The new term of Pat-a-Cake Music has started, classes run from St Mathews Church, Chapel Allerton on Tuesdays at 11.30am and Calverley Methodist Church on Fridays at 10am. They consist of singing and making music together to aid children’s development at an early age, as well as to develop other key skills such as confidence, language skills, communication, gross motor skills and more. West Leeds Mumbler recently tried out a class, find out what they thought below.
The classes are created and led by Hayley, a mum and music teacher who is passionate about the importance of learning music from an early age. Hayley told me that the classes are suitable from 6 months – 3 years, although there were some older siblings there on the day.
We attended the Calverley class. The venue was clean, bright, warm & modern, with ample parking and good access to bus routes. As soon as the session started, the music was loud. Really loud! And it created a great party atmoshphere which all of the kids seemed really excited about! We started with a welcome song, and Hayley welcomed all of the children individually by name. There were approx 15 in the class, some had bought siblings and many had been going for a few years and had clearly made friends with other mums there – which is always a good sign!
We sang around 10 songs in total. Each involved using a different set of different musical instruments, from tamborines to some awesome drums! And the children were encouraged to join in and make as much noise as possible. It was fun and fast paced, so there was no time for the children to get bored or disengage – in fact their energy levels seemed to go up as the session went on and Mini-Mumbler, who was a little cautious at first, was up and dancing by the end of it!
We sang lots of old favourite songs with modern arrangements & backing music including ‘Jingle Jangle Scarecrow’, ‘Little Peter Rabbit’ & ‘Once I Caught A Fish Alive’. There was a good focus on counting and colours too and it’s clear that Hayley is passionate about aiding the children’s development in the sessions. She also engaged with all of the children throughout, using their names to give out praise and encourage them to join in.
After about 40 minutes of singing we were invited to have some refreshments & social time. And it’s fair to say that Mini Mumbler and I have NEVER seen such good refreshments put on at a class before. It was like being at a tea party! There were biscuits, fairy cakes, fruit & breadsticks. And best of all a Cafertiere of REAL COFFEE. Hayley clearly knows her audience and promised me it wasn’t for show…these are put on every week.
Overall the group was predominantly mums, but there was also a dad there and several Grandma’s. It is one of the friendliest groups we’ve been too, with lots of people making an effort to chat to me & Mini-Mumbler and really making us feel welcomed. In Summary we thought it was a very friendly, fun, loud & engaging class, with the BEST refreshments we’ve found so far.
If you’d like to try a class in either Chapel Allerton or Calverley you can contact Hayley from her Facebook Page or email her at patacakemusic@gmail.com
*Mumbler was not paid for this review however we were given the taster session free of charge. All of the comments in this review are our open and honest opinion.