"Littlemagictrain is a brilliant resource. All of the information you need is part of the pack, it has all been written for you, al you have to do is follow it. Our children and staff love it so much we used one of the stories as a basis for our Christmas Play. The children have used it so much now they know what is coming, they get so excited and join in with repeated refrains. Even the youngest children recognise the music once it comes on and are ready to move along with the story. Absolutely recommend it to everyone."
Nikki Pargeter, St Thomas Day Nursery, Oxford.
The little magic train is a wonderful piece of work, it encourages the imagination to bloom, using lovely material, music and props to entertain and engage those little minds. We at nanna maggs childcare are and will be using this model to encourage independent play through use of language and imagination. Toot toot!
Beautifully put together and enables us to adapt our settings to encourage a delivery of education, language, literature and music.
Nanna Maggs Childcare, Rochdale.
We have almost completed our Looking for Pandas adventure. The little ones I look after have been so engaged and the programme is very easy to adapt to different needs. The drama is exciting to the children, gets them moving as they learn and keeps the childrenās attention. The pangolin section was particularly fun and gave everyone a giggle. The extra materials such as the creative ideas and sensory materials are great but my favourite is the story train that helps teach them to retell the story. We are very excited to continue tomorrow. Canāt wait to do another one.
Soar Childcare, Bishop's Stortford.
Gina is amazing, we always use her resources here at sandyfeet. The involvement, support and engagement she us is phenomenal. She's always at the end of the phone if we need or want something. She is also so encouraging with staff with amazing patients.
Sandy Feet Nursery, Port Talbot, Wales.
Engaging, fun, exciting and informative. Gina brings an energy that allows all children to feel part of the activity and allows adults to see them in a different light. The children talked about going on the adventure after the session and incorporated it into their free play. Littlemagictrain activities tap into the children's love of learning, being active and joining in with new situations. A fantastic session for all involved. Thank you so much.
Fabulous initiative to use within our setting, all our Children really enjoy going on different adventures, expanding their imagination and communication. Building their confidence within play.
It is also easy to adapt to our own personal setting and Children.
Little Peeps Flying Start Playgroup, Wales.
The little magic train is awesome. It has added an extra dimension to our kindergarten Education. The Children thoroughly love the sessions as all the sessions are loaded with information, fun activities, music ... etc. Gina and her team are very passionate, committed and supportive in imparting the training. Would definitely recommend!
St. Thomas School, Villivakkam.
The Little Magic Train are incredible with what they do. We decided to implement their 'Imagine Sessions' into our holiday camps and wraparound care settings with training from Gina. The children absolutely love the sessions and the training was fun, energetic and insightful. If your looking for unique and meaningful childcare activities, this is the place to go!
School of Play, Manchester.
"The woodland walk adventure has been taken very well by the children. They have loved it. Really responded. We have done the woodland walk since January we have just finished the last building session this week and children have proudly taken home certificates. I am so pleased with how much they've engaged with it and with our young age bracket and our range of ages I did worry as if it would engage them, but I'm pleased to see how well they "got it" and how well they responded. Lots of observations and allowing children to participate in a circle time activity where those children normally steer away from structured storytelling".
To quote one of my little ones "Where will Pete take us next?"Ā
Little Inspirations Nursery, Barry, Wales.
What the parents said: "****** looks like she's absolutely loving life." and "***** loved this activity and spoke a lot about it at home."
Peachcroft Preschool, Abingdon.
āThe big children have been going on their magic train adventures, theyāre really enjoying it. When we take the little ones outside they meet us in the garden & tell us where they went and what they did. It's a really good group activity.āĀ
St Thomas Day Nursery, Oxford.
Outstanding! The Little Magic Train sessions offer such great value for money and have added an extra dimension to our Early Years provision. Not to the mention, the children absolutely love the trips to see the dinosaurs or into outer space!
Gina has such an infectious personality and delivers the training with so much passion & energy, you can't help but be inspired to do the same with the children.
Would definitely recommend!
āOne of the Teeny Tots activities my daughter thoroughly enjoyed was the Littlemagictrain which was great for all the children to get involved with by using their imagination. Even some of us adults had fun joining in with the Littlemagictrain and I would have to say that this was by far the best activity for my Teeny Tot.ā
Butlinās Skegness, Teeny Tots Review posted by Mimiroseandme.com
āLittlemagictrain: We were really impressed with this; it was so simple but really captured the childrenās imaginations. The children went on a magical imaginative journey on a train.ā
Chopsy Baby Butlins Diary, Chopsybaby.com
āAt Abacus we are very lucky to be taking part in magic train sessions via zoom. I can not thank Gina enough, the staff and children all look forward to our weekly sessions. Seeing the childrenās faces light up each week is magical, this magic is then transferred to their parents on collection. Thank you Gina!!!ā Juliette
Juliette, Abacus Nursery, Swansea, Wales.
