Little Learners

1mth - 10yrs

About Little Learners

Little Learners is a multi award-winning children’s activity provider which offers educational messy play classes for babies to preschoolers. It was created and founded by a qualified primary teacher who designed an innovative mark making programme following the journey of four fun characters – ‘The Mark Makers‘. Children focus on one character each week at Little Learners messy play classes. Messy play, painting, play dough, scribbling, dance and more are used to encourage children to mark make and learn early writing skills through play. Classes, parties and events are offered and Little Learners also undertake work in schools and early years settings. At Little Learners your child will be encouraged to use hands, fingers, feet and toes to make marks which will help to strengthen their core muscles and develop their gross and fine motor skills. These skills are vital for holding and controlling a pencil and letter and number formation when they reach school age. Our aim is to make writing fun and encourage every child to MAKE THEIR MARK!

What we offer

Arts & Crafts

Educational

Parent & Baby/Toddler

Play

Where to find us

About our classes

The Mark Making Programme

Mark Making is the first step towards writing. When your child starts to make scribbles, patterns and different shapes, this is ‘mark making’. It is the very first step towards writing. Your child explores, experiments and expresses themselves through the marks they make. They begin to assign meaning to their marks, which sparks creativity and exploration. Children can mark make in many different ways: pen and paper, painting, ‘messy play’ or even drawing in the sand on the beach. All of these methods provide opportunities for children to explore a range of tools too such as paintbrushes, chalks, pencils and their bodies. The benefits of mark making are huge. Your child’s fine motor skills will develop and strengthen in preparation for writing. It is our view at Little Messy Learners that the more that children have fun mark making and developing their motor skills, the more prepared and confident they will be when it comes to writing at school. In our mark making programme, our four Mark Maker characters represent the four main marks that help to form all letters, numbers, shapes and patterns: a straight line, curve, circle and a zig-zag.

Messy Play

Messy play, painting, play dough, scribbling and more are used to encourage children to make marks and learn early writing skills through play. For babies this is a sensory medley with different textures brought along each week. During our classes your child will be encouraged to use their hands, fingers, feet and toes to make marks, this will help to strengthen their core muscles and develop their gross and fine motor skills. These skills are vital for holding and controlling a pencil and letter and number formation when they reach school age. At Little Learners we encourage parents and carers to be involved in their child's learning as much as they can, and most of all have lots of fun. We provide a variety of fun, hands on activities for you and your child to explore together and learn how to make marks. These classes are designed for children aged 5 months to 5 years. So come join us in making mess, marks and memories!

Locations

Little Learners - South Colchester, Colchester

Colchester, CO2

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