Musical Minis is turning 15 years old in the South Lincolnshire area. That means there are many teenage Musical Minis out there! To celebrate join "Jingle the Bear" and Hazel Morgan, the South Lincs Musical Minis Franchisee, on Saturday 28th July 10-11am for our 15th Birthday Party at Bourne Children's Centre. The cost is £5 per child under 5 years old and booking is essential. To book click here. Hazel is also holding August Summer Fun classes in Morton, Sleaford, Bourne and Folkingham. To find out days and times and to book into one or more of them, click here.... Continue reading

An immediate opportunity has arisen to re-licence the Musical Minis Swindon and North Wiltshire franchise. Musical Minis has been in the Swindon and North Wiltshire area for 9 years and over that time has brought fun to hundreds of children. We are looking for outgoing, lively people with good organisational skills, preferably, but not essentially, with experience of working with young children, to continue Musical Minis presence in the area. You will be strongly supported by Head Office and the rest of the franchise network. Please click here to learn more about being a Musical Minis franchisee or alternatively contact... Continue reading

Musical Minis franchisees are once again gearing up to make sure that Summer at Musical Minis is full of fun. Musical Minis Summer parties and sessions are being run in some areas. Click on the locations below to find out what is going on in your area: Buckinghamshire - regular sessions throughout the Summer Durham - Summer Parties Oxford - themed Summer Parties South Lincs - Fantastic Party to celebrate 15 years of Musical Minis in the area South Wales - regular sessions throughout the Summer Southern Home Counties - Summer Parties Other locations will be added soon so please... Continue reading

Leena Thakker, our Oxford franchisee, after 9 fantastic years has decided to sell her franchise. Leena has left behind a great legacy in Oxford and we are delighted that Hayley Clements will be continuing to bring lots of fun to the children of Oxford in the future. This is what Hayley has to say…. "Hi I'm Hayley Clements and I’m very excited to be the new owner of Musical Minis Oxford. I'm a mum of three children Poppy (8), Josie, (4) and Oscar (9 months) and I'm thrilled to be joining the Musical Minis Franchisee team. I’ve been working in... Continue reading

A guest blog by Louise Emerson, the Musical Minis Durham franchisee, about her typical day. Like most mums, my days are very busy with 3 fairly young children to care for. Our mornings start at 6.30am when I get up and ready before the girls, as once they are awake, chaos ensues! It feels like everything is on fast-forward; rushing around preparing breakfasts, distributing the outfits I’ve hung out the night before for each of them and doing 3 lots of hair before the school run! Sadie, my youngest is at nursery school and she starts at 8.30am and so... Continue reading

Children’s music and development franchise Musical Minis has announced that Louise Emerson and Rachel Parker, owners of Musical Minis Durham have been awarded the title ‘ Outstanding Franchisee of the Year’. At their recent annual conference, founder Karen Sherr and husband Rob revealed that Louise and Rachel, both Mums from Durham, had been selected to recognise their positive and professional approach to running the business. Louise, who has 3 girls aged 9, 6 and 4 years, bought the business 3 years ago when her youngest was a baby. Louise, together with her sister in law, Rachel who has 2 boys,... Continue reading

Guest blog post by Jo Weaving our South Wales Musical Minis franchisee. Several years ago, I took the decision to include a week of Saint David’s Day celebrations within my classes. Despite having taken holiday’s in Wales as a child and having lived in Wales for 11 years before becoming a Mum, it wasn’t until I became a Mum that I realised how big the celebrations for Saint David’s Day, in Wales, are. When my eldest son, Jack, started school I first became aware of the Eisteddfod that all schools hold to celebrate Saint David’s Day. An Eisteddfod is a... Continue reading

Following our tradition of tallying the names of children attending Musical Minis classes, the list below shows the most popular names for children attending in 2017. It isn't necessarily children who were born in 2017. Furthermore, it doesn't include children who attend Children's Centre sessions or nursery or school sessions. The numbers in brackets shows the name's position in 2016. Top 10 Boys Names:- 1 Oliver (5) 2 Jack (1) =3 Harry (4) =3 William (6) 5 George (2) 6 Thomas (10) =7 Jacob =7 Henry (2) =9 Harrison =9 Hugo There are 3 names which have dropped out of... Continue reading

Guest post from Louise Emerson the franchisee for Durham Musical Minis. They say time flies when you are having fun and that’s certainly been true for Rachel and I as it has now been over 3 years since we bought the Durham Musical Minis franchise. In some respects it doesn’t seem like 5 minutes ago but when I look back at out Facebook profile picture, which I had taken when we first acquired the business, my girls seem so little and I realise a huge chunk of time has actually passed! And that I really need to update that picture….!... Continue reading

New Year, New Start, New Opportunities With Musical Minis Do you fancy a fresh start for the New Year? Are you looking for a new career or to change your work/life balance? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your own Musical Minis franchise? Musical Minis offer you the opportunity to have a flexible, profitable business that you could fit in around your family, with no worry about school holidays. If you would like more information contact us by email at enquiries@musicalminis.co.uk or visit http://www.musicalminis.co.uk/franchise/welcome/ We would love to set up Musical Minis in 2018 in... Continue reading

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Everyone at Musical Minis and the Learning Made Fun Blog wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy the festive break and we look forward to seeing some of you in 2018. Continue reading

Etta attends Musical Minis in Southern Home Counties. Etta is raising money for a great cause. We offered to spread the word so people can help support Etta and find out more about this charity. Etta's Mum, Kate, has written the following: My 4 year old daughter, Etta, was recently shown a film at school about water and the importance of not wasting it. The teachers just wanted the children to be more careful during water play, but Etta came home wanting to "save all the people" that she had seen in the film who are so much less fortunate... Continue reading