āI thoroughly enjoyed this training and loved Ginaās experience and enthusiasm. I look forward to helping other staff and children enjoy this magical and wonderful experience.ā Jacqueline.
Jacqueline, Cwtsh Nursery, Wales.
āFantastic training, tailored to exactly what we needed. Ginaās enthusiasm is infectious and staff canāt wait to get on board with the children and begin their magical adventures! Highly recommend.ā
āWeāve been using Littlemagictrain for over 6 years now and the adults and the children love it! Weāve evolved it a little bit over the years, as weāve become more familiar with it, and we definitely have some favourite places to visit with āSimonā!
Our pre-school has children aged from just 2 until nearly 5 and so itās been important to us to have something we can use and adapt to suit all ages and the needs of each cohort. In fact, itās become so popular with the children that they wanted to be involved once they reached Reception class, so much so that we organised shared PE sessions in the hall including children up to 7!
The staff always join in, and I can honestly say itās one of the best products weāve ever invested inā¦ no parts to break, and nothing for the children to argue over!
In fact, I just have to blow his whistle, and everyone knows that Simon is ready and waiting to take us on another adventure ā all aboard!ā
Nicky Sanford, Early Years Teacher, Marcham Pre-school, Oxford.
āI know that most parents really enjoy a music or singing session, and some enjoy a dancing group ā but I was noticing that the Littlemagictrain provides the whole deal with imagination and attention/understanding at different levels also thrown into the whole gambit! What a superb concept. So- a quick reply to say that I think the programme is superb and although I am still at the learning stages ā even if I make a little error, it seems to flow and the children, in the long run, will be benefitting from improved listening skills, physical coordination, communication and language skills, a love of being in a group ā maybe as a leader improving self-confidence or as a participating member of a group, learning turn taking. All these skills can enable an easier transition for young children to start at a preschool setting or foundation stage and help support the wonder of learning and the next steps.ā Barbara Crowther, Oxford.
Barbara Crowther, Education and Early Intervention Team.
āEverybody loves Simon the little train and it is so easy to run a session. Even children who do not usually like role play have been joining in. We would definitely recommend it to other groups.ā Mary.
Mary, Adam & Eveās Kindergarten.
āLittlemagictrain has been a welcome addition to our activities at Fingers and Thumbs. The children really love the story about the three bears and everybody takes part in all aspects of the session. They get so excited when we visit the three bearās house! The session covers all areas of development and the children have learned so much without actually being aware of the learning processes which are taking place. The pack is also well laid out and it been really easy for staff to carry out the activities with the children. I am very glad I purchased the pack and look forward to the sessions each weekā.
Caroline, Manager, Fingers and Thumbs, Coity, Wales.
āLittlemagictrain has helped children to develop their confidence and desire to communicate, describe, understand, and use new vocabulary. Each session engages all the children in the group and promotes language development through movement, imagination, and play. By week 6 I observed clear improvement in attention, memory, and narrative skills.ā
Liz Shoreman, Senior Speech and Language Therapist and Manager, The Speech Bubble.
āI was at one of the settings yesterday, and they have run LMT sessions since last weeks training every day. We did a session with the children and the absolutely loved it. They already knew the music, and actions and there was genuine excitement when the train was mentioned. Sammy did a fantastic job leading the train, and was excellent as the lead storyteller!ā
Gary Mahoney, Best Start Swansea, Wales.
āThank you for the training last night. Iām a childminder so look after different ages every day, we follow the foundation phase and this can easily be slotted into our day or week plan. Thanks again.ā
āWe have just started with the programme, three sessions and the children were totally engaged so thumbs up from us!ā
Karen, Manager, Herstmonceux Pre-School.
Littlemagictrain is a programme I would highly recommend for a setting and at home. The programme is amazing as it helps to build on the children's physical development and it also allows them to explore through their imagination during each session. The children at our setting thoroughly enjoy taking part alongside the staff on the zoom calls with Gina. They look forward to it every week š
Staff and children thoroughly enjoy magic train in our playgroup, we look forward to it every weekš¤© Highly recommendš„°
Absolutely amazing!! Children and staff loved every minute in our playgroup!! ā„ļø
"So much fun for the children, they absolutely love it! Gets their little imaginations going which is so lovely to see. Gina who runs the magic train is a star. The children look forward to seeing her face every week. Highly recommend šš".
