The Joy of Music – Live Webinar

This unique session explores the power of music for promoting joy, community cohesion and empathy – a topical subject as we face so much news about conflict and division. Ben Kingston-Hughes will look at joyful moments as a motivator for learning, creating bonds and developing empathy. Tasha will cover 2 Boogie Mites songs that involve: ‘being joyful’, ‘being silly’, including one co-written by Ben and Boogie Mites together.

Webinar via zoom Monday 4th December 2023 at 7pm

With all the focus on learning goals and ‘catching up’ are we forgetting the importance of having fun, the wonder of joy? With all the divisive news about conflicts and disputes we should consider the part that having fun together, enjoying music activities together, can have on community cohesion and empathy.

The pandemic and cost of living crisis have made many adults anxious and research is showing that this has been passed on to children. Current news about conflicts adds to the anxiety for many. The best antidote for anxiety is joy! Community family groups are a good place to promote joy, bonding, social cohesion and this could be the start for developing empathy for our neighbours.

Boogie Mites trainer Tasha will present research and neuroscience evidence that supports the use of active music making to promote community, social cohesion and empathy. She will cover a Boogie Mites song all about animals enjoying themselves at the Arctic Hop! A great fun song for any celebration event.

Early Years expert Ben Kingston-Hughes will be taking a fascinating journey into the neuroscience and evolutionary biology of music, highlighting why it is so important that we sing, dance and make silly noises with our children and how joyful, musical adults can have the most profound impact on children.

Together Tasha and Ben will introduce a new song, lyrics written by Ben and music by Boogie Mites, the song is all about Jazz Hands Dinosaur and will demonstrate how to link a song to play, encouraging imagination, self-expression and creativity. Whether a parent or early years practitioner, you can trial the songs and enjoy watching the children take the ideas into their own play this Winter.

This workshop promises to be joyful!

You will have access to a recording of the session for one week after the live date and access to the stories and songs forever.

This training session will be relevant for all teachers, carers and parents of children in early years (2-5 years).

Course Details

Date: Monday 4th December 2023

Time: 7pm – 8:15pm

Where: via zoom (details provided after purchase)

Cost: £30 per person (plus MyCPD Group Buyer Protection)

Course Content

• Supporting community, social cohesion and empathy through music
• Evolutionary biology of music
• How shared joyful experiences impact children’s development
• Being joyful, being silly, dinosaurs and bonding!
• Linking Boogie Mites songs with everyday activities to promote musical play

Digital Resources

Boogie Mites song resources will be available for you to access via our CustomerHub:

• The Arctic Hop
• Jazz Hands Dinosaur

Course Tutors

Ben Kingston-Hughes is an international keynote speaker, author and multi award-winning trainer. He is also the Managing Director of Inspired Children and has worked with vulnerable children across the UK for over 30 years. He has appeared on television several times working on a variety of children’s projects and his distinctive blend of humour, neuroscience and real-life practical experiences have made his training invaluable for anyone working with children. His new book, “A Very Unusual Journey into Play” was published in April 2022 and he is currently working on a book all about “Joy” in childhood.

Tasha Bretten has been working as a Boogie Mites teacher and trainer for 2 years following 13 years as a Primary School Teacher working across all year groups, with a passion for supporting children’s literacy and musical development. Tasha is a trained opera singer but having said this she is first to say: “ You don’t have to be a trained singer to lead Boogie Mites. You can do it!”