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We use original music that is enjoyed as much by adults as by children to ensure that the adults taking part are enthusiastic and uplifted. We use home-made props and instruments to promote recycling and to ensure that the cost of expensive instruments is not a barrier. Our programmes have been developed over many years, with input from practitioners, parents, children, early years advisors and musicians, and are evidence based by a Chichester University Evaluation Study. We link all musical activities to the EYFS areas of development to demonstrate how the brain boosting effects of music making, proven by neuroscience, translate to curriculum linked development. We have thousands of licensee settings, in the UK and overseas, that use Boogie Mites programmes and tell us what a valuable resource they find it to be.
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See Boogie Mites In Action
We use original music that is enjoyed as much by adults as by children to ensure that the adults taking part are enthusiastic and uplifted. We use home-made props and instruments to promote recycling and to ensure that the cost of expensive instruments is not a barrier. Our programmes have been developed over many years, with input from practitioners, parents, children, early years advisors and musicians, and are evidence based by a Chichester University Evaluation Study. We link all musical activities to the EYFS areas of development to demonstrate how the brain boosting effects of music making, proven by neuroscience, translate to curriculum linked development. We have thousands of licensee settings, in the UK and overseas, that use Boogie Mites programmes and tell us what a valuable resource they find it to be.
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From the work we had done with practitioners and parents over the years, it was evident that there was a huge gap in confidence, knowledge and resources to support creative early years music making. We knew that we had to share our knowledge, enthusiasm and Boogie Mites resources, to fill this gap. Due to our research, training and life experiences, we are even more passionate about the benefits of music for early brain development, than we were when we started.
Read MoreFrom the work we had done with practitioners and parents over the years, it was evident that there was a huge gap in confidence, knowledge and resources to support creative early years music making. We knew that we had to share our knowledge, enthusiasm and Boogie Mites resources, to fill this gap. Due to our research, training and life experiences, we are even more passionate about the benefits of music for early brain development, than we were when we started.
Read MoreHarriet’s story … My name is Harriet Thomas (the one with the brown hair). 20 years ago I was a penniless singer-songwriter and loving mother to a beautiful baby girl. Pretty soon I was helping out in the local family centre in Balham, London where we lived. Because of my musical background I would often lead the singing during circle time and pretty soon I realised that if I had to sing Incy Wincy Spider one more time, I would have to go outside into the street and scream! (Remember I was a Mum with a young toddler so I probably hadn’t had much sleep either!) So what did I do to alleviate the medical condition known to parents of young children as Wheels on the Bus Fatigue? I started to write some new songs, taking my inspiration from my children – by now I had 2 beautiful girls – and from the families and children I saw every day at the family centre. (Link to 2c to find out more about the music). I started to lead music sessions for families with under-fives. I was still a penniless singer/songwriter, so instead of buying a load of fancy instruments for my music sessions, I looked around my flat and using the usual array of empty plastic bottles and baby milk tins that any young parent may have lying about, I set about creating a homemade percussion kit that was child-friendly, fun to use and cost next-to-nothing (link to 2d). I recruited some musician/performer friends and Boogie Mites music workshops were born. We started private groups for parents and children at South London libraries and Children’s Centres and visited nursery schools to lead regular music sessions in the area.
Fast forward to the present
The years have flown and my beautiful baby girl just got 3 A stars in her A levels and a First in her degree. Meanwhile my youngest daughter is following in the footsteps of Leona Lewis and Katie Melua and is studying music at the London’s famous Brit School. Now I’m not saying that their early and constant exposure to music can be directly linked to their successful school careers but evidence suggests that it surely helped a lot.
