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Music Bugs is an award winning company providing fun and interactive singing and music classes for children aged 6 months to 4 years. The company also has a brilliant online shop where parents and practitioners can purchase musical instruments and toys for little ones.

The shop includes the likes of finger puppets, songbooks and CD’s, not to mention instruments and specialist musical toys for babies too. The website is easy to navigate with a bright, colourful design that makes shopping online seem that little bit more seamless.

If you’d like to sign up to the Bongo Club newsletter to receive your 10% discount, simply register at:
http://www.bongoclub.org.uk/mailing-list.html

(Subscribers will receive instructions for the MusicBugs discount in the newsletter).

Each DVD is presented on-screen by a fun, friendly character called Mimi the Musical Clown, who lives in Piano Land. Complete with a voice-over, Mimi takes the viewer on a magical musical journey that is fun, educational and of course musical!

(Owning a piano or keyboard to accompany these DVDs is preferable, but not essential. A small, two-octave keyboard of the kind available in most toys shops is sufficient to learn and practise the basics. The DVDs are great as fun, educational tools to have in the home to help support private or school-based piano lessons, or simply as an inspiring introduction to the joys of making music).

For more information on the Talented Tots DVD boxset, please visit:
http://www.bongoclub.org.uk/parents/resources/music-at-home/talented-tots.html
How to enter
To enter the competition, simply email us your most positive experience of using music either at home with your child or as a practitioner in early years settings. Keep entries under 100 words and email to: marketing@youthmusic.org.uk.

(Please include your name, phone number and postal address in the email).

Please note:
When you enter this competition, you will be added to the Bongo Club mailing list, if you’re not already subscribed. Entry applicable to UK residents only. Closing date: 24th May 2009.

There are now some additional Music Start packs being distributed, which are available to Sure Start Children’s Centres in the 25 participating areas. Music Start is a fun, easy to use pack developed by the national charity Youth Music, to help families with 2-5 year olds make music at home. Youth Music has developed the Music Start pack as part of its commitment to early years music making. The Music Start pack has been developed for parents of all musical ability, including those with no experience at all, and is a multi-activity resource for supporting music making at home. Each pack contains a fully illustrated story book, an accompanying CD, instruments, an information booklet for families and a sturdy bag to keep everything in. 

How to order a pack:
To order a Music Start pack (created specifically for 2-5 year olds), simply email marketing@youthmusic.org.uk with the number of packs you would like and the name and address of your centre, along with a contact telephone number. Keep up to date: If you would like to keep up to date with future developments please sign up to the Bongo Club newsletter. 

More info: For more information on Music Start, what it’s all about, and the people involved in putting the pack together, visit the Music Start home page. Please note: Due to the product recall of the cymbal that was originally included in the Music Start packs, the packs no longer include the cymbal. For more details, read through the product recall information.

We are currently exploring ways to extend the project as we would like the packs to become a universal entitlement for all families. If you would like to keep up to date with future developments, please sign up to the Bongo Club newsletter.

For more information about Music Start, please check out the Music Start section.

They are looking for a skilled Facilitator with experience and knowledge of early years settings and music to work alongside Sound Connections to develop and implement their Early Years Music Project. This project aims to embed music work into Children’s Centres through collaboration with local early years music specialists. The Children’s Centres are based in Ealing, Richmond and Sutton.

PLEASE NOTE: In July Sound Connections will be recruiting the music leaders to deliver this project. You CANNOT apply to deliver both roles.

The successful applicant must demonstrate their ability to meet the Facilitator Brief, particularly the stated roles and responsibilities.

Please read the Facilitator Brief http://www.sound-connections.org.uk/content.php?page=128 before completing the application form.

Deadline: 5pm Monday 23 June
Interviews: Week beginning Monday 30 June

For more information please read the documents on the Sound Connections website at http://www.sound-connections.org.uk/content.php?page=128 and then, if you have further questions contact Nicky on 0207 729 7220 or nicky@sound-connections.org.uk

The NDNA has kindly invited Youth Music to speak to the delegates about Bongo Club as we recently took part in the ‘healthy body happy me’ campaign to show how nurseries can help the children in their care improve their lifestyles.

The campaign aimed to ensure that children have the ‘energy for play, learning and fun’ and was supported by Colin Jackson CBE and Linford Christie OBE.

The NDNA’s official ‘healthy body, happy me’ week took place from 10 - 14 March with five themed days for nurseries to participate in and promote to parents, MP’s, councillors and the wider community:

• Monday - get active day supported by Yoga4 UK Ltd
• Tuesday - stop the rot day with Oral-B Stages
• Wednesday - big breakfast day
• Thursday - from seed to snack day sponsored by Eatright UK
• Friday - make some noise day supported by the Bongo Club, part of Youth Music

I’m really excited about taking part in the conference and will be leading a short session about how music is able to benefit the under fives. I will also be suggesting activities that nurseries can do with the children in their own settings.

If you have any tips or suggestions you would like to share with the delegates at the NDNA conference, please let me know!
For more info about the conference and the work of the NDNA visit http://www.ndna.org.uk/

Thanks!

In June 07, four Bookstart Music Champions were recruited to work with two local authorities in delivering this pilot project: Julie and Gerry for South Lanarkshire, and Carol and myself for West Dunbartonshire. Over the past few weeks we have been doing some excellent training with NYCoS and Experiential Play, planning, discussing and leading Bookstart Rhymetime Sessions, and also eating rather a lot (the food at these training days has been great, and there’s nothing like a morning of singing to work up an appetite!). Everyone involved is really passionate about the project and personally I’m loving having people around to share stories and experiences with, and being able to bounce ideas off and get feedback from them is fantastic. Most of my work is done alone so it’s lovely to be part of a group, especially one with such diverse skills and experience.

So: highlights so far!

Ÿ Sharing songs and rhymes with the BMCs at our training day and learning all about ‘Polly’s piddling poodle’!

Ÿ Watching the children in Rutherglen Library being thoroughly entranced by the shiny, sparkly lycra sheet during a Bookstart Rhymetime Session

Ÿ Speaking to library staff at the Stirling residential training who were already leading sessions and were taking new ideas, songs and renewed enthusiasm back to them

Ÿ Seeing a hall full of delegates singing ‘Forwards and Backwards’ (complete with actions) while we led a live Bookstart Rhymetime Session on stage - with real live children!

All in all, it’s been great so far and I think I speak for the four of us when I say we can’t wait to get started with our work in the local authorities and start spreading the word about Bookstart Rhymetime Sessions - look out, because we’re on a mission to get Scotland singing, loving libraries and reading rapaciously!

Yvonne Inglis - Bookstart Music Champion

There are nearly 200 organisations now listed in the In Your Area section of Bongo Club. The 200th organisation to submit their details will win a pack of 20 Bongo Club egg shakers. So visit the In Your Area section and register your organisation or early years session now! The In Your Area section comprises a directory of services and other providers, searchable by region. Submitting the details of your early years music-making project will enable users of the site to be signposted to information about your organisation.