A local mum from Wokingham is launching a brand new business…Musical Minis Berkshire.

Rather than return to her previous role of Marketing Manager for England Hockey after the birth of her now 10-month-old son Ethan, Sara has chosen instead to run her own business offering developmental music classes for children aged between 0-5, encouraging participation in traditional nursery rhymes and songs with actions, puppets and a variety of musical instruments.

A recent Oxford University study has proven that children who sing nursery rhymes with their parents are much happier than those who don’t take part in any musical activities and, by becoming a ‘Musical Mini’, young boys and girls from new-borns to school starters will not only leave sessions with smiles on their faces but also benefit from increased attention spans and listening skills.

Commenting on her decision to start her own business Sara said, “It was very important to my husband Mark and I that I spent as much time as possible with Ethan in his first few years and returning full time to my previous role wasn’t going to make that feasible, so starting up Musical Minis Berkshire has given me the perfect platform to both spend quality time with my son and begin a fantastic new business venture, marrying work with motherhood. In the coming months, I also hope I can expand the business as I begin to recruit leaders to teach more classes and create employment for other Berkshire Mums who may be looking to earn extra income and achieve a similar work-life balance.”

Musical Minis was founded by child psychologist Karen Sherr 25 years ago when she couldn’t find a fun music class to attend with her own baby son. Having worked as a Play Specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Karen knew first-hand how important music and singing were and developed a programme which uses traditional nursery rhymes with accompanying puppets and musical instruments to help develop a range of skills including language development, co-ordination and social skills.

Sara says she has always loved working with children, frequently helping out in her mother’s Pre-School The Willows in Lower Earley while she was a pupil at Maiden Erlegh School and then latterly whilst studying for a first class degree in Linguistics at The University of Reading, so choosing this path was an easy decision to make.

“I’m really excited about starting up my own Musical Minis business and, using my marketing skills to let as many mums, dads, nannies, grannies and grandpas know about the classes, I can’t wait to welcome a new class of boys and girls to the first Musical Minis sessions in the county,” Sara said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the children and see them develop as we sing, dance and play our way through the first term of Musical Minis in Berkshire!’ Classes will begin in Wokingham and Warfield at the start of November 2014. Speak to Sara on 0118 977 6407 or email her at sara@musicalminis.co.uk to book into classes.