Classes in nurseries

What is Pyjama Drama?

Pyjama Drama provides unique drama based classes for babies, toddlers and children up to seven years old. The sessions are packed full of drama games and activities, original songs and music, movement and role-play; all of which develop key skills in children, such as confidence, communication, co-operation and creative thinking.  We work with nurseries across the UK to complement and enhance the range of activities they offer to their children.

What happens in our classes

In each class children sing and dance, play games and of course get involved in lots of role play and pretending. Every week we explore a different theme and have literally hundreds of sessions covering a wide range of topics - one week we may visit the jungle, the next take the baby dragon to hospital and the week after that set sail on a pirate ship in search of buried treasure. Our innovative approach to drama means that wherever possible we encourage children to take an active role within the drama we create (yes, even babies as young as six months!) and where appropriate to lead the direction of the drama themselves, meaning that no two sessions are ever the same.

We offer three different preschool classes each developed to excite and inspire children as they grow:

• Dewdrops for babies who are just beginning to learn about and explore the world around them.
• Raindrops for older toddlers who are starting to explore their burgeoning imaginations.
• Rainbows for preschool children in their imaginative prime.

We would never deliver classes with a wide age range of children in it - we know from experience that the benefits for children are far more superior when activities have been especially developed for their specific developmental stage.In addition, we don't use 'off-the-shelf' library music, all our songs have been written specifically to integrate with the drama and role-play and parents and nurseries tell us frequently how much the children love this aspect of the sessions.

Our teachers are passionate about delivering excellence at every level and it is for this reason that we limit our class sizes in nurseries to sixteen.

The benefits of the programme

Anyone who spends any amount of time with young children understands that providing them with opportunities for play provides so much more than a few minutes or hours of ‘fun’. Play also allows children to relax, let off steam, develops social skills such as concentration and co-operation, encourages the development of the imagination, develops motor skills and teaches self expression. Our play based programme which encourages children to play creatively and imaginatively is the perfect compliment to the nursery day and nursery managers and their staff tell us time and again how much their children gain from visits from Pyjama Drama...

'Pyjama Drama has been visiting our nursery for a number of years now and everyone adores it. I have never come across an activity class that is quite so unique.'
Honi Langford Archer,  Manager at Brookfield Day Nursery

'Pyjama Drama is an amazing concept and children soon become engrossed in the different sessions. Sara is very capable in her delivery and helps children to become involved with the format of the class and really brings the different themes to life. I would recommend this class.'
Sarah, Manager at Springwood Nursery

 'Our children have always really enjoyed the Pyjama Drama sessions at nursery. Sessions are always fun, imaginative and of course, full of drama!'
Rachel, Deputy Manager at Littleworld Nursery

'Our nursery children have attended Pyjama Drama classes for six years and both children and staff love every minute. It's amazing to see the very shy children suddenly light up as they become involved in the drama and to see the more confident children begin to learn the importance of sharing and taking turns.'
Julia, Manager at Park Lane Nursery

‘I have been a long time admirer of the work of Pyjama Drama and we regularly book classes for the playgroup children, and have done so for many years. The mix of drama, music and play is guaranteed to encourage even the shyest of children to join in.’
Jane Howells, Chairperson of Wales preschool playgroups association & Manager at Ysgol Ardwyn Playgroup

The National Curriculum

The entire Pyjama Drama programme has been written and developed by an experienced former drama teacher, herself a Mum to three young children. The programme has been designed to support the current requirements of the National Curriculum in England and Northern Ireland (The Foundation Stage), in Wales (The Foundation Phase) and in Scotland (The Curriculum for Excellence), ensuring that young children develop the skills and understanding to progress happily and successful though nursery and through their early years at school.

For more detailed information about how our programme supports the National Curriculum please ask your nearest class teacher for a copy of our Nursery Booklet.

How we can work with you

We can visit your nursery on a weekly basis, every few weeks or on special occasions; at Christmas, Easter, on Valentines day or Halloween for example. Our teachers can deliver classes to one specific age group or deliver all three classes either every week or on a rolling programme. For those nurseries who offer afterschool or holiday clubs we can also teach our Sunbeams programme for children from 5 to 7 years.

It will take our teachers no more than two minutes to set up for a Pyjama Drama class - all we need is a space free from obstacle and a plug point to play our music from. We don't use props or costumes as we don't need them - all we need to create magical, exciting, fun-packed drama session, is a child’s imagination. Even in our classes for babies when we use some simple play equipment, our main resource is the teacher themselves; their voice, body language and facial expressions is all they really need to bring a story, a drama, an imaginary world to life.

Naturally all our leaders extremely experienced, fully CRB checked and have had extensive training. They will work closely with you to ensure that the children, your staff and parents get the very best out of having Pyjama Drama visit your nursery.

Would you like to find out more?

If you would like to find out more about how Pyjama Drama could work with your nursery, please find contact details of your nearest class leader here or email enquiries@pyjamadrama.com. We hope to see you in nursery very soon, but in the meantime why not trying playing some Pyjama Drama games in your setting? Have fun!