Tommy Tumble Town

At Tommy Tumble Town, we are dedicated to fostering young minds through a distinctive mix of imaginative role play and educational classes, with a focus on communication and developing a love of reading

Why Role Play?

Most importantly role play is FUN! I mean who doesn’t want to imagine themselves as someone else for a little while?! What is less known about role play is that it is very beneficial in the way our children learn and explore the world which, in turn, helps them become successful and functioning adults.

Role play helps children become more confident, use their imagination and creativity and engage in physical activity, which ultimately has a positive influence on these parts of child development.

Why do we develop a love of reading?

Learning to read is important, we all know that, but being read to frequently as a child is important for many reasons. Being read to has astonishing benefits for children: comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. Giving a child time and full attention when reading them a story tells them they matter. It builds self-esteem, vocabulary, feeds imagination and even improves their sleeping patterns...that is a win for sure!

At Tommy Tumble Town, at the end of each role play session, children will be invited into ‘Louie’s Library’ for a snack and a story, read by a member of staff. These stories will be fun and engaging, will feature Makaton signs and there may even be a prop or two.

Why do we focus on communication?

As children interact with one another and take on different roles, they are trying to express themselves freely with the use of a colourful vocabulary. Through this, they learn from each other, which has a positive impact on their listening abilities and giving other people attention.

Sometimes children will start developing language that is completely based on fantasy or enhance their language skills by using words they picked up from adults.

This ultimately enhances communication skills and encourages children to lead conversations in real-life situations.

At Tommy Tumble Town we incorporate Makaton, a communication programme that uses signs and symbols, into the role play areas and into our story time sessions. Young children will find a way to communicate long before they can communicate verbally and we want to help equip children with the skills to communicate without and/or before words. Communicating through Makaton isn’t a replacement for words, the signs complement communication and enable children to be able to communicate with others who may struggle verbally.

It can be very frustrating for children, and especially babies, who are unable to communicate their needs. Simple tasks can become very difficult and leave children frustrated and isolated. Using Makaton with a child can allow them to get their needs across effectively and help them to interact with the world around them.