Tumbletimes : Christchurch City Council

Tumbletimes is a casual session designed for babies and preschoolers to explore their capabilities at their own pace in a fun, safe and social environment.

Get the latest Tumbletimes news and fun activities for your little one

Bring your little one along to experience adventure in every class and promote their fundamental movement skills by rolling, balancing, sliding, leaping, jumping, climbing and much more.

Parents or caregivers must join their children in the sessions and our engaging tutors will oversee all activities and free play.

Private bookings are available for preschool groups and birthday parties.

Fees

Fee types	Fee
Casual session per child	$4.30
Additional sibling	$3.30
10 session concession card (valid for one year)	$38.60
20 session concession card (valid for one year)	$77.10

Term Three 2020: Monday 20 July to 25 September 2020

Bookings are not required for Tumbletimes.

Location	Times	Dates not running
Cowles Stadium	Wednesday 9.30am to 10.30am Friday 9.30am to 10.30am	Wednesday 23 September Friday 25 September
Graham Condon	Tuesday 9.30am to 10.20am Friday 9.30am to 10.20am	Friday 5 June
Pioneer	Monday 9am to 10am and 10.30am to 11.30am Tuesday 10.30am to 11.30am Wednesday 10.30am to 11.30am Thursday 9am to 10am and 10.30am to 11.30am Friday 9am to 10am and 10.30am to 11.30am	Monday 27 July Friday 7 August Monday 10 August Monday 17 August Tuesday 18 August Thursday 27 August Friday 28 August Friday 4 September Wednesday 16 September Friday 18 September

We also have free preschool swimming during school hours available as an alternative activity. Excludes weekends, school holidays and public holidays.

July School holidays: Monday 6 July to Friday 17 July 2020

Bookings are not required for Tumbletimes.

Week One:

Location

Times

Pioneer

Monday to Friday 9.15am to 10.15am

Monday to Friday 10.30am to 11.30am

Graham Condon

Tuesday to Friday 9.30am to 10.30am

Week Two:

Location	Times
Graham Condon	Tuesday to Friday 9.30am to 10.30am

Develop fundamental skills at home

Movement is essential in the first five years of our lives as it builds critical pathways in the brain. Tumbletimes’ main focus is to build on these skills through play.

To help continue your child’s development, as well as support their mental and physical wellbeing, we’ve created a list of fun activities you can do at home.

Imagination

Freeze dance

Put on some fun tunes and dance like no one is watching. Every now and again press pause and everyone has to freeze. This is a great way to warm up for some activity!

Develops body rhythm, body awareness, control and listening.

Horse play

Set up a small oval track and race around like horses. Ask the children to listen to the noise your feet make when you gallop to help develop their listening skills. Give your 'horse' a set of instructions to follow such as:

two steps forward
gallop around the room
stomp your feet or high knees.

You can also set up a jumping course where your 'horse' gallops around and jumps over the obstacles.

Develops body rhythm, listening, movement, control, body awareness and imagination.

Animal walks

Use your imagination to demonstrate some ways of moving like animals and ask your child to copy you. After a few rounds, ask your child to call out the animal. Race each other down the hall as these animals. For example a bear, snake, crab, horse, rabbit or dinosaur.

Develops body awareness, midlines, imagination and movement.

Ooey gluey

Pour some imaginary glue on your child’s hands and then get them to touch a part of their body and pretend their hands are now stuck there. Ask them how their body moves differently with their hands stuck there? How can they move around? Sprinkle some imaginary glue disabler on so they can move their hands and then try again with a different body part.

Develops body awareness and control.

Tunnels

Create a tunnel with a mat or with furniture and blankets. Can your child crawl through the tunnel to you at the other end? You can roll a ball through the tunnel for them to follow or give the tunnel a gentle shake as they move through.

Have some more fun by playing peek-a-boo or, with your child inside the tunnel, put on a silhouette puppet show at one end with some toys.

Develops body and spatial awareness.

Big and small

Ask your child questions about large and small objects, getting them to act out the objects. Some examples include:

Can you be as big as a tower? Reach on tippy toes to the sky.
Can you be as small as a ball? Curl up on the floor.
Can you be as big as a bear? Stand arms and legs stretched wide.
Can you be as flat as a pancake? Flat on the ground.

