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Music Moves 2021–24

Music Moves

Creating opportunities for music and movement play with two and three-year-olds and their grown-ups in North Tyneside.

A young girl holds and studies the flute carefully.

What we did…

  • Musical play

    We enjoyed hands-on experience of high quality instruments, exploring sounds and different ways to play them. The children came up with far more interesting ways to play instruments than us adults did.

  • Movement play

    Two-year-olds need to move. Developmental movement play supports their need to explore a full range of movements in a fun, safe environment. We used lycra, scrunchies and bodies to 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 heard me play these, then had a go themselves.

  • Animal assisted work

    Lesley brought golden retriever Heidi in to play and learn with us, and 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.

  • Kate plays flute for a group of children.
  • A little boy balances on his key worker’s raised feet, flying like an aeroplane.
  • A boy holds the ukulele strings, sat on his key worker’s knee.
  • Kate holds a boy’s hands as they move together, with children and grown-ups playing around them.
  • A girl strokes Heidi the golden retriever and gives her water, while other children watch.
  • A barefoot boy makes a shape with his arms and legs.

Child leads

Music Moves started with the child. We worked alongside those who care for them.

What was actually delivered depended on the unique child or children in front of us in that moment.

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

We discovered that January to July is a good length of time for my input into a setting-based two-year-old provision.

We enjoy working with the same teams into the future, so we build relationships and legacy.

The children all enjoyed moving to music, playing high quality musical instruments, including my ‘posh’ ukulele and flute.

All of the work was supported by key workers and management. This setting has just been Ofsted Outstanding, and I know first-hand why. These practitioners care so much, and put the children’s wellbeing front and centre.

As part of Music Moves On, we even enjoyed animal assisted activities with Lesley Forrester and her dog Heidi.

The delivery team met regularly to review video and reflect on how the children were responding to what we were offering. I loved this project, and hope to return to this setting very soon.

We made a playlist

We made playlists of our favourite songs from home, so we could bust some moves at Riverside.

Have a listen, and spot your song!

[Kate: add the playlist link here.]

Work in action

These short video clips show my work-in-action with children in the room. See how they respond to different offers.

These videos are from Music Moves On project work in Riverside Ready for School provision for two-year-olds in North Shields. I worked with these children for seven months in 2023.

[Kate: add the video clips (YouTube or Vimeo links) here.]

See more children’s responses on Vimeo

Our online sharing event

Hosted by Culture Bridge North East: exploring engagement of two and three-year-olds in music and movement play.

In this short clip I talk about the project, we reflect on video of the work-in-action, and we hear from the early years practitioners on the floor who facilitated the work. This was designed to be a Covid-19 recovery project, so we discuss this too. Turn-taking comes up as a huge learning point for me as a music practitioner.

This full online CPD session is available to watch for free. Use the player controls to hear from all of these amazing people:

  • Early years practitioners Annie and Libby talk about how the project was on the ground
  • Lesley Forrester explains her animal assisted work, supported by speech and language for all approaches
  • Head teacher John Croft talks honestly about what it is like to host an early years music project like this one
  • Dr Jessica Pitt shares our research findings, and Gwyneth Lamb, our external evaluator, closes with some powerful words of wisdom

Read my early years music blogs for Culture Bridge North East

Music Moves sharing event

[Kate: add the link to the full sharing event recording here.]

What practitioners said

  • “I will be more mindful of incorporating music into all activities, not just dedicated music sessions”

    Early years practitioner

  • “I will be more confident when singing songs”

    Early years practitioner

  • “I will continue to enjoy delivering musical activities and embed it into our daily practice”

    Teacher

  • “As a result of this training I will use music more than twice per day, every day! I will support each child with their own music competency”

    Nursery manager

  • “I enjoyed trying new songs and adapting them to my own strengths, using more singing as well as dance. I have been able to capture the children’s attention for longer than ten minutes and have been at child height to help my working practice. I will continue to improve my practice by trying new activities weekly”

    Early years practitioner