Arts and crafts with the under fives can bring the best of us out in a cold sweat!
You spend ages setting up and prepping the much anticipated activity for the kids to dab a bit of paint or sprinkle a bit of glitter and walk off to find something else to do.
If you do manage to capture their imagination and they get really into their task this can then result in every spare inch of your home covered in every craft material you could think of.
I have mellowed a lot over the years and no longer worry about the mess. Yes there is a lot of effort but as long as the children are enjoying themselves and learning something new it’s worth that bit of time. This said to be able to go along to a session where all the prep and mess is taken care off it couldn’t be passed up.
I went along to try out Monkey Bean which is a craft based class for the under fives where the emphasis is on the children being allowed to make their master pieces in a relaxed environment where the parents can have as much or as little input as needed.
On arrival you are greated with a warm welcome by the bubbly Mum and daughter team who make the children feel at ease with a friendly song to introduce each child. There is a cosy section with toys set up that the wanders amongst them are free to pop over and play with.
This weeks theme was princes and princesses so the boys had the choice of a Knight’s shield or a fairytale princess hat to decorate. They opted for the shields and whist number four sat there intently decorating his shield number five was backwards and forwards like a yo yo!
There eyes lit up when a large tray of glitter was bought out to finish off their masterpieces.
To round off the session and to allow time for their artwork to dry off the children all come back to the matted area for some songs with musical instruments.
Both boys had a fantastic time and will be going back next week to make some Mr Bloom themed goodies.
If you are looking for something a little different to the usual soft play type sessions that are the norm for this age group then this is the place to go.
There are sessions at both The Caterham Arms in Caterham and Pistachios In The Park in Banstead. Both of which have good parking facilities and refreshments available.
Give Monkey Bean a like on Facebook to see what great activities they have coming up and to have a nose at some of the creations that have already been made.
We visited Monkey Bean today to review the session and here are my own honest opinions.