Toddlers & Parents Courses

Visit this page regularly to find out information for the next course "ME & YOU'.

In a hectic, fragmented world with many changes happening, and the demands of work, and other pressures, it can prove challenging to find time and space to simply be with your child in a safe space, play together, and deepen the bonds of this primary relationship.

These workshops and courses allow time for the adult and child to play, dance, have fun, and interact with one another in a non-judgemental environment. The important aspect of this work is to simply be curious and willing to be surprised by your child, and maybe your self. 

Through dance we learn not only about ourselves but also about our relationships with others, and our place in the world. Hence dance and movement is the main medium for these workshops and the adult is required to participate alongside their child. 

Following the success of the past Toddler’s courses, combined with my experience teaching children dance and the performing arts for over 40 years, plus my on-going psychotherapeutic research into attachment theory, I created a programme to help parents strengthen the bonds and deepen the attachment between themself and their toddler/s. By laying out a blueprint and offering tools for parents to practise after the sessions, the attachment with their child and vice versa, can be developed.  

Increased physical activity allows us to develop awareness not only of our body, but the relationship to our self and others. This early intervention is a strategy to improve not only the physical well-being of the child, but also   their mental, and emotional health. This is in fact, the desire for all participants. 

BENEFITS: improved attachment, social & communication skills, confidence, gross & fine motor skills, balance, co-ordination, rhythm, concentration and trust in themselves and the world around them.

TESTIMONIALS

Toddlers learn about the world through observation and then use mimicry to begin learning new skills, such as language, behaviour, and how to respond to their environment and situation. So be aware: YOU ARE BEING OBSERVED ALL THE TIME BY YOUR TODDLER. 

BONDING - When your child imitates your behaviour they have an immediate empathetic response. So copying you as you talk on the phone, your mannerisms, when you laugh at a joke, or are upset watching a sad movie etc, is an act of bonding. As the adage goes, “Children learn from what they observe and experience, not just what they’re told”. They’re putting themselves in your shoes. (I loved wearing my mum’s high heels as a child, so this can occur literally too!)

Children learn through observing others, especially their primary caregivers, therefore, helping your child to imitate you is an important goal. But what about you imitating and copying them? 

In these workshops the adult is encouraged to copy and ‘follow’ the child’s movement as they dance, mimic the rhythm the child creates with musical instruments, plus many more interactive exercises. 

Dan Wuori, senior director of early learning at The Hunt Institute, suggested this interaction of the parent/caregiver copying the child, helps “light up” a baby’s brain, which in turn helps the brain’s development. He term for this is “serve and return”, (like in a tennis match).

“Serve and return entails back and forth interaction between the adult and child”. “As the two participate in this mutual exchange, neural connections are strengthened that support the development of baby’s communication and social skills” said Wuori. 

According to Harvard University’s Centre on the Developing Child, these ‘serve and return’ interactions shape brain architecture, help build relationships, and their absence “is a serious threat to a child’s development and well-being”. 

By the end of the courses, parents and caregivers accumulate different skills and tools they can add to their toolbox, to deepen the attachment and bonds between them and their child.

'Superarts has always been dedicated to working with children through dance & theatre, and supporting the creative potential of every child regardless of race, culture, socio-economic or religious background'.