Do you have a star in the making? Find out at Debutots!

I took my son Felix to Debutots this afternoon and it was really good fun! He was a little on the young side I think (he's 2yrs 2 months and most of the kids there were around three I think), so he was a little uncertain at first but was really enjoying it by the end.

Even though he doesn't have as vivid an imagination as a lot of the older kids and was a little uncertain of what was going on at first, he's at that age now where he's starting to engage in more imaginative play, and after a little while of hanging back and watching the other kids he started to join in and was actually pretty good at it all.

The class was very freeform with the kids deciding on the direction it took. Obviously there was a structure to it but it seemed to follow the kids rather than having them stick to a rigid plan. The story this week was about an elephant, so the kids were encouraged to pretend to be animals, stomp around the room, explore a zoo etc. The kids who had been there the previous week certainly remembered things they had done prior as one decided he would be a dinosaur!

It looked like madness, but was so much fun. I think it will give the kids involved a real confidence boost and certainly help them use their imaginations, as well as providing some ideas for us Mums for games to play with them. Felix spent the whole journey home telling me about various colour dinosaurs that were hiding in different places we passed while I just looked like a nutter.

Debutots is held every Monday from 1.45 until 2.45pm at the Palace Theatre in Westcliff. See here for more details.

By Louise Ford, louise@essexmums.org