Animals stretch before sleeping...do you think you can too?

Follow along as your child's favorite animals lead them through fun and gentle stretches that feel great and are great for them!

As an Athletic Trainer and Performance Coach, there are two questions my clients who are parents ALWAYS ask me - how they can get their children invested in health and fitness, and why we seem to lose so much flexibility as we age. Big Stretch is a fun way to address both with your child, facilitating a healthy bedtime (or playtime) routine that’s led by their favorite animals. The stretches in this book will help your child develop strength, balance, and mobility, all while having fun doing it. Help your child learn that fitness isn't boring, or about aesthetics and competition - exercise-as-play started at an early age will help them build a foundation that will benefit them for life!

Animals pandiculate - we humans sometimes call it “dynamic stretching.” Pandiculation involves contracting a set of muscles, slowly lengthening them, and then returning to a neutral position. Pandiculation is relaxing, but also prepares animals for healthy movement through their full range of motion, and it’s so beneficial that it has even been called “nature’s reset button.” If you have a pet at home, you’ve seen them pandiculate, (and you might even say, “Biiiiig Stretch!” when they do it!). If you’ve ever done a little backbend after hunching over your laptop, or stretched your arms out wide after sleeping curled up - then you’ve done it too.

The movements in this book feel great and are great for you, so if you’re looking to increase your flexibility, regulate your nervous system, and engage in a little bedtime bonding, you may even want to join your child in their pandiculations…or should we say, panda-culations!

This book is primarily designed for children ages 3 - 8, but the stretches feel great at any age!