My other “baby”, Boogie Mites, has grown too. I little imagined when I wrote ‘Clap Clap Clap’, my first song for children, that 20 years later that same song would be featured on the British Council and Education City websites and be sung by children from Tennassee to Toledo. If you had told me 20 years ago that one day there would be thousands of UK early years settings singing Boogie Mites songs every day, that I would be lecturing in British Universities about how to use music to support young children’s development or that children in India, Australia, Asia, Dubai and all over Europe would be singing Boogie Mites songs, I simply would not have believed you. Of course Boogie Mites is not just me now. I have my business partner Sue Newman, keeping me and my crazy ideas in check and an incredible team of Trainers and Tutors and Licensees whose skill, passion and commitment to music education and to enriching the lives of the families and teachers they work with, simply blows me away.
Sues story… After a senior business management role in London, I took a career break to look after my two young boys. I took my boys along to Harriet’s fabulous Boogie Mites sessions in Southfields Library and we loved every minute. Music had been a big part of my childhood. I have always enjoyed singing in choirs and find music the most wonderfully uplifting of activities. When we moved to Portsmouth, I was disappointed to discover the lack of inspiring, music activities for children. So, I got in touch with Harriet and began to trial some Boogie Mites style sessions in the local church hall. I quickly saw how the Boogie Mites songs and activities not only entertained and engaged children and adults but also supported the development of the children, particularly benefiting communication and social skills. I read up on the EYFS and the research behind the benefits of music making in early years – and was amazed to find the evidence of how music is magic for boosting early brain development – why didn’t I know this!?…. and if I didn’t then other parents didn’t either. I started linking Boogie Mites music workshops to early years development and compiling programmes specific to stage / focus of development. I expanded the Portsmouth team when we were awarded a City wide Children’s Centre contract, recruiting early years and SEN specialist teachers who contributed to writing the notes supporting our programmes. We were lucky to work with Portsmouth Early Years Service to develop a programme to support the roll out of Letters and Sounds Phase 1. We delivered training to the 500+ Early Years practitioners in the City and the impact was amazing, they loved it.
And so our mission became… To offer all early years families and practitioners the knowledge, resources and confidence to harness the brain boosting fun of active music making each and every day.
Contact UsEvidence shows us that the benefits of regular opportunities for creative music and movement activities in early years are so huge and yet there is such a lack of knowledge about this, and lack of confidence, skills and ideas for practitioners and parents who are caring for children in early years every day. This means that children are missing out on the brain boosting benefits, indeed we can tackle the school ready attainment gap through music intervention programmes in early years.
Read MoreEvidence shows us that the benefits of regular opportunities for creative music and movement activities in early years are so huge and yet there is such a lack of knowledge about this, and lack of confidence, skills and ideas for practitioners and parents who are caring for children in early years every day. This means that children are missing out on the brain boosting benefits, indeed we can tackle the school ready attainment gap through music intervention programmes in early years.
Read MoreBoogie Mites Tutors, Trainers and Licensees are recruited for their passion for the benefits of early years music making, their drive to share this message and to learn more about early years development and music as part on ongoing continual professional development.
Our guiding principles in efforts to achieve this mission are as follows:
When Harriet set about writing Boogie Mites songs she had the parents in mind. Harriet wanted to expand the repertoire of traditional children’s songs and to offer songs with themes that would interest the children but musical backing tracks that would interest and uplift the adults taking part.
To Harriet it seemed simple – if the adult role model is having fun then the child will be more likely to want to join in and to value the activity as something worthwhile and fun. Harriet did not attempt to dumb down the musical arrangements or the vocabulary. Boogie Mites music uses many different genres of music, many instruments, harmonies and catchy melodies on top of a strong steady beat.
When Harriet set about writing Boogie Mites songs she had the parents in mind. Harriet wanted to expand the repertoire of traditional children’s songs and to offer songs with themes that would interest the children but musical backing tracks that would interest and uplift the adults taking part.
To Harriet it seemed simple – if the adult role model is having fun then the child will be more likely to want to join in and to value the activity as something worthwhile and fun. Harriet did not attempt to dumb down the musical arrangements or the vocabulary. Boogie Mites music uses many different genres of music, many instruments, harmonies and catchy melodies on top of a strong steady beat.
