Sounds Like This Musical Play for Clever Brains

we love this so much! Thank you for sharing Victorian Parents Council

KEEPING CHILDREN CURIOUS, CREATIVE AND CONFIDENT THROUGH OFFERING THE ADVENTUROUS CHILDHOOD THEY DESERVE - DEVELOPING PHYSICAL LITERACY

“A playground designer from Scotland just told me something that will change how you think about playground safety.

After working with schools across the UK installing natural playgrounds full of logs, mounds, balance beams and "trip hazards," Learning Through Landscapes compared the accident books.

Everyone expected accidents to go up.
They didn't. They went down.

Matt Robinson told me:
"We had more minor scuffs and scrapes, but serious accidents dropped because children slowed down and learned physical literacy."

Think about that.

We design flat, boring spaces because we think they're safer. Yet when children have nothing to engage with, they run faster, take bigger risks and hurt themselves more.

Instead, when they installed the "dangerous" natural elements, something unexpected happened:
Children slowed down. They navigated carefully. They developed physical skills.

Then Matt made a point that stayed with me:
"If flat mown grass was the goal, we should have just designed flat mown grass."
But that's not the goal.

The goal is children who are capable, confident and physically literate. Children who know how to assess risk, not avoid it.

When we design spaces that look safe on paper, we rob children of the very experiences that actually make them safer.

Safety isn't about removing all challenge. It is about giving children the chance to learn how to navigate it.

What would change in your playground if you stopped designing for flat mown grass?

Link to the full episode with Matt Robinson below

Source: Lucas Ritson, Playground Designer, Educator, TEDex Speaker

The full episode with Matt Robinson, Scotland Director of Learning Through Landscapes here: https://youtu.be/cZGOHmE0Cuo?si=VOHuldlMwDswpztp

Hello, hello, hello, Families 💛
Well… this is one of those posts carrying ALL the feels.

After years of singing, dancing, connecting, music-making, and watching your wonderfully unique youngsters grow before our eyes…
Sounds Like This’ Mornington studio will officially close its doors on Thursday 25 June.
Big feelings over here too. But while this chapter is closing… another beauty is beginning.
Over the past few years, I’ve become deeply obsessed with one question: “How do we help EVEN more children thrive?” And the answer kept circling back to the incredible educators showing up for young people every single day. So that’s exactly where Sounds Like This is heading next

✨ We’re shifting our focus toward mentorships, masterclasses, keynote speaking, and specialised programs for educators — bringing brain-changing music-making into real classrooms and centres. The same weird and wonderful energy you know and love… just on a MUCH bigger canvas. Because when educators stop second-guessing themselves around music… that’s where children’s language, regulation, confidence, and connection start growing in all sorts of wondrous ways.

🎶 Your Class Passes 🎶
Mixed Age sessions run until June 25. We'd love to see you before we close our studio doors!
Use your passes, book casually, or join us for one last sing. We'll contact anyone with remaining credit, and unused passes can be transferred to future offerings.
Our online Family Music Club is here to stay! 🎵

To every family who has ever walked through our studio doors: Thank you will never quite feel big enough. You trusted us with your clever humans, your growing brains, your joy, your chaos, your vulnerable moments, and your families. And that has meant absolutely everything. Big love to you and yours. Always 💛 Julie x

Same session.
Same day.
Completely different outcomes.

One group was calm, connected, and engaged.
The other felt loud, chaotic, hard to settle.

The difference wasn’t the children.

It was what the adults were doing.

When educators are chatting over the session or sitting on the outside, children lose the thread.

They don’t know where to focus.
They don’t feel held in the experience.

And everything becomes harder than it needs to be.

What makes the difference is actually simple.

Sit in with the children.
Join in, don’t observe from the side.
Model what you want them to do.
Listen and let the moment land.

Your presence sets the tone.

When educators are engaged, children engage.
When educators are steady, children settle.

If sessions have been feeling a bit chaotic, this is a good place to start.

Music is one of the most powerful tools you have in your centre.

It supports connection.
Language development.
Regulation.

But without confidence, it doesn’t get used in a way that really makes an impact.

You’ll see it.

It gets skipped.
Used occasionally.
Or saved for “special moments”.

Not because your educators don’t value it
but because they haven’t been shown how to use it in a simple, practical way.

That’s where the right support makes all the difference.

Our PD workshops are designed to be clear, practical, and immediately usable.

Your team will walk away with:
• Songs and activities they can use straight away
• Confidence to lead and adapt in the moment
• A clear understanding of how music supports development

So it stops feeling like something extra
and starts becoming part of everyday practice.

If you’re ready to build confidence across your team in a way that actually sticks, get in touch to learn more.

Music shouldn’t feel like an “extra” in your centre

But for many educators, it does.

Not because they don’t value it
but because they don’t feel confident using it.

So it gets skipped.
Or used inconsistently.
Or saved for “special moments”.

And in that gap, opportunities for connection, language, and regulation are missed.

Your team doesn’t need more theory.
They need to see what it looks like.

Simple, practical, ready-to-use.

That’s exactly what **Music Making Made Easy** offers.

Over 40 short demonstration and explainer videos
Clear songs and rhymes educators can use straight away
Scaffolded content to support all age groups
Direct links to EYLF outcomes and a complete songbook

So your educators feel confident.
Your children stay engaged.
And music becomes part of everyday practice.

If you’re ready to make music a consistent, meaningful part of your centre, get in touch to learn more.

Some moments look like this.

Two kids needing you at once.
Everyone talking, climbing, pulling.
And you doing your best to hold it together… and maybe even smile through it.

This is motherhood.

Beautiful, overwhelming, relentless, and a lot to carry on your own.

Mama Sing is a place where you don’t have to hold it all.

You can arrive exactly as you are.
Kids in your lap.
Chaos and all.

No expectations.
No pressure to have it together.

Just a space to breathe.
To be supported.
To sit in a room where everyone gets it.

A gentle moment in the week that’s just as much for you as it is for them.

Our next circle is this Sunday.

You don’t need to wait for things to feel easier.
You’re welcome exactly as you are.

Sometimes when a session feels a bit off, it didn’t actually start there.

It started before.

On the way in.
In what was promised.
In what children thought was going to happen.

And when that’s unclear, you feel it straight away.

Kids can come in heightened, unsettled, unsure.
Not because they’re being difficult, but because they don’t feel grounded yet.

What makes the biggest difference is actually pretty simple.

Let them know what’s coming.
Stick to it.
Keep things steady.

That predictability is what helps them settle.
It’s what helps them trust the space, and you.

You don’t need to do more.
Just be a bit more intentional with the lead-in.

It really does change everything.

If you want calmer, smoother sessions, we can show you how.