Enjoyable. Transformative. Uplifting. These are just a few words to describe Babytots@Play. Each week, babies and toddlers, aged 6 months – 5 years, and the parents gather to have lots of fun together. It is the perfect environment to build on your child’s development through a plethora of musical, sensorial and interactive activities. And the grownups get to enjoy some much needed social interaction with each other too.
Babytots@Play touches many important early childhood developmental factors all at once: meets developmental milestones, whole-child development, social skills, pre-reading skills, school readiness, parent-child relationships and builds a strong foundation for life.
What are the programmes and teaching approaches?
Classes are categorised into three different programmes: Baby Boost (6 – 18 months); Happy Tots (1.5 – 2.5 years); Boogie Tots (2.5 – 5 years). They are designed to teach children in ways that children naturally learn. We know that children instinctively teach themselves through play, imitation, and through interaction with other children and adults. And this is exactly the kind of environment that Babytots has created to support a child’s overall development.
What are the benefits and activities?
These parent-participated classes, except for Boogie Tots, are unlike other baby classes out there. They introduce children to music, delightful rhymes and lullabies, creative movement, as well as games, art and craft, sensorial play, baking, and many more other developmentally appropriate activities. Learning is based on different themes, such as sea life, farm animals and outer space. A wide variety of sensory props, percussion instruments and educational toys are used to enhance the experience during the class.
It’s so much fun, many don't realise how much learning is actually taking place. Parents may not be able to see the benefits right away. But over time, we will come to discover that early music learning is not only about developing music skills. There’s so much more that comes with it. It nurtures self-expression, creativity, confidence, and social and motor skills. It also improves communication skills and language development. In a nutshell, these classes support children’s overall development and lay the groundwork for formal school settings in kindergarten and beyond.
The teachers
Teachers are trained to nurture each child’s strengths in different areas in a non-formal way. They use positive words of encouragement to stimulate learning. Everyone in the class get to participate and grow at their own pace, which are all very much inspired by the Montessori method of education.
An inclusive environment for all
Babytots@Play welcomes children of all abilities, regardless of stage of development. Families with children who have mild special needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and speech delay, are highly encouraged to partake in early music and movement lessons as a tool to help the child make much needed progress. And as s/he interacts with other individuals in the class, it helps him/her build a normalised relationship with them.
“In addition, we make our classes affordable so that every child has the opportunity to learn and experience the full benefits of our programmes,” adds the principal of Babytots@Play.
Virtual Lessons
The centre also offers virtual lessons for families to participate at the comfort of their own homes. Lessons are paired with video instructions or live online learning. They are offered for a limited time only. For parents who are interested, please contact Ms. Mei Yin at 018-2011683 for more info.