Little did I know that research would later show that this was exactly how to progress children’s brain development through music in early years – picking out the different harmonies, the melody, repeated sequences of sounds and words, and working with the steady beat are exactly the things that ‘fine tune’ the auditory processing and neural response system in the brain, building strong foundations for literacy and maths learning at this stage.
I would record new songs in my home recording studio each week. I shamelessly exploited the talents of my young daughters and had them sing on many songs. Originally the songs were written to cover themes that our workshops would be linked to – themes that inspire young children (girls and boys) such as jungles, pirates, transport, food, animals, the weather. Each workshop had a mix of action songs, themed songs and percussion songs with the same welcome song and goodbye song at start and end each week. We developed a 45 minute format that could engage children from age 1-5 – and send them home exhausted! The songs were tried and tested, some discarded or changed according to the response of children – the children and parents would be the critics and we stuck with those that worked.
When we started compiling programmes for use in Nurseries and linking to EYFS development we started to add to the songs to fill gaps for specific development aims. For example JACK the robot was written specifically to support phoneme blending, Tap Rap for recognising rhyming words and Come On Everyone to support alliteration.
Over the years a library of 100+ Boogie Mites songs has been written. We continue to hear from our own Tutors, from parents and teachers – who sing the songs everyday – that they never get bored of them and find them as uplifting today as on the first day they heard them.
The Chichester University Research Study found that the style and mix of Boogie Mites songs played a big part in engaging the ‘target’ families to attend and practise at home. Recent studies have found that todays parents disliked traditional songs and nursery rhymes, finding them dull and irrelevant. The conclusion of the study mentions the part that the style of Boogie Mites music plays in the impact of the courses:
“parents reported that they felt more confident to use music with their children at home and as part of everyday life. Whereas previously they said they used music for recreational purposes or in the background, they commented how much of a primary role it now played in their lives. The parents’ increased confidence had a knock on effect on their child’s confidence. Boogie Mites songs have popular music styles which have been chosen to engage the adults and children making them culturally relevant to life today… Boogie Mites provides a completely different format of funky songs (such as jazz, rap, reggae, calypso, boogie woogie styles), actions, props and instruments, and it aims to get parents to take it home into everyday life. This coupled with the increased parent confidence suggests music practice will become embedded at home which could lead to greater parental engagement in other aspects of their child’s development and learning.”
At Boogie Mites we encourage singing of nursery rhymes and listening to all types of music – the more music the better! But we recognise that a big part of the power of Boogie Mites music programmes is the appeal of the music to the adults taking part. Enthused practitioners and parents taking part in the musical activities are more than half the battle for engaging young children.
It is a bonus that the complicated arrangements, catchy melodies and rhythms of Boogie Mites songs challenge the young brain to progress fine tuning of the auditory processing and neural response system – providing more of a brain gym workout than simpler songs or acapella songs, thereby, with regular practise, maximising the potential that music has for supporting brain development at this early stage.
Contact UsThere is much research to back up the links between music and the 7 areas of the Early Years Foundations Stage detailed below.
Download our Practitioner Guide to Active Music Making here to learn more about the links and the research behind them.
Communication and language
Listen and Attention:
MUSIC – encourages children to listen attentively in a range of situations. To listen to stories, anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. To give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.
Understanding:
MUSIC encourages children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. .
Speaking:
MUSIC encourages children to express themselves effectively
Contact UsPersonal, social and emotional development
Self-confidence and self-awareness:
MUSIC – helps children to try new activities. To become more confident to speak in a familiar group talking about their ideas
Managing feelings and behaviour:
MUSIC – helps children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. To work as part of a group or class, understand and follow the rules.
Making relationships:
MUSIC – helps children play co-operatively, taking turns with others.
Contact UsPhysical development
Moving and handling:
MUSIC – helps children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. To move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. To handle equipment and tools effectively – such as instruments
Health and self-care:
MUSIC – helps children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe.
Contact UsUnderstanding the world
People and communities:
MUSIC – helps children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. To learn about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions – different cultures
The World:
MUSIC – provides a learning style through which topics can be explored. It can help children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. To talk about their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. To make observations of animals and plants.
