Janis P.
Hartbeeps is like no other baby and toddler class, offering a multi-sensory musical experience for children and a chance for new parents to meet. Using clever state of the art music production, original music composition, sound effects, songs and sound plays, lighting effects, innovative props and puppetry together with a vast array of multi-sensory techniques, Hartbeeps creates original and highly specialised mini productions for young children. These baby and toddler classes have been a hit around Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and even as far afield as Hong Kong, and London mums and dads thrilled to see new classes popping up in Barnet, North Finchley, Finchley, Muswell Hill, Chiswick and Richmond.
“Hartbeeps is a multi-sensory experience which uses light and dark spaces filled with colours, textures, scents and the use of puppetry”, said Sarah Godwin, Hartbeeps founder. The activities in every class are designed especially for babies and toddlers, and encouraging language development, coordination, simple mathematics, and problem solving. Children also learn about seasons, nature, and everyday activities such as baking or cleaning, and have a chance to practice their new found social skills.
All Hartbeeps programmes have been structured around the four key areas of learning and development of The Early Years Foundation Stages (EYFS) framework, which sets the UK standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five.
BabyBells postnatal classes use principles adopted from Yoga and Doula philosophy to create a unique class where mothers can connect with their new baby and even learn baby calming techniques.
Once your baby can sit up, Baby Beeps is an exploration of sound, rhyme and rhythm, with some baby signs, treasure basket play, puppetry and dressing up.
Toddlers and Preschoolers enjoy the Happy House sessions, where Tatty Cat lets the children use his special Listening Ears to listen out for sounds and clues to lead the children towards a theme or story. Children learn about every day activities and sounds through multisensory activities in a make-believe world, and are fascinated by the beautiful music and props.
“I can say I’m sure I will never again sit in a village hall shaking a tambourine to a lacklustre version of Humpty Dumpty…” says one parent.
For details of Hartbeeps classes in your neighbourhood, or for information on how to start up your own Hartbeeps classes, visit www.hartbeeps.com
New Hartbeeps Classes in North London starting January 2011
Tuesday Mornings – North Finchley
Hartbeeps Happy House at 9:30 a.m. & BabyBeeps at 10:30 a.m.
Unity Church Centre, Nether Street, North Finchley, N12 7NN
Tuesday Afternoons – New Barnet
Hartbeeps Happy House at 2:30 p.m. & BabyBeeps at 3:30 p.m.
Lyonsdown Hall, 3 Lyonsdown Road, New Barnet, EN5 1JB
Wednesdays – Muswell Hill
Hartbeeps Happy House at 9:30 a.m. & BabyBeeps at 10:30 a.m.
Quaker’s Friends Meeting House, Church Crescent, Muswell Hill, N10
Thursday Mornings – Hampstead
Hartbeeps Happy House at 9:10 a.m. & BabyBeeps at 10:05 a.m.
Quaker’s Friends Meeting House, 120 Heath Street, Hampstead NW3 1DR
Thursday Afternoons – Finchley
Hartbeeps Happy House at 2 p.m. & BabyBeeps at 3 p.m.
St Mary’s Church Centre, 26 Hendon Lane, Finchley, N3 1TR
Classes in Barnet, Finchley, North Finchley and Muswell Hill are run by Alison, North London mum to Charley, age 2. Alison was more recently Legal Manager for Dixons (Currys and PC World) and knows how isolating life at home with a baby can be. She is thrilled to be able to bring a fresh and interesting baby and toddler class to the area, and to give mums and dads the chance to get to know other parents in their area.
For further details or to attend a free taster session contact Alison on 07786 082580 or email Alison@hartbeeps.com
Been to a Hartbeeps class? Please share your thoughts with other mums and dads – you can leave a comment or review below, and even share it on Facebook.
We go to Hartbeeps with Steph in The Chalfonts, Buckinghamshire and we just LOVE it! The boys think it is wonderful and thoroughly enjoy the sensory, singing experience. They get excited, counting the days until Hartbeeps and sing the songs all week!!
Steph is wonderful with the boys and just so lovely, she really is a great leader and a credit to herself and Hartbeeps. :o)
Amazing Class…full of warmth and songs you actually enjoy singing along with! Highly recommended.
5 stars for sure! I took my 4month old to babybeeps and she was completely entranced the whole session, its so fresh and different with so much to keep them entertained – so glad Alison brought Hartbeeps to North London, go along to a class, you are in for a treat!
Can’t recommend the Hartbeeps classes enough – my 11 month old has loved them from an early age and chuckles throughout…….have been to both Alison’s in North Finchley and Steph in Chalfonts and both are superb – really friendly and welcoming.
I would give Hartbeeps a 5 star rating!
All sounds very ‘mum’ centric. Dads not allowed?
Please, please, more dads at this and other local classes and playgroups!!
The men tend to be put off of the more informal toddler mornings where mums are exchanging birth stories and the like, but Hartbeeps and other ‘structured’ classes are brilliant for mums and dads alike.
Rufus – thanks also for pointing out that our language is at times very mum-centric. Apologies (we’ve changed the wording now!), and thanks for giving us a well deserved kick up the backside.
All grown ups are very welcome with their little ones. Rufus, why not come along with your little ones and share the fun? We’d love to see you. Ax
My husband has taken our daughter and it didn’t present a problem, other than he finds it difficult to sit on the floor comfortably.
Alison’s colleague Ruth recently did a 4th birthday party for my daughter and 30 of her little friends, all aged 2.5 years to 4.5 years. Having heard so many good things about Hartbeeps (enough to recommend it on the site) I was obviously expecting something fun, magical, and a little different.
What I was NOT expecting was to see 30 preschoolers fully and completely captivated by The Hartbeeps Lady (as she is now known in our house) and not even vaguely thinking about straying from the colourful mat she laid out.
The way the party was structured was so well thought out, and the activities included some incredibly lively dancing, some chill out time, and an insanely cute dressing up game, among other things… I had the sense that the kids simply didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
So 5 stars simply doesn’t cut it – I want The Hartbeeps Lady to come and live in my house.
My 7 month old daughter loves her Hartbeeps class in Muswell Hill with Alison. Alison’s structured yet relaxed approach means the babes can really enjoy themselves. I enjoy singing along to the songs too!
5 stars!
Hartbeeps is an enchanting engaging and educational experience for children and great fun for mums too. The class is designed to stimulate baby from beginning to end with visual stimuli and takes them on a different journey each session through gentle song and interactive puppets, musical instruments and additional props. The laid back nature of the class encourages little ones to explore and move around freely. Warning to all the songs are so addictive they stay in the head for days and we often sing them at home with my older child who loves them too.
My 3 year old loves Hartbeeps; she knows all the song words, all the actions and really engages with Alison at the North Finchley sessions. I would recommend Hartbeeps again, and again!