How The Rockstar Experience is Evolving Summer 2023 saw us embark on a few different adventures as we decided to create a new event for younger children that would put the focus on them while giving our older students more space to explore their musicality with people around their own age. We previously mixed age groups but we found that the older students preferred to work with people in their immediate age range, so, we hatched a cunning plan. The Undersea Ball held at St. Mary's Retreat Hall in Herne Bay and aimed at five to eight-year-olds was the solution and it proved to be a lot of fun. This was our first time running a dedicated children’s programme and we wanted to offer age appropriate content that would be delivered in an engaging, informative and enjoyable way and I’m really glad to report that we succeeded. We put a lot of time and effort into planning the event while keeping in mind that we wanted it to follow the same formula that’s worked so well for us with the older children. In doing so we aimed to create a natural progression from one age group to the next so that no matter which Rockstar Experience workshops people take part in the ethos and application will always feel completely familiar.
Under The Sea
The Undersea Ball encompassed lots of different subjects and tied them all up in one neat, fun package. The brief was to deliver a colourful musical show at the end of each week that would include parental participation so we chose thematic songs that we could adapt and that were simple enough for the youngsters to learn. We also chose songs with a strong sing-along feel. To support this we had day trips to the beach, paddled in the sea, turned rocks over to look at the little creatures living there (none were harmed or disturbed) and collected stones and shells with which to decorate the stage.
Over the four weeks the theme of each show changed but a few things that didn’t were the children’s enthusiasm and the parents’ involvement in the shows. We covered things like plastic pollution in the sea, beach safety, the arctic circle and changing weather patterns due to climate change.
It was kept light and the children really invested in it and this was evidenced by the inclusion of Makaton in their performances to help visitors with hearing impairments to enjoy the shows. Expertly led by Sherrie and Nat, they created stages which resembled an undersea grotto, a beach and snowy tundra and decorated them with a variety of sea creatures, seaweed, a submarine, an Orca and costumes which they made themselves. It looked great and seeing so many happy faces was a real pleasure.
To balance things out we took breaks at lunchtime and enjoyed platters of fresh fruit and vegetables, tasty wraps and a selection of snacks, played outside in the garden and at the end of each session we had quiet time where the tutors read a range of stories to the children.
The combination of arts and crafts with music was a real hit and the feedback from parents and carers was overwhelmingly positive but don't take our word for it, see some of the comments we recieved in the piccy below.
Given how well it went we’ll be offering age specific events from now on and for the younger ones we’ll follow this formula, offering different themed workshops which will focus on music, arts and crafts and education. We’re really proud of what was achieved at The Undersea Ball and grateful to everyone who took part in making it such a memorable and uniquely enjoyable set of events. It was fascinating to see how it evolved as the weeks went on while sticking to its core aims. This was only possible thanks to the adaptability of staff and children. We hope to see you again at Christmas as we tell a classic Xmas story through music and crafts.
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