My name is Harriet Thomas (the one with the brown hair). 20 years ago I was a penniless singer-songwriter and loving mother to a beautiful baby girl. Pretty soon I was helping out in the local family centre in Balham, London where we lived. Because of my musical background I would often lead the singing during circle time and pretty soon I realised that if I had to sing Incy Wincy Spider one more time, I would have to go outside into the street and scream! (Remember I was a Mum with a young toddler so I probably hadn’t had much sleep either!) So what did I do to alleviate the medical condition known to parents of young children as Wheels on the Bus Fatigue? I started to write some new songs, taking my inspiration from my children – by now I had 2 beautiful girls – and from the families and children I saw every day at the family centre. (Link to 2c to find out more about the music). I started to lead music sessions for families with under-fives. I was still a penniless singer/songwriter, so instead of buying a load of fancy instruments for my music sessions, I looked around my flat and using the usual array of empty plastic bottles and baby milk tins that any young parent may have lying about, I set about creating a homemade percussion kit that was child-friendly, fun to use and cost next-to-nothing (link to 2d). I recruited some musician/performer friends and Boogie Mites music workshops were born. We started private groups for parents and children at South London libraries and Children’s Centres and visited nursery schools to lead regular music sessions in the area.
The years have flown and my beautiful baby girl just got 3 A stars in her A levels and a First in her degree. Meanwhile my youngest daughter is following in the footsteps of Leona Lewis and Katie Melua and is studying music at the London’s famous Brit School. Now I’m not saying that their early and constant exposure to music can be directly linked to their successful school careers but evidence suggests that it surely helped a lot.
My other “baby”, Boogie Mites, has grown too. I little imagined when I wrote ‘Clap Clap Clap’, my first song for children, that 20 years later that same song would be featured on the British Council and Education City websites and be sung by children from Tennassee to Toledo. If you had told me 20 years ago that one day there would be thousands of UK early years settings singing Boogie Mites songs every day, that I would be lecturing in British Universities about how to use music to support young children’s development or that children in India, Australia, Asia, Dubai and all over Europe would be singing Boogie Mites songs, I simply would not have believed you. Of course Boogie Mites is not just me now. I have my business partner Sue Newman, keeping me and my crazy ideas in check and an incredible team of Trainers and Tutors and Licensees whose skill, passion and commitment to music education and to enriching the lives of the families and teachers they work with, simply blows me away.
After a senior business management role in London, I took a career break to look after my two young boys. I took my boys along to Harriet’s fabulous Boogie Mites sessions in Southfields Library and we loved every minute. Music had been a big part of my childhood. I have always enjoyed singing in choirs and find music the most wonderfully uplifting of activities. When we moved to Portsmouth, I was disappointed to discover the lack of inspiring, music activities for children. So, I got in touch with Harriet and began to trial some Boogie Mites style sessions in the local church hall. I quickly saw how the Boogie Mites songs and activities not only entertained and engaged children and adults but also supported the development of the children, particularly benefiting communication and social skills. I read up on the EYFS and the research behind the benefits of music making in early years – and was amazed to find the evidence of how music is magic for boosting early brain development – why didn’t I know this!?…. and if I didn’t then other parents didn’t either. I started linking Boogie Mites music workshops to early years development and compiling programmes specific to stage / focus of development. I expanded the Portsmouth team when we were awarded a City wide Children’s Centre contract, recruiting early years and SEN specialist teachers who contributed to writing the notes supporting our programmes. We were lucky to work with Portsmouth Early Years Service to develop a programme to support the roll out of Letters and Sounds Phase 1. We delivered training to the 500+ Early Years practitioners in the City and the impact was amazing, they loved it.
And so our mission became…
To offer all early years families and practitioners the knowledge, resources and confidence to harness the brain boosting fun of active music making each and every day.