Contact UsLiteracy
Reading:
MUSIC – helps children gain phonic knowledge that will contribute to decoding regular words and read them aloud accurately. To recognise rhymes, rhythms and patterns of words. To use expression in story telling through work with intonation, tempo, dynamics, actions and facial expressions that go with music making.
Writing:
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS – help children develop fine motor skill and manipulation required for writing
Contact UsMathematics
Numbers:
MUSIC – helps children order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. To use counting on and counting back, shapes and one to one correspondence. Music is built on recurring mathematical patterns and sequences – children can develop mathematical thinking as they respond to this.
Shape, space and measures:
MUSIC – helps children use everyday language to talk about size, position and to learn special awareness. Music and movement helps children to recognise, create and describe patterns and to explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes.
Contact UsExpressive arts and design
Exploring and using media and materials:
MUSIC – helps children to sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them.
Being imaginative:
MUSIC – helps children represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through music, dance, role-play and stories.
Contact UsThere is much research to back up the links between music and the 7 areas of the Early Years Foundations Stage detailed below.
Download our Practitioner Guide to Active Music Making here to learn more about the links and the research behind them.
Communication and language
Listen and Attention:
MUSIC – encourages children to listen attentively in a range of situations. To listen to stories, anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. To give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.
Understanding:
MUSIC encourages children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. .
Speaking:
MUSIC encourages children to express themselves effectively
Contact UsPersonal, social and emotional development
Self-confidence and self-awareness:
MUSIC – helps children to try new activities. To become more confident to speak in a familiar group talking about their ideas
Managing feelings and behaviour:
MUSIC – helps children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. To work as part of a group or class, understand and follow the rules.
Making relationships:
MUSIC – helps children play co-operatively, taking turns with others.
Contact UsPhysical development
Moving and handling:
MUSIC – helps children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. To move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. To handle equipment and tools effectively – such as instruments
Health and self-care:
MUSIC – helps children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe.
Contact UsUnderstanding the world
People and communities:
MUSIC – helps children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. To learn about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions – different cultures
The World:
MUSIC – provides a learning style through which topics can be explored. It can help children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. To talk about their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. To make observations of animals and plants.
Contact UsLiteracy
Reading:
MUSIC – helps children gain phonic knowledge that will contribute to decoding regular words and read them aloud accurately. To recognise rhymes, rhythms and patterns of words. To use expression in story telling through work with intonation, tempo, dynamics, actions and facial expressions that go with music making.
Writing:
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS – help children develop fine motor skill and manipulation required for writing
Contact UsMathematics
Numbers:
MUSIC – helps children order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. To use counting on and counting back, shapes and one to one correspondence. Music is built on recurring mathematical patterns and sequences – children can develop mathematical thinking as they respond to this.
Shape, space and measures:
MUSIC – helps children use everyday language to talk about size, position and to learn special awareness. Music and movement helps children to recognise, create and describe patterns and to explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes.
Contact UsExpressive arts and design
Exploring and using media and materials:
MUSIC – helps children to sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them.
Being imaginative:
MUSIC – helps children represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through music, dance, role-play and stories.
Contact UsThere is a growing wealth of evidence published by neuroscientists that proves that music making in early years hones, grows and improves neural networks like no other activity. There is far too much evidence to make much of an impression on it here, but we have included some links to some fascinating studies – just click below to “discover more”.
Discover More...Sue Newman, Director of Boogie Mites recently interviewed Anita Collins, leading researcher of music and the brain. You can listen and read some of the interview highlights here.
Below are links to the work of several leading neuroscientists/educators in this field currently.
“The evidence suggests that children who undertake music education from early years have higher levels of cognitive capacity (especially regarding language acquisition and numerical problem solving), tend to remain in education for longer, and earn more across their lifetime. Even better news is that it can also reverse the cognitive issues relating to disadvantage.” Anita Collins, a researcher in neuroscience and music education at the University of Canberra, Sydney Herald July 2015.
