Who is Rainbow Phil?!

“He plays guitar and has a tambourine on his foot, I don’t know – you need to see it for yourself!”

– Oscar’s mum trying to explain Rainbow Phil to her husband.

I started developing my Rainbow Phil material around 2016, mostly in free-play environments such as playgroups and play cafes where I was asked to sing and play guitar for the children. I quickly realised that in order to keep the kids engaged I needed a larger than life persona, be as energetic as possible and incorporate things such as bells, bubbles, puppets and parachute play.

All the while I was learning through trial and error what combinations of songs and puppet routines fit together and which don’t. After a couple of years or so I was comfortable with what I was doing and figured it would be a good idea to be entertaining for the adults too, since they are the ones who actually bring the kids to see me. So I slowly started bringing in elements of (not all that good tbh) comedy into what I do, I figured there’s no harm in giving the adults a bit of laugh while we’re here!

What do I actually do and who is it suitable for?

I don’t know if you’d call what I do a class or a show or a gig, I’ve heard all three being used by parents – so I’ve finally settled on calling it an ‘activity’. I try to strike a balance between variety and familiarity, so I mix and match different songs played on the guitar with different puppet routines each week. There are some key songs which I always sing and act as way markers if you will. Typically the format of the activity goes as follows;

• Start with ‘The Wheels On The Bus’
• Hand out bells and shakers to the kids and sing through the bells routine
• Marching song which ends with everyone sitting on the floor
• Variety Section – this is the part that changes week to week, I bring different puppets and songs out of my bag.
• Happy And You Know It
• Parachute Time
• Hokey Cokey

Typically, once everyone has arrived and been greeted individually I start at ten passed the hour and finish around five to. I’d say my activity is suitable for babies from 6 months up to kids around the age of five or six. If you have a baby under six months old you are still very welcome to book a place and attend if you really want to! Similarly, kids over the age of six are welcome to attend as long they enjoy the activity and are not disruptive.

How much does it cost and do you have to pay a full term up front?

Compared to similar activities in the area my prices are very competitive and I also offer super flexible pay as you go options as well the option to book multiple weeks in one go. You’ll see on the Online Booking page that you can select which dates you want, so you don’t have to pay the dates you know you can’t make it. If you do book more than four weeks in one go, you will automatically receive a 20% discount!

Advance booking is still essential at this stage to avoid overcrowding, if you have any trouble at all with the booking system just drop me a message.

The prices are as follows

• Kids over 12 months – €10
• Babies under 12 months – €5
• Younger siblings* over nine months – €5
• Younger siblings* under nine months – FREE!!

There is no charge for grown ups and you may bring up to two adults per household along to the activity.

*who are accompanying the older sibling to the activity i.e. two or more children

What to expect when you arrive

Going to new places and activities can be just as daunting for grown ups as it can for the kids, so it’s good to know what to expect before we set off!

When you arrive at the venue you will find a semi circle of chairs arranged in pairs, each pair of chairs is for one household, depending on the venue there are spare chairs if you have brought an extra adult. You can sit where ever you like, including on the floor if you find that more comfortable, but please don’t rearrange the seating too much!

Once the music starts you a free to enjoy the activity in your own way (some exceptions – see the rules below), if you want to sing and dance and do all the actions that’s fantastic, if you prefer to sit with your child on your knee and stay quiet that it is totally cool too. Maybe your child wants to explore the room and ‘do their own thing’, this is absolutely fine by me.

While I will do my best to encourage everyone to get involved, both grown ups and little ones, there’s no pressure to do anything that makes you or your child feel uncomfortable. Children learn and develop and take in the world around them, all in their own individual ways and I find more children will ‘join in’ of their own accord if given the space and enough time to do so.

What to bring

The short answer is; not much.

Obviously you’ll need your basic going out stuff, changing bag and snacks etc but other than that you’re grand! Some people like to bring their own mats or blankets so they can sit comfortably on the floor but that is not essential and seating is provided.

Rules for the kids

Here are The Three Rules of Rainbow Phil;

1. Don’t stand behind me, or in my blind spots. This includes running in circles around me!
2. No rummaging through my bag, helping yourself to what’s on my table or touching my guitar while it’s in its bag.
3. There is no rule three.

Rules for the adults

This isn’t daycare, you still need to be responsible for the children you bring. It’s great that this age group are finally able to learn to socialise and of course they’re going to bump into each other, there’ll be pushing and shoving and snatching and difficulties sharing – these are all natural parts of development. I’m happy to call out undesirable behaviour when I see it but it’s really up to you to step in and mediate so I can keep the activity running as smoothly as possible.

It’s not just the kids who are getting to socialise and it’s great that the grown ups are getting to make new friends too! I don’t mind adults chit chatting to a certain extent, but just be mindful that other families may want to take a more active approach to my activity. With this in mind, chit chat away but keep the volume down, particularly if I’m trying to explain the actions for less familiar songs.