My journey as a shadow artist on Quench Arts’ Musical Wonderland project by Jameela Rose (Shadow Artist)

I came to the Musical Wonderland with no experience of working with very young children but I have a music technology degree and have volunteered on some adult mental health programmes. When I saw the advert for the role I was very interested as I grew up in Handsworth, where the project has been delivered.

I have learned so much by taking part in Musical Wonderland. My confidence has grown and I have enjoyed working with the mentors. Looking at how the mentors work and seeing how confident they are has given me a benchmark to strive for. I enjoyed creating the songs and singing them for the children. The stories were also enjoyable to listen to as I had not read most the stories before. The training gave many creative ideas and was inspiring. The books were also inspiring when I came to creating music for the sessions.

At the beginning, I struggled with interacting with the children. I felt as though I did not know what to say or do or how the children would react. After receiving some feedback, I felt motivated to get stuck in with showing the children how the instruments work and with talking to the children and interacting with them. It was hard at first but after some occasions of showing how the instruments worked in free play on a one to one basis, my confidence grew. It was interesting to see how confident some of the children were and how excited about the instruments and toys other were. The nursery staff were confident and helpful with the children. Most parents also joined in.

I have enjoyed the sessions very much and it is sad that the sessions have come to an end. I feel as though this experience has helped me to decide if I would like to continue working in this field and I would if the right opportunity came along. I appreciate the time that I have had with the Musical Wonderland project and I hope to do more early years work in the future.