Link to Anita Collins website – Bigger Better Brains.
As well as supporting language development, numerous neuroscientific studies over the last decade have provided evidence that music also benefits the parts of the brain that control social, emotional, physical, mathematical, creative and cognitive skills (IQ). The effect of music on the brain is described as “‘like fireworks going off in the brain’ No other activity had been seen to have such an effect on the whole brain. Music is a whole brain workout.”
Dr Kraus gives a brilliant explanation of the importance of sound processing in language development and how music can impact on the development of sound processing in the brain – specifically for children in early years. Dr Nina Kraus, Neuroscientist at Northwestern University USA, investigating the neural encoding of speech and music.
Link to Breaking the wall to Neuroeducation talk 2015
The Brainvolts Project is an Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory in Canada that investigates the biology of auditory learning. Using cutting-edge technology that provides unprecedented precision in indexing brain function, they are able to push science beyond the laboratory by conducting studies in schools, community centres, and clinics. They use their findings to advocate best practice for education, health and social policy.
Link to Brainvolts project website
If you want to accelerate brain development in children – teach them music. According to initial results of a 5 year study that began in 2012. USC neuroscientists found that music accelerates brain development in young children, particularly in the area of the brain responsible for processing sounds, language development, speech perception and reading skills.
Link to Brain and Creative Institute (BCI) at USC.
“Children with dyslexia find it challenging to hear speech rhythm and speech timing, and in perceiving musical rhythm and timing. Early Years educators can take simple steps to benefit language skills and minimise the impact of dyslexia. Having a rich early repertoire of singing and musical remediation will help matching syllable beat patterns to language before they start learning to read.” Prof Usha Goswami, Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, University of Cambridge.
Contact Us
In 2013 Chichester University conducted An Evaluation of the Boogie Mites Early Years Music Education Programmes in respect of parents and practitioners. The research objectives of the parent programme study were the following;
The evidence shows that Boogie Mites active music making programmes make a real difference to parents and practitioners of children in early years.
In 2013 Chichester University conducted An Evaluation of the Boogie Mites Early Years Music Education Programmes in respect of parents and practitioners. The research objectives of the parent programme study were the following;
The evidence shows that Boogie Mites active music making programmes make a real difference to parents and practitioners of children in early years.
Read the executive summary
Read the full report
The differences were noted in four main areas:
Contact Us
Children with special educational needs, from moderate learning delay to more severe and complex needs, benefit from regular music practise. It is widely recognised that music can play a significant contribution in supporting children with delayed development throughout Primary and Secondary education in 4 key areas:
Speaking and Listening: through music SEN pupils can
Social communication: through music SEN pupils can
Numeracy: through music SEN pupils can
Gross Motor and physical development: through music SEN pupils can
Children with special educational needs, from moderate learning delay to more severe and complex needs, benefit from regular music practise. It is widely recognised that music can play a significant contribution in supporting children with delayed development throughout Primary and Secondary education in 4 key areas:
Nicole runs private classes as well as working on our Family Learning courses. Nicole is one of our Private Licensees running classes in Portsmouth and Southsea area.
Pauline has been a Boogie Mites tutor for many years running private classes as well as working on our Family Learning courses. Pauline is one of our Private Licensees running classes in Havant and Emsworth area. Pauline also runs SEN classes throughout Hampshire.
Hannah is a professional musician and music teacher. Her creative home made will give you lots of ideas for home craft activities.
Hey everyone…I’ve been with Boogie Mites for something like 15 years delivering Boogie Mites workshops in Nurseries, Schools and Children’s Centres throughout London. Previously I worked in Musical Theatre on tour and in the West End. I continue to work as a singer and actress. I have a long standing cabaret act with Tamsyn and we have worked around the world. I also compere cabaret shows and work as a cabaret and vintage singer at events such as Goodwood Revival. My favourite BM song changes but Funky in the Barn is a firm fave but Tap Rap and I feel Alive always make me happy! When I’m not singing or Boogie Mite-ing I like making clothes, and vintage shopping and if the sun is shining I like to ride my bicycle!
