stress due to prolong sitting, too many power exercised at the gym and too little flexibility exercises. During the following exercises you will feel your buttocks, back-thigh and lower back. It is important to remember that stretching is not supposed to hurt us! If you are experiencing an uncomfortable pain – stop and rest.

Stand-up straight and then bend and stretch your hands to the floor, stay still in the most remote point you can for a few seconds.

For six revisions-  Lift your pelvis up, keep your heels on the ground and chest headed to the floor. Then lift one leg, and then the other. You can see that the back is a bit arched. You need to aspire to slowly straighten it as straight as possible.

Sit on the floor with straight legs, and then pull your feet with a towel.

Sit in a cross-legged position while sending your hands as far as you can, while making sure that your pelvis stay on the floor and does not lift up.

3. Feet

We stand on our feet most of the day, they are wrapped in shoes and they are our connections to the ground; let's give them some respect.

Open and close your fingers.

Open and close your feet.

Stand on your toes, and walk on your toes.

4. Joint

We have many joints, and we must keep working on our range of motion since it decreases on a yearly basis (starting from adolescence)

Spin them.

Open them to various sides (carefully and gently).

Twisting games.


Do all the stretches calmly, with no pressure or over stretching. Remember that the main purpose is quality time with benefits.

Remember that we are stretching our muscles and some of our tendons a bit outside our comfort zone, but don't hurt yourselves!

Enjoy.



! All the exercises in this film are professional recommendations.  However, the implementations are under  parents and/ or educators responsibility.
* If you see no improvement, or have multiple challenges consult a professional.

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Music, body and soul

Music is one of the few common elements to all the cultures in the world, whether it is a cultural  characteristic or a connector between different languages or worlds. Music is an element that can trigger a huge variety of emotions: joy, enthusiasm, calmness, sadness, fright, pleasantness or unpleasantness etc.

Music can help us to connect to ourselves, to our body, which is the most effective tool for movement, achievement and expression of emotions. We sometimes forget this simple fact in our hectic life's packed with cognitive thinking, lots of sitting down and multiple electronic screens.

We will suggest you with some musical games you can play with your children. While playing them you will get familiar with your children emotional world, and will introduce them with your favorite music. You might even learn what sort of music they like. You might feel a bit awkward at start, but we are certain that all awkwardness will disappear once you start, and joy will take it's place.

All the games can develop to various directions, depends on where you will steer them. They all work on movement, coordination and rhythm. If you will dance a lot, your heart will also thank you :)

1. Teach the children the steps to one of your old favorites. For example:

2. Invent new steps with the children to favorite song - whether it is their favorite or yours.

3. Drum on your body and on improvised drums with a beat song

4. Choose a song/music that has a repetitive theme in it - tango, waltz, lambada or others. Ask the children to try and trace the repetitiveness in it, and try and dance the actual steps, or just invent new ones and repeat them - once to the left and once to the right.
How to dance Tango:

Tango Example:

How to dance - The Waltz:

Waltz music:

5. Play music and dance/jump freely to the sounds of it. stop the music every 30 seconds. when the music stops everybody needs to freeze in a funny position/statue/animal-like etc.

6. Introduce the children with your favorite songs. Step in the room to the sounds of the music, talk about it. Talk about the performing artist, about the feelings this songs brings to you, when did you first hear it, etc.
My favorite song:

7. Try and learn to listen to new kinds of music. Play a western country song and dance like in the wild west or square dancing. Play some Indian music and try some Indian moves....

8. Hold handkerchiefs in your hands and dance them in the air to the sounds of the music.

9. Play some calm music, lay on the floor on your back, take some deep breaths and relax.....

10. Just dance :)

Some music we like:

 

Shakira - Waka Waka

We Are One (Ole Ola)

Gipsy Kings

Purim Playlist

a-ha - Take On Me

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.

You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Exercises to strength shoulder belt for children

Around this time of year, parents are advised to strength their children's shoulders belt; mainly before the last kindergarten year and first class.

We believe that all the parents and educators need to know how to do it.