āGina has delivered wonderful zoom 'Magic Train' sessions with our nursery children. They have been very interactive, developing a variety of physical skills, and the children have thoroughly enjoyed taking part! Gina is enthusiastic and encouraging throughout. We would highly recommend her!Ā Thank you so much xā.
Barrows Nursery Porthcawl, Wales
"Littlemagictrain is a wonderful programme, allowing children to be creative in movement and imagination. I attended training a few years ago and loved it! Since COVID-19 we have managed to train staff via ZOOM. Both staff and children have thoroughly enjoyed having Gina weekly on our big television. I would highly recommend a taster session. Itās a fabulous way of keeping children active, getting them to listen and follow instructions. It also allows them to use their imagination and have fun in a very creative way.Ā The resources are super too!
As a playgroup, it is suitable for children as young as 2 years old. Highly recommended".
Amanda Standing, Standing to Grow Playgroup, Wales.
āI remember the first time I ever saw Little Magic Train being delivered in one of our local pre-school settings. I walked into a room and 30 children were all pretending to be squirrels collecting nuts. No props, screens, only their little imaginations! It really was the most perfect sight. Something that needs to be encouraged. The children were also developing physical activity skills without knowing.
Little Magic Train is such a fantastic resource and all the lessons are planned for you. The file makes this programme sustainable and Gina offers fantastic support to help you with the delivery! Ā
Diolch yn fawr Gina for all you support.ā Kate Parry
Kate Parry, Healthy Schools Practitioner, Wales.
"Everyone at Croeso Childminding loves Littlemagictrain! It has been almost a year now since I first joined and the children still love it. Thereās always a learning opportunity to link to and with the amount of different adventures available and resources, there are always new things for the children to enjoy. Gina is so supportive and always a message away if I need any help. I love how Littlemagictrain supports every area of development in such a fun way".
Megan Bethell, Croeso Childminding, Neath Port Talbot, Wales.
āWe loved Little Magic Train resources when running our nurseries in Essex. So much so, we invited families that didn't actually attend the nurseries to attend the sessions. They are really well thought through to cover not just movement and imagination but all seven areas of learning. Staff enjoyed each session as much as the children while noticing how the children's learning and development were improving week on weekā.
āOthala hereĀ šĀ Just wanted to let you know the introduction was amazing! I really canāt wait to make this part of my setting, what a great way to encourage imagination! Iām sat on the bus with a huge smile just thinking about how beneficial it will be for the childrenā.
Holly Valley Childcare, Betws y Coed, Wales.
āWe love going on our train rides, having different movements, and experiencing different countries and cultures from around the world!Ā Ā The children have all engaged in our journeys, taking in all the exciting information and fun facts provided by LittleMagicTrain!Ā We base our daily activities around our journeys, allowing us to explore a wide range of imaginative play, messy play, and knowledge of the world.Ā Not only do the children look forward to Hank but the staff are always excited to see where we will end up next!ā
Little Peeps Playgroup, Oakdale, Wales.
āThe children adore our weekly Little Magic Train sessions. As a setting, we are 'fully onboard' with the ethos of the programme and as a result, it is firmly entrenched into our weekly routine.Ā The Little Magic Train has not only captured the imagination of the children but has helped to improve so many of their skills, especially their physical literacy. The support offered by this programme is outstanding, you can tap into their extensive knowledge at any time. It evolves with you and new ideas are added frequently.Ā We have never come across a company that offers such amazing ongoing support before and truly cares about its end user. The greatest endorsement for us is that the children use The Magic Train during their imaginative play. It is their own idea to include Simon to take them on adventures.Ā They often create him with loose parts, climbing frames, sheets, and boxes or just include him in their stories. When learning is so much fun it's no wonder, they enjoy the journeyā. Claire Nicholls-de-Freitas
Claire Nicholls-de-Freitas, @munchkinoschildminding, Wales.
āWe have been concentrating on The Seaside themes this term as we went on a trip to the beach last month and the children have started using the train in their role-play activities now independently of staff. They ask for the music and away they go!ā Helen Greenwood.
Helen Greenwood, Ysgol Feithrin Pontypwl, Wales.
