Dulwich OnView

Dulwich is an ideal place to bring up children in London. With all the activities and groups for mums and toddlers on offer, being a new mum can be an exciting and social time.

Actress and Perform Workshop Leader, Anna Stolli, tells Dulwich OnView about Mini P’s, an innovative class for babies and toddlers.

In the little back room of St Barnabus Barnabas Church hall, Dulwich Village, mums and their babies are having a magical time. At the beginning of the class they sit on bright green mats and are enthralled when the teacher takes a bright green, cute and cuddly creature called Mini P out of a giant, green pod and sings the Hello song. Mini P is actually a puppet and the teacher uses him as a prop to excite and amuse the children. He quite often tumbles off his pod and onto the floor, which even the tiniest baby finds hysterical. In the ‘Talkers’ class during the storytelling section, he goes on a weekly adventure and then encourages the children to solo-speak a line in front of the class such as, “My name is Caitlin and my favourite colour is red”. A real achievement which prompts huge applause from the other children and parents.

Mini P’s is a movement, music and make-believe class for babies and toddlers. The class incorporates very catchy original songs, poems, storytelling, physical warm ups and games done to music, musical instruments and, the most fun of all for any child, bubbles!

The idea to start Mini P’s came about after parents attending Perform Drama Workshops for 4-8 year olds started asking for something for their younger siblings. Lucy Quick, founder of these drama, dance and singing workshops realised that there was room in the market for a class which, like her workshops for older children, was an all round creative and educational experience, rather than focusing on either music or storytelling or movement as many of the existing classes did.

There are three levels, Starters, Walkers and Talkers and the children are separated according to ability rather than age, which means that your child will progress at his or her own pace.

We have found that the children are responding brilliantly to this kind of stimulation in their early years and the classes really encourage their overall development. Also, mothers have said it’s an invaluable part of their week meeting other new mums from all kinds of backgrounds and having fun with their child.

I think Mini P’s is brilliant because the classes are fresh; they’re exciting and entertaining as well as being creatively and educationally stimulating. Our teachers are highly trained in the Mini P’s style and as a company we believe in termly training sessions to keep our standards consistently high. The teachers are all CRB checked and on top of this, are professionally trained actors so the adventures which Mini P goes on and the songs we learn really come to life.

Mini P’s are currently offering a FREE trial class which can be booked by calling the office on: 0845 400 4000. For more information, see the website: www.minips.org.uk. Classes are held at St Barnabus Church Hall, 40 Calton Avenue, Dulwich, London, SE21 7DG on Wednesday mornings.