Develops posture, spatial and body awareness.

The floor is lava

For a timeframe of your choice whenever you say ‘the floor is lava’ everyone has five seconds to get themselves off the floor. You can set up safe objects to jump on prior to starting the game.

Develops language, balance and spatial awareness.

Pair play

Plank high fives

Get down on the floor in a plank position with your child, face each other. Your arms should be straight, with hands under shoulders, your back straight, balanced on your toes.

Give each other high fives alternating between left and right hands.

If the plank is too challenging, lie on your tummies with your chests raised and elbows underneath shoulders.

Develops midlines, strength, control and balance.

Egg rolls

Lie on your back with your child on your chest. Cradling their head and neck roll slowly from side to side.

Develops balance and the vestibular system.

Overs and unders

With your child, stand at one end of a large room or hallway. Make your way across the room by taking turns at jumping over and under each other.

Develops balance, agility, coordination and body awareness.

Have fun and follow the leader

Plan a route around your house that includes going over, under and through different objects. Ask your child to follow along.

After each obstacle, do a funny dance for them to copy.

When you have finished your route, your child can lead you through a route of their choice.

Develops sight, listening, balance, agility, coordination and spatial awareness.

Memory

One person starts off doing two moves, such as a jump then a clap. The other person needs to remember those moves and then do it themselves.

Start off with two moves, each time the moves are repeated, add an extra move into the sequence.

The aim is to remember all the moves in the sequence as it grows. You could use jumps, waves and silly faces – the options are endless.

Develops memory, imagination, coordination and spatial awareness.

Blind moves

Using a spare long sleeve shirt or rag, blindfold your child and stand them on a marked spot. Ask them to complete a list of instructions such as clapping their hands, touching their nose, spinning, jumping or hopping - anything which keeps them in exactly the same spot.

At the end of the list, ask them to take the blindfold off so that they can see how far they have moved from the original spot.

This could be a fun competition for the whole family.

Develops balance, coordination, body and spatial awareness.

Gymnastics

Jump around

After warming up, practise a variety of jumps with your child: two legs together, star jumps, tuck jumps with knees up to chest or straddle jumps (legs out either side).

Mix it up by taking turns to call out a jump for each other to do or use a pack of cards and assign a jump to each suit - as you turn over the cards you have to do the assigned jump.

Jumping on a soft surface, such as a trampoline or mat, will help support your joints.

Develops midlines, force and power.

Homemade beam

Build a low beam by setting up a sturdy plank on two brick foundations or simply roll up a mat, carpet or even towels, to make a homemade beam on the floor.

Ask your child to practise walking forward, backward, sidestep, bending on one knee and scooping with the other foot and turning around.

Develops balance, concentration, body and spatial awareness.

Donkey kicks

Ask your child to place both hands shoulder-width apart on the floor in front of them and then buck their feet like a mad donkey.

This can also be done on the trampoline and is a good progression for moving on towards handstands.

Develops strength, power, positioning and body awareness.

Balancing buddies

Place a toy on your child’s palm and ask them to walk with it balanced on their hand.

Too easy? Try their head, shoulder or their overturned hand. Make it harder by introducing obstacles to step over or manoeuvre around.

Develops balance, power and body awareness.

Roly-polys

Place some blankets or a mattress on the floor.

Start by asking your child to stand with their feet apart, then reach down to put their hands on the ground near their toes.

Ask them to tuck their chin to their chest and look at their stomach. Then roll gently forward. You can help support their heads and neck as they roll.

An easier alternative is practising lying on the floor arms outstretched and rolling around.

Develops balance, positioning and coordination.

Ninja feet

Clear an area and set out your pots and pans, or other noise makers such as rattles or bells, with enough space for your child to move around. Challenge them to get from one end to the other without making a sound. As they get more confident move the noise makers closer together to increase the challenge.

Develops control, balance, spatial and body awareness.

Twister

Identify sets of two different body parts and ask your child to touch them to the ground at the same time, for example their elbow and foot, or shoulder and knee.

Develops coordination, balance, flexibility and body awareness.

Throwing and catching

Basket balls

Set up a bucket and a throwing line close enough to start for easy success. Ask your child to throw a ball into the bucket.