A strong shoulder belt influences the body's ability to sit and walk straight, to write, to catch and throw a ball, to climb, and to enjoy basically every movement.

Many children are sent even before the first grade to strengthen their shoulder belt, in order to better their performances in class and in writing. A strong shoulder belt is also important for building a confidence and being part of a social group, taking part in games with peers.

Following, are some exercises for this purpose:

1. Hanging from a horizontal bar.

2. Climbing up a fireman's pole or a rope.

3. Wheelbarrow walk.

4. Standing on fours and playing rolling ball with a friend.

5. Standing on six, then balancing the body while lifting opposite leg and hand in the air (while tightening the lower belly muscles and straightening the back).

6.Standing in an airplane position - moving the hands up& down  - maximum 5 cm above and lower than the shoulder.

7. Crawling with one's forearms.

8. Crab-walk (reversed standing on fours and advancing).

9. Playing catch with a ball - while constantly increasing the rhythm.

10. Juggling a tennis ball between 2 hands.

11. Painting on a large canvas on the wall.

12. Carrying one's body weight on the hands.

 
Good luck
From Togi Team

we'll be happy to see you in our community on facebook: TOGI

* If you see no improvement, or have multiple challenges consult a professional.

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Why we have decided to create TOGI?

About six months ago I thought that I must develop an application that will provide parents and educators solutions to many daily situations and  needs.

after creating an amazing team they convinced me that I need to split my vision into two parts-

1. Togi- together in fun; an application that will provide games and ideas for mutual activities for parents & children (and educators), remind you to play :) enable you to set schedule and create play-dates.

2. Togi+ - an application that will be built from 4 different blocks, and will  provide you with more detailed information on different topics (social skills, shoulder belt, winning and loosing and more), and will enable you to build your own personal programs and more.

We know that information and solutions must be available to all. We know that moving more equals physical and emotional health, and helping children in all aspects of life, in and out of school.

In the first stage- TOGI we want to create a change in the way we live today. Being more active is a goal that will touch so many circles of life- physical health,mental health, relationships, development and more.

priorities must be changed, bur for that we need you to help us make an impact.

This is why TOGI is free, and we need your help in our funding campaign.

We hope to reach as many people and communities as possible, so we will be able to develop for IOS and TOGI+ and give tools, ideas and some of the answers to common questions.

In our business plan our achievements will be to create a cooperation, to reach communities, schools and organizations and build active communities.

So, we will very much appreciate your ideas and assistance!!

Thank you,

Sharon and TOGI team.

For donation enter:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/togi-application-for-fun-family-activities/x/10057878

Four dimensions of children's health, and how to increase it

Most of the time, while talking about children's health people are talking about two main parameters: Physical activity and food / diet.

We believe that there are four parameters:

1. Food / diet

• What we eat
• How much we eat
• Balancing food (yes, including snacks and sweets)
• Personal example

2. Parent- child connection

• Trust
• Personal example
• Fun mutual time
• Respect

3. Community

• Security in the neighborhood/ play ground
• Play dates
• Ideas
• Special events- by the communities /the schools & kindergartens / the municipality

4. Physical activity

• Fun, challenge & creativity !!
• Variety
• Time
• Different space challenges
• Collaboration
• Personal example.

Researchers have shown that PA (physical activity) improves our health, brain performance, concentration, self esteem, confidence, decreasing anxiety and more. mutual activities helps to profound relationships, deepen trust, increasing intimacy and openness. combining PA and mutual time together can use to give a role model and give our children quality time set with significant appraisal.

Children have group activities, we have our daily/ weekly walk/ gym time/ other PA and we hope that it's a role model, but when we are coping together, sweating, laughing and more the impact is much more significant, and the children enjoy it with and without us.

Only 15 years ago we had more time and more freedom- we spend more time out side, we walked more, we spent more time with our parents and more time with our peers as children. the challenges that play and PA brings contribute to all life aspects and to all the motoric development.

we, as parents and community need to make sure that we have time and space to move- in the yards, the park the play ground; and we play with our children and not just stand there we all benefit from it; parallel of course giving our children time to play alone and with their friends.