Liv is a musician and full time freelance music leader. She has been delivering Boogie Mites workshops for many years and leading Family Learning parent education courses under Boogie Mites Hampshire, Surrey and London contracts. Liv is also a Boogie Mites Trainer. She has recently taken on a License to run her own Boogie Mites Babies business in her home town of Salisbury. Amongst many other music projects that Liv also leads, she has a particular interest in intergenerational music sessions.
Hello! I’m Tamsyn…I’ve been with Boogie Mites for around 13 years, delivering Boogie Mites music workshops and training in Nurseries, Schools and Children’s Centres throughout London. When I’m not Boogie Mite-ing I can be found being a choreographer, a dance teacher (mainly in contemporary jazz and ballet) at the Dance Attic in Fulham and the Riverside Fitness Studios, a personal trainer and nutritional adviser – all over London, and a dance coach for the squad gymnasts at Mayfield Gymnastics club. I also still tread the boards occasionally, having started out performing in dance companies and working in musical theatre. With Emma, I’m the other half of The Kitsch Kittens! Boogie Mites songs that are amongst my favourites are Munch Munch Munch, Australia, and 5 Little Fish… oh and Dyathinkhesaurus. Outside of work I love my garden, watching movies, and being dog-godparent to Luna.
Hello my name is Michelle Sandford. I have been with Boogie Mites for over 7 years delivering music workshops and parent education courses throughout Portsmouth and Hampshire. I have been running parent and children music groups for 23 years, I am also a Nursery Nurse and work part of the week at Portsmouth Grammar school nursery. I love all my work!! I enjoy Pilates and riding my bike. My favourite interactive Boogie Mites song is Row, Row, Row Your Boat, using my piece of lycra and all the animals. It just works for all children, and parents can watch their children learning whilst having fun!!
Hi, my name is Sharon I have been with Boogie Mites since 2004, delivering music workshops and training in Nurseries, Children’s Centres and Community Centres throughout London. I have worked in musical theatre in the west end and on National and international tours. More recently I have worked in musical feature films. I also teach musical workshops in schools and I teach dance in my local gym. Favourite Boogie Mites song? Oooh! That’s a tricky one…… Shaker Rock, Five Little Fish, Spin, Goldilocks, Woodpecker, sorry I just can’t answer that one!!!! All work well and serve a purpose and I enjoy singing them. Outside of work I like movies, cooking, yoga and family time.
Hi, my name is Terri Pringle, I have been working for Boogie Mites for a number of years. I joined as a family learning tutor and moved across to quality control 2 years ago. Before joining Boogie Mites I was Head of a Nursery School for 10 years. I really enjoy going out to observe the tutors delivering some amazing lessons and seeing the smiles in the room! My favourite song is Peek-a-Boo on the baby course. I love to watch how the babies respond and how amazed the adults are by just how much the youngest babies on the course can interact. I also love Wave Hello because the song can be done in a variety of ways and supports all areas of learning. It’s a fun song that easily gets everyone involved.
Hello! I am Lucy and I have been working for Boogie Mites for four years. I have an admininistration and IT background, but I attended Boogie Mites as a parent with my 2 daughters for several years while on maternity break. I manage the Boogie Mites accounts, and our Family Learning Contract administrator as well as leading the online development of our CRM database, related marketing campaigns and website development. My favourite Boogie Mites song is This Is Me because it’s got a great melody and makes me proud of how my children are growing up.
Harriet is Boogie Mites founder, singer and song writer. She developed and managed Boogie Mites London business and was Marketing Director for the overall business for many years. Harriet now manages various projects including overseas development, licensee marketing support, filming instructor videos, promotion of London training workshops. Harriet still writes new fabulous Boogie Mites songs on request!
Sue has a business background. She set up Boogie Mites in Portsmouth while on a maternity break and recognised the benefits for children’s development and the potential for sharing Boogie Mites more widely via a training model. Sue developed Boogie Mites programmes and training workshops and the License arrangement and now manages the overall business development.
