Music for babies can be great fun. It is also proving increasingly popular – with the national Music Group Musical Minis groups approaching their 5,000th customer. Two of those customers are Emma and Georgia Flynn. Here their mum, Cathie, who was so impressed she bought a franchise, tells her story.

Looking for something to do with my twin daughters Emma and Georgia I was scanning through the local paper when I spotted an advert for a music group for babies and toddlers called Musical Minis. I rang up and located a class fairly near and decided to give it a go. I was unsure so took my husband (Billy) with me to get the lie of the land and was delighted to hear the sound of children laughing and the banging of drums emanating from the open window. I have to say our first visit was not a great success as the normally sociable pair decided to become very clingy and refused to be put down on the floor let alone join in. I had a great time though – playing musical statues and singing Incy Wincy Spider. It’s great to go along to a sing-song and know all the words already as our nursery tapes had prepared me for this. At the second session Emma got quite interested and managed to join in a bit although Georgia still clung to Daddy with her head buried in his shoulder. Jill and Shirley who were running the sessions were really nice and very understanding, carrying on with the other children but still managing to encourage us. The third session Billy refused to come saying he could not see the point of it if the girls were not going to join in. I thought (especially as I had such a good time myself) that I would try again and took them on my own. Well, this time, without the devoted attention of Daddy, Georgia decided that it may be fun to join in after all! Emma sang along and shook the tambourines like a veteran and I have to say that the girls have come on in leaps and bounds since then. I am so glad that I decided to persevere. Emma and Georgia know so many songs all the way through now and their confidence has definitely improved. When I looked into it I found out that the format was calculated to aid development and that we weren’t just having a good time but were learning to do things like interact, concentrate and share at the same time!

Proof of the pudding came for me when I took Emma to dancing class for the first time. She was noticeably the youngest in the class but when asked to stand at the back of the room and sing a song she went with a flounce of her skirt and twirling round sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star all the way through. I could have burst with pride.

As for Georgia she sings the alphabet song through without any mistakes and knows all the verses to the Wheels on the Bus. I find myself grinning when she starts to sing in the back of the car and Emma joins in but with different words! They can keep Old Macdonald going for ages!

As for now – I enjoyed Musical Minis so much I bought the Franchise and have started my own classes around Merseyside.