As a psychologist, former play specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Mum to 3 grown up children and founder of Musical Minis, a nationwide pre-school music group based on child development, I am often asked for my views on various subjects. Recently I was asked to share parenting advice to answer readers problems in Mother and Baby Magazine. Here are the questions and my answers: Every time I ask my two-year-old to do something, she says no, even when it’s a fun activity. What should I do? The ‘no’ phase is all part of your child’s speech development although it... Continue reading

Guest post by Emily Sherr. As a Reception Teacher, I know that starting school can be a difficult time for everyone involved. The separation, the fact your baby is growing up and it being the start of your child’s very long educational journey, all contribute to making starting school a potentially challenging experience. However, knowing your child is ready and prepared for their first day of school in September helps to make this difficult time slightly easier. I have come up with a few simple tips that will make the first few weeks of school easier for you, your child... Continue reading

As a psychologist, former play specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Mum to 3 grown up children and founder of Musical Minis, I am often asked for my views on various subjects. Recently I was asked to share my views on whether homework should be eliminated in primary school for an article for Costco Connection. I debated that it shouldn't be. Here are my thoughts: It is important to state from the outset that homework needs to be appropriate to the child’s age and stage of development both in content and time in order for it to be worthwhile. Homework... Continue reading

As adults, we often view tidying up as a tedious chore, but for children tidy up time can be highly enjoyable and beneficial for their development. At Musical Minis, tidy up time happens during each session and the children are encouraged to join in. This aspect of the session is necessary for the children to gain the most out of Musical Minis and to learn new skills. If the instruments and whistles were not tidied during the session, it would feel very chaotic and cluttered. The children would find it difficult to fully explore what was there as they would... Continue reading

Every week at Musical Minis we have a blowing song as part of our instrumental session. Blowing whistles is a skill that children take a great delight in learning and so introduce a whole new form of instrument. What begins as an accidental noise soon develops into a controlled sound. With the whistle the child learns to improve control of his/her breathing. To control breath is a skill that singing and blowing will encourage. It helps us to turn words into phrases and sentences. Breath control is an important tool in controlling stammering and stuttering. A number of children develop... Continue reading

Guest post from Rachel Parker. Rachel runs some sessions for Durham Musical Minis. I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant with my second baby and in a few days time my husband and I will be attending the routine ultrasound scan where we will have the chance to find out the sex of the baby. We still haven't decided whether to find out or not! When we attended this scan for our first baby we knew for sure that we wanted to know if was going to be a boy or a girl. We were given the news that I was carrying... Continue reading

Children’s music and development franchise Musical Minis have announced that Jo Weaving, owner of Musical Minis South Wales has been awarded the title ‘ Outstanding Franchisee of the Year’. At their recent annual conference, founder Karen Sherr and husband Rob revealed that Jo, a Mum from Barry with two boys Jack who is 13 years old and Harrison who is 8 years old, had been selected to recognise her consistent support over many years. Jo bought the business 13 years ago when her eldest son was a baby. Karen and Rob also praised Jo for her organisational skills, tenacity and... Continue reading

Guest blog post by Jo Weaving our South Wales Musical Minis franchisee. Having grown up in England, I’d never witnessed any special celebrations for any of the Patron Saints days before, although I could tell you who the Patron Saints for each country within the UK are, and their special days, having learnt this for a badge when I was a Brownie. But, although I’d lived in Wales, for a number of years, before I became a Mum, it wasn’t until I had my first baby and started taking him along to groups, that I actually realised how much effort... Continue reading

Guest blog by Leena Thakker, the Musical Minis Buckinghamshire, South Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire franchisee. As a child I had always wanted to go to Lapland but it remained a pipe dream. But then becoming a parent, that burning desire grew stronger and stronger and I was determined to make that pipe dream a reality. After a fabulous summer holiday in Cape Verde in 2016, I announced to my husband that I really wanted us to take the girls on a surprise trip to Lapland over Christmas. Having had our usual one holiday per year, my husband said that it would... Continue reading

As a psychologist, former play specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and founder of Musical Minis, I am often asked for my views on various subjects. Recently I was asked to share my suggestions on how to teach children to share for an article for Mother and Baby Magazine . Various extracts from the article can be seen here. As a Mum you already have an amazing array of skills to help navigate your child through the day-to-day challenges of being a toddler. One skill in particular is negotiation and it starts to come in handy as you find yourself... Continue reading

Following our tradition of tallying the names of children attending Musical Minis classes, the list below shows the most popular names for children attending in 2016. It isn't necessarily children who were born in 2016. Furthermore, it doesn't include children who attend Children's Centre sessions or nursery 0r school sessions. The numbers in brackets shows the name's position in 2015. Top 10 Boys Names:- 1 Jack (=4) =2 Henry (1) =2 George (6) 4 Harry (7) 5 Oliver (=4) 6 William 7 Alexander (=8) =8 James (=8) =8 Charlie (2) 10 Thomas (3) The only name t0 have dropped out... Continue reading

Guest Blog by Jo Weaving, the Musical Minis South Wales franchisee. I met Terry, for the first time, over 20 years ago. Back in 2007, when I was looking for volunteers to help in Musical Minis, Terry seemed an obvious choice. So, in September of that year, Terry joined the Musical Minis South Wales team. Terry is a mum to 4 grown up boys, grandmother of 6 and great-grandmother of 5. She helps in the Tuesday afternoon, Pontyclun class, although she has covered sessions in all venues across the area as well as parties & nurseries. Terry loves helping children... Continue reading