Boogie Mites uses junk percussion instruments and props that can be made. It is important to us that expensive instruments do not become a barrier to Boogie Mites Music making and it also fits our ethos to support recycling. The cost of instruments and lessons after the age of 5 can definitely be a barrier for children from disadvantaged backgrounds but there is no reason why this should exist for under 5’s. The important music skills at this stage – singing, moving with the music, keeping the beat – do not require expensive instruments.
These can be made to look fun and funky with some creative craft activities. See our tips for making instruments by clicking on the images of each instrument.
Click on the instrument to find out more
Boogie Mites uses junk percussion instruments and props that can be made. It is important to us that expensive instruments do not become a barrier to Boogie Mites Music making and it also fits our ethos to support recycling. The cost of instruments and lessons after the age of 5 can definitely be a barrier for children from disadvantaged backgrounds but there is no reason why this should exist for under 5’s. The important music skills at this stage – singing, moving with the music, keeping the beat – do not require expensive instruments.
These can be made to look fun and funky with some creative craft activities. See our tips for making instruments by clicking on the images of each instrument.
Click on the instrument to find out more
We find it works well for children to each have the same instrument in a group music time – so they can follow the leader and repeat sequences and actions together as a group. This teaches them that following instructions as part of a group is fun and makes a good sound and encourages them to join in to be part of the group. They will often take what they learn in these group sessions into their own play, so that while the music activity is introduced as an adult led activity it is progressed and explored by the child having been given the ideas and starting point. So the instruments are brought out as part of music time they can also be left out and available for some free play time.
We find that a box of different (expensive) instruments has limited value for the children. While they can explore the sounds they make individually, they cannot learn the important music skills that they can learn from taking part each with the same junk percussion instruments as part of a group, following a leader and working with the beat.
In addition to the music benefits the children will gain pride from making their own instruments and they can learn to be creative in recycling everyday objects to use in play and music making. .As the Boogie Mites song tells them:
Do Re Mi the Ecology, don’t throw away you rubbish let’s all see, what noise it makes, can you bang of shake it? Let’s hear it for a cleaner world!
To engage the under 3’s we often use additional props such as soft toys, scarves, scrunchy paper, fabrics….. and all of them can be acquired from second hand shops or by recycling things found in the home.
The only instrument that we use that is not home-made is the xylophone. This can usually be found in a second hand shop though.
Contact UsStep 1: Buy some dowel from any timber merchant and saw it into 7” lengths, and sand it down so that it is ready for painting and varnishing
Step 2: Children can help with the painting but the varnishing is sticky and messy and should be done by an adult to ensure complete coverage. All paint and varnish must be non-toxic and child friendly.
Tip: By painting them in different colours and using different patterns, we also use our sticks to support sequencing and pattern recognition.
Following the demand from busy practitioners who do not have time to make their own rhythm sticks we do have a supplier that makes them for us in a Boogie Mites style – bright colours, light wood and narrow radius that is perfect for small hands, some matching pairs that can provide interest for sorting and matching games as the sticks are given out. Get in touch if you would like to know more.
SMA tins make perfect drums. Just ask the parents to bring in empty SMA tins and you will collect a full set before you know it. The metal end can be covered with a circle of felt to soften the sound. The tin can be decorated with paper stickers and coloured electric tape around the edges.
If you cannot collect a full set, drums can be made from any sturdy box, can or plastic tub. For example washing powder boxes, shoe boxes, coffee/hot chocolate cans, ice cream tubs all make great drums. You can decorate the drums with any scraps of paper/ material you have to hand. Or just cover them in stickers.
Drums are great for exploring rhythm, as an aid to creativity and self expression and as a means of promoting engagement.
Shakers are a fantastic way to explore sounds, rhythm and movement with children, therefore they are an essential instrument in our workshops. They are great fun and easy to make at home or in an Early Years setting. Here are the 5 quick easy steps to get you shaking.