When they can do it a few times, move the bucket further away to increase the challenge.

To help with throwing, ask them to point with their opposite hands, toes and follow the ball with their eyes.

Develops throwing, force, midlines and visual tracking.

Teddy bear parachute

Take a blanket or towel and lie it flat on the floor. Put a teddy bear in the middle and get your child to hold the blanket with you to create your home parachute.

Move the blanket up and down to get the teddy bear airborne.

Take turns to throw and catch the teddy in the blanket.

Develops throwing, catching and visual tracking.

Hula ball

Sit on the ground with your child, start by rolling a ball back and forwards to each other.

To make it more challenging, place a hoop or create a circle on the ground with a towel between you. Try to roll the ball into the circle.

Make it more difficult by moving away from the hoop or making the circle smaller.

Develops visual tracking, hand/eye coordination, force and power.

Bouncing ball

Practise dropping and catching a ball. You can use a point on the ground for your child to aim for.

If your child can do this confidently, ask them to add a clap before catching the ball, or to pat the ball back down and see how many pats they can do.

Develops sight, visual tracking, coordination, force, midlines and body rhythms.

Juggling 101

Ask your child to throw a light piece of silk or mesh material up into the air and then catch it on its way down.

Too easy? Add another scarf.

You can throw the scarves to each other or throw a scarf one hand to the other to make it more difficult.

Develops sight, visual tracking, coordination, force and midlines.

Out and about

Scavenger hunt

Create a list of things your child might find in your garden or out on a walk. Explore your garden with your child to see if they can collect everything on the list.

Suggestions for items could be objects such as a leaf, stone or acorn.

Develops sight, movement and language.

Eye spy

Similar to the scavenger hunt, create a list of things to spot on a walk or out in your garden.

Ask your child if they can spot something blue, something round, something smaller then a cat etc.

You can also take photos as they find each item.

Develops sight, movement and language.

Adventure stories

Act out an adventure story that engages your child with the environment they are in.

For example, play ‘We’re all going on a bear hunt’ to explore different areas of your garden, or on a walk around your local neighbourhood, acting out the story - walking through short grass, hiding behind trees and safely crossing the road.

Develops language and movement.

Alphabet walk

Next time you are out and about in your local neighbourhood, why not try spelling out the alphabet using the letters you come across in street signs, license plate numbers and shops signs?

You can make it harder by claiming only one letter from a sign or limiting the types of things you gather letters from. Older children might like to compete to see who can spell the alphabet the quickest.

Develops sight, movement, language and concentration.

Colour walk

It’s autumn and the leaves are turning beautiful shades of orange and yellow. On your next walk, why not take some colourful items with you to match to things you see in nature. Duplo or lego are good for this.

It’s a great way to appreciate the season change and you’ll be surprised at how many matches you find.

Develops movement, sight and concentration.

Sensory

Fences

With one finger draw lines down your child’s back or tummy one line at a time.

Describe the type of lines you are drawing. Wriggly, straight or curved?

Develops the senses of touch and hearing as well as body awareness.

Survival blanket

Unfold a survival blanket or some tin foil.

Show your child how it reflects in the light, how it makes noise when it moves, how it feels.

Let them lie or sit on it or hold it above them – they can gently wiggle it to see the light reflecting and hear the sound of it crunching.

Develops the senses of sight, hearing and touch.

Cornflour power

Mix two parts of cornflour to one part water in a container.

Add a couple of drops of food colouring and let your child mix it together. Get them to explore the different textures: powdery, wet, slimy, sticky and cold.

It does make a mess but is easily cleaned up.

Develops the senses of touch and sight.

Tasting tray

If child is eating solids, provide a range of edible options that have different temperatures, textures, colours and sounds.

Options could include ice cubes, crunchy crackers, yellow capsicum, avocado, lemon, garlic and anything else that they are safe to taste.

Let your child explore each item however they choose.

For older children, you could blindfold them and see if they can guess what they are eating.

Develops the senses of taste and smell.

Ziplock it

Put some water mixed with food colouring in a large zip-lock bag, and place some small smooth-edged objects in it.

Place the filled bag in front of your baby while they are on their tummy. With their hands, they can explore and move the liquid and objects around within the bag.