Music time

Our kids love music. Perhaps it helps that our ayis love to sing - you can often hear an ayi softly singing her little one to sleep, or cheerfully singing a happy tune with a child at play. Music is always in the background here, but at certain times of the day, it definitely takes the foreground!
These are music times: when the ayis gather all the children together in the play room for a group session. The kids really seem to enjoy these crazy sing-a-longs. Sometimes the ayis lead, and other times they use recorded music. The children each respond in their own way - some clap along, some use toys to contribute to the volume, others sing or dance. The more active kids are usually a blur when music time is happening. These picture are from before Christmas, but they show the joy of music time so beautifully.

Hannah dancing with her whole heart!

Angels hands are just a blur as she claps along.

Some of our children have quite marked physical challenges, so it's hard to see that they are responding at all. But if you look closely, you can see that their little bodies are leaning forward to catch the sounds, or rocking gently to the rhythm. Music is great therapy for these kids - the melodies and rhythms often reach them more powerfully than language can.

This is Patience, having her own private music time. What a look of complete engagement! She is listening so intently. Her aural skills are developing, and who knew therapy could be such fun!