Instructions

1. Begin on all fours. Line up your wrists under your shoulders.
2. Spread your fingers wide and arch your spine to the sky.
3. Loosen your neck and drop your head down.
4. Breathe out long and “catlike” as your meow. If you have a pet cat you might already know this combination of poses!
5. Now lift your chest forward and look up with big “cow eyes.”
6. Dip your belly down and tilt your sit bones (your ischium) up. Your back will sink down like a cow’s.
7. Make cow lips and moo deeply from the back of your throat. Moooooo.
8. Go back and forth, meowing and mooing. Begin with four rounds, and increase to as many times as feels good to you.

Notes for Parents and Teachers

This combination can be done sitting too. Your child can sit at the edge of a chair, hands resting on the knees, and move the spine back and forth.

Activity Ideas for the Home or Classroom

Math Medley
The arched cat back is a convex curve; that is, it curves outward instead of inward. The cow spine is concave, which means it curves inward. A scoop of ice cream is convex, but the inside of a cone is concave. Help your child find convex and concave objects.

Visual Vignettes
In addition to the math activity, have your children draw different convex and concave objects. Some convex shapes include baseball caps, camels, domes of buildings. Some concave shapes include skating ramps, bowls, funnels. Can you think of more? Draw and label these items.

Awesome Anatomy
The bones that make up the spine are called vertebrae. Humans have 26 vertebrae, while cats and cows have about 52. This pose keeps your spine flexible.