Family Music Classes

Ages birth to 5 with a grown-up. One price for your whole household.

Children gathered around an old upright piano, with one girl playing and others watching, in a cozy indoor setting.
Schedule for family music classes with fall-themed topics held on Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:15 AM, ages 0 to 5, with sibling welcome. Featuring dates from September 17 to December 17, each with different themes including Oldies for Little Ones, Inspired by Nick, Movement Songs, Harvest Hoedown, Doggyland Jam, Barnyard Band, Spooky Songs, Mother Goose Rhymes, Around the World Travel Songs, Thanksgiving Feast, Singin’ in a Winter Wonderland, NYE Countdown, and Gingerbread Jams. Located at Bernikow JCC, Staten Island, with a note about tickets at HAPPYDAYPLAY.COM.

Looking for a music class that's more than shaking a few shakers? Family Music invites little ones and their grown-ups into a playful, hands-on space built around real musical fundamentals. Children explore real instruments, movement, themed activities, and live singalongs, all designed on the Family Life Education framework and taught by Ms. Mallory, our music and movement specialist. Every week is built on current child development research to support a baby, toddler, and preschooler at the same time.


What To Expect

Children and adults sitting in a circle on a colorful cartoon character-themed carpet, with drums placed in the circle. One adult is holding a baby, another girl stands holding toy maracas, and a smartphone lies on the carpet.
  • A different theme every week, so no two classes are the same

  • New themed songs, both children's favorites and modern picks

  • Live ukulele singalongs and real instruments to explore, including a grand piano in our ensemble room

  • Playful themed props that bring each week's theme to life

  • Movement, rhythm, and sensory play, with parachute and bubbles

  • Every part of the class crafted on the Family Life Education framework

  • Taught by Ms. Mallory, our music and movement specialist, a children's musician, and early childhood and family support specialist with 15+ years experience


How Happy Day Play’s Family Music Class Compares

Most music classes for little ones look similar from the outside. The difference is in how they're designed. Here's what sets the Happy Day Play model apart, from how we price to who's leading the room.

The Happy Day Play Model Typical Models
The music ✓Live ukulele and real instruments for little hands to explore, in a working ensemble room. Often recorded music and basic shakers.
How activities are designed ✓Every class is built on current child development research to benefit a baby, toddler, and preschooler at the same time. Often one-size activities with no stated developmental basis.
Mixed-age by design ✓Children make music across ages together, the way real families and the real world actually work. Often sorted into one narrow age band.
The room ✓A real ensemble room set up for music, not a multipurpose space. Often a shared, general-purpose room.
Pricing ✓One price for your whole immediate family, every child included. Usually priced per child, so the cost climbs with each one.
Adults in the room ✓More than one grown-up can join your child. Often one caregiver per child.
Commitment ✓Walk-in. Come once or every week. Frequently a paid term booked in advance.
Who designs and teaches it ✓Designed on the Family Life Education framework and taught by Mallory, a children's musician. Varies, and not always stated.
The grown-up's role ✓Built in by design. You learn songs and rhythms to bring home. Parents often just watch from the side.

Why It Works

Children and adults in a room filled with balloons, bubbles, and a space-themed backdrop, watching and reaching for floating bubbles.

For your child:

  • Supports early musicality, cognitive development, motor skills, and social-emotional growth

  • Builds confidence through live music and shared experience

  • Explores real instruments alongside live ukulele in a working ensemble room, an ideal space for age-appropriate musical concepts

  • One class meets every age, so siblings make music side by side

For you:

  • You see what your child responds to in music, and why it matters at their stage

  • You learn simple songs and rhythms to bring home

  • You get permission to be silly and move, which is exactly what your child needs

  • One class works for your baby and your preschooler at once


Scheduling and Pricing

Two women smiling in a classroom, wearing pink and plaid clothing with matching pink headbands, glasses, and colorful jewelry.
  • Thursdays from 10:30am to 11:15am in the 2nd Floor Ensemble Room at Bernikow JCC, 1466 Manor Rd, Staten Island, NY 10314

  • One price for your whole immediate family. A baby and two older siblings pay the same as one child. $25 per family, $20 for JCC members.

  • Walk-in. Come once or come every week.

  • Save with a 6- or 10-class bundle, good across our walk-in classes.


FAMILY MUSIC CLASS TESTIMONIALS

Upcoming Family Music Classes at Bernikow JCC (Mid-Island) Location