Music Moves On

Ongoing project work with two year olds and families in North Tyneside with Kate Maines-Beasley, early years music specialist

I am currently based in North Shields, working with two year olds and families. I am in the setting from January – July 2023, and hopefully beyond.
Please come and say hello if you see me. If your child is in this nursery, please get involved. You are your child’s primary educator. I will be working with parents/carers all the way through.
Pictured left to right: child plays ukulele, pentatonic glockenspiel
All of the children have enjoyed playing the ukuleles and glockenspiels.

I sing our band song, (have a listen below), and put the children’s names into it. I was so impressed with how well the children shared the ukuleles, and also how well they strummed, tapped, and explored them. I wonder if we have some musical families out there??

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Oh when the band (tune of when the saints)

we're making a playlist we need your help!

We’re making a playlist of our favourite songs to dance to, so we can bust some moves at Riverside
What music makes you move?  We need your songs from home in our playlist

see it in action....

Flute

Making a band

I worked with the children in the above clips from January – July 2022.
I think this shows in the quality of the engagement. I really got to know them all and took my time with this delivery.

What we do...

Musical play

singing together, hands on experience of high quality instruments, exploring sounds

Movement play

two year olds need to move. Development movement play supports their need to explore a full range of movements in a fun, safe environment. We will use lycra, scrunchies, bodies and celebrate the unique energy of two-year-olds

Live music

I play the flute, and a small amount of ukulele and djembe drum. The children will have opportunities to listen to these instruments.

Animal assisted work

Lesley will bring golden retriever Heidi in to play and learn with us, and possibly even her hens. Lesley is a speech and language therapist, so all she does is backed up by sound working knowledge of how to best support children's communication skills

Child leads

Music Moves starts with the child. I am working alongside those who care for them. 

What I actually deliver depends on the unique child or children in front of me in that moment. 

This type of engagement needs time, space and infinite flexibility.

At the moment, I am finding that January – July is a good length of time for my input into a two-year-old provision. 

It is likely I will continue to support the same teams into the future.

I believe that

  • All children are entitled to make music, sing and dance. This is their right
  • Children are musically competent. I respect and value their musical expression
  • Parents/carers must be involved in creative projects, and respected as the child’s primary educator