I don’t know about you, but even though I’m staying at home and only have one child, I actually don’t think I dedicate much time to one-on-one fun with NKOTB. She has to just fit into my schedule and workload during the day, which often means leaving her on a mat or the rocker with a couple of toys to keep her amused while I do other things.
While there’s nothing wrong with that (part of the strategy for teaching independent play, I say), it is nice to do something fun together once in a while, which is why I signed her up to an ArtPly Bubs session.
ArtPlay is a City of Melbourne funded art studio with a mission to involve children and their families in artistic, interactive and creative projects. They run free and paid workshops throughout the year, with activities suitable for all ages.
ArtPlay Bubs is an hour long class exploring music and playful movement with babies up to 2 years old and it’s run by Susan Maling, an early childhood movement and dance specialist. The hour had a good mix of high and low intensity activities, as all that movement and noise and other people can be a bit overwhelming for little ones.
All the segments absolutely delighted NKOTB. We started off with rocking/dropping/spinning in time to music, then a little rhyme with actions, throwing colourful silk scarves up in the air and watching them float down, bouncing on my knee and high up in the air, swinging her in a blanket hammock and her favourite, watching a piece of chiffon threaded with stars wave above her.
Find Hotels and Airbnbs near ArtPlay Bubs, Artplay, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne
I think I’ll be able to incorporate some of the ideas into every day play and it’ll be good to show my mothers group the kind of things we can do together as the babies get older.
After the session I had a cup of tea and a chat with Susan and some of the other mums and to complete the pleasant morning out I wheeled her down to have lunch at Riverland by the Yarra.
We’ve booked for the next session which is suitable for babies – This [Baby] Life on 13 October. I think there’s 10 spots in each session. See you there!
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