Our previous Saturday class had ended & I was left with a day that B is used to having a class to do. I couldn’t find anything that suited, that was until I visited Panshanger Football Club to look around as a venue for B’s birthday.
I met Neil from TinyTykes Mid Herts, who kindly showed me around & gave me some fabulous details of his class. When I heard he did a class for B’s age (18 months to 4 years), I jumped at the chance.
TinyTykes Mid Herts Class Review
I won’t even lie, I was dreading this class as it is completely out of my comfort zone. I knew I had to forget about my nerves & get B there to see.
“TinyTykes is a Fundamental Development and Movement class – designed to focus on developing gross motor skills,
co-ordination and balance – through the medium of colour equipment (including footballs) and music.”
I really needn’t have worried, we were immediately greeted by Neil, B’s superb Footie coach, who instantly made B feel comfortable.
B was noticeably shy when we walked in but his interest was perked when Coach Charlie told B that he could kick all the balls & of course when he mentioned that B had a ‘good kick on him’. B absolutely loved the beginning part, I say beginning, no one else was really there so it was run around & do as you wish time! Which to B meant, lets kick all of the balls out of the circle & refuse to collect them!
I had to commend & praise Charlie on how amazing he was with B & how he boosted B’s confidence enough to at least TRY doing some of the tasks.
*Excuse the image, B wouldn’t stand still!*
When class started everyone was asked to get into ‘Coaches stance’, myself & B weren’t aware of what this meant but Neil showed us what to do. B’s balance isn’t quite there yet but he sure tried to stand as still as he could.
The warm up was great fun, I have to admit it was quite the work out even for me. B struggled a little with a few of the things that he was asked to do but Neil ran over, grabbed his hand & helped him along.
Other tasks like dribbling the ball proved a little hard for B as he decided that this was the day that he just wanted to BOOT the ball! Throughout the class Neil helped B along whenever he needed it.
I honestly cannot recommend TinyTykes Mid Herts enough, especially with Neil being such an amazing coach.
B thoroughly enjoyed his experience even with the struggles he had. Neil had previously mentioned skittles to B when we spoke about the class, it ended up being that B was in a mood because they didn’t have the skittle activity.
Little things please little ones hey!
However things soon looked up when the parachute was bought out & we got to sing songs! B found this hilarious, then when he heard the Hokey Cokey start.. His face literally lit up!!! It was a great ending to a fabulous class, this part is fantastic for kids this young. Its a bit of a wind down from the active part of the class.
TinyTykes itself is really good in the sense that they have a perfect balance of playing & learning. I felt B was learning new skills whilst having an absolute ball *Pardon the pun!* I find that this balance seems hard to perfect but this class is as close to absolute perfection as I’ve ever come across.
The fact that the little ones get a ‘development passport’, I find really adorable. I find B really gets excited by things like this & that he sees, in this case the sticker progression, as something to work towards.
Although nothing to do with TinyTykes Mid Herts themselves, it was really nice to go to a class & feel welcomed by the other parents rather than feeling judged & exceptionally awkward.
Neil, Charlie & franchise owner Emma were exceptionally welcoming also, I’ve routinely heard of people feeling unwelcome by teachers & I can tell you 100% you won’t feel that with TinyTykes Mid Herts.
We are heading back for another lesson this week & would love to see you there too,
Head on over to TinyTykes Mid Herts Facebook Page
&
For full information on classes & to book head to TinyTykes Mid Herts Website
*Please be aware they also do classes for older kids*
Oh this sounds like fun! We have something similar round here but I’ve never taken the children before. I love the sound of a development passport,
This looks like the perfect combination of learning and play – he looks like he is quite literally having a ball!
I’d love to take my son to something like this will see if they do something similar in my area.
This looks like loads of fun! B looks really happy 😀 I fully support anything that develops movement and motor skills! Sophie’s new thing is to “kick” everything so this may be a better idea than letting her loose in the house! x
This sounds like a great class and something a bit different! Toddler’s have a lot of energy, so TinyTykes would be perfect 🙂
Jamie would love this. We desperately need something like this where we live. I’m not surprised you’re heading back, it sounds great for him. I love a good bit of motor skill improving.
Sounds like a great class to be part of. Mine have always loved football.
We used to do Rugby Tots when the boys were younger and they loved it……no idea how the coaches have so much patience
I wish there had been something like this for my eldest to help him work on his ball skills and also wider social interactions like team games, he flourished when he started Beavers so would have helped earlier
These classes look so much fun and anything that gets kids active is brilliant
Aw how wonderful! So glad that Neil helped B feel more confident and that his balance is improving. Looking forward to next weeks update x
My daughters father would love this, he is super keen to get our little girl playnig football.
TinyTykes does sound like an absolute ball! We used to do rugby tots and like idea of playing, singing and learning in this class.
This sounds like lots of fun, I’ve never taken the kiddies to this before, will have to check it out 🙂