Step 1. You will need a receptacle with a lid, almost any will do as long as it is non-breakable. Plastic drink bottles, potato chip tubes, cleaning product plastic containers (washed well!).
Step 2. The clean and dry receptacle can then be filled with rice or lentils for a lighter sounding shaker, corn or chick peas for something a bit louder. You can also add a small amount of packaging which help bulk out the content.
Step 3. Secure the lid with glue and sticky tape. We tend to use electrical masking tape as it can be colourful and is tough, help prolong life of the shaker.
Step 4. Next you can decorate the shaker, which is part of the craft activity the children can really get involved with and love. You can decorate it with stickers, painting, ribbon; plus it can be decorated to fit with a specific theme or just to capture elements of a favourite song, rhyme or story.
Boogie Mites have 2 distinct groups of customers and we aim to support them both equally as we believe they are both as important for the music provision and support this can give to the children in their care:
EARLY YEARS PRACTITIONERS including;
PARENTS or GUARDIANS of children in early years
We have reached thousands of early years practitioners via cluster training workshops over the years. The setting they represent becomes a lifetime licensee of the programme that they acquire.
We have also worked with many Local Authorities to offer training to local settings.
More recently we have worked with Nursery Groups to introduce Boogie Mites music programmes to each setting within the group. This can be via online training, a Train the Trainer model or via training for each setting.
The nursery groups that we have trained and continue to support are as follows:
We support Nurseries to involve their parents through parent workshops.
We have delivered inset training for many schools with pre-schools on site.
We have trained many Children’s Centre practitioners to lead Boogie Mites
We deliver transition workshops for many local schools to support their introduction to school programme.
We deliver Family Learning funded courses for Hampshire, Surrey, Portsmouth and some London Boroughs.
We have worked with SEN practitioners and delivered training for them to follow Boogie Mites Programmes within their settings.
We lecture on some University Early Years Teacher Training courses – Northampton, Brighton, Portsmouth, Winchester and Chichester.
We provide songs for the Education City online programme and to British Council for their online teach English support for teachers overseas.
Our contact with parents is through our Family Learning courses, Licensees businesses and through our Nursery customers.
Contact UsBoogie Mites have 2 distinct groups of customers and we aim to support them both equally as we believe they are both as important for the music provision and support this can give to the children in their care:
EARLY YEARS PRACTITIONERS including;
PARENTS or GUARDIANS of children in early years
We have reached thousands of early years practitioners via cluster training workshops over the years. The setting they represent becomes a lifetime licensee of the programme that they acquire.
We have also worked with many Local Authorities to offer training to local settings.
More recently we have worked with Nursery Groups to introduce Boogie Mites music programmes to each setting within the group. This can be via online training, a Train the Trainer model or via training for each setting.
The nursery groups that we have trained and continue to support are as follows:
We support Nurseries to involve their parents through parent workshops.
We have delivered inset training for many schools with pre-schools on site.
We have trained many Children’s Centre practitioners to lead Boogie Mites
We deliver transition workshops for many local schools to support their introduction to school programme.
We deliver Family Learning funded courses for Hampshire, Surrey, Portsmouth and some London Boroughs.
We have worked with SEN practitioners and delivered training for them to follow Boogie Mites Programmes within their settings.
We lecture on some University Early Years Teacher Training courses – Northampton, Brighton, Portsmouth, Winchester and Chichester.
We provide songs for the Education City online programme and to British Council for their online teach English support for teachers overseas.
Our contact with parents is through our Family Learning courses, Licensees businesses and through our Nursery customers.
Contact Us![]() |
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Tel: 023 92 817274
Email: enquiry@boogiemites.co.uk
Boogie Mites UK Ltd Registered in England and Wales Company No. 6326903.
Registered Office: 8 Spur Rd, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3EB.
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms of Use
Tel: 023 92 817274
Email: enquiry@boogiemites.co.uk
Boogie Mites UK Ltd Registered in England and Wales Company No. 6326903.
Registered Office: 8 Spur Rd, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3EB.
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms of Use