Baby Sensory

Baby Sensory at Harrow Masonic Hall is run by Nandita Shah, the franchisee behind Baby Sensory North Harrow, whose classes cover families across Kenton, Harrow Weald, Northwood, Bushey and Rickmansworth. Two Tuesday sessions run each week during term time: a morning slot at 09:45–10:35 and an afternoon slot for older babies at 13:15–14:00. Regular sessions cost £12.50. Special event classes — including Christmas party Sundays held at the same Northwick Circle venue — are priced at £16–£17.

Each session follows a structure designed by Dr Lin Day, who founded Baby Sensory after more than four decades of research into early child development. Sessions are divided into thirds: structured sensory activities in the first and final sections, with free play in the middle. During the sensory sections you and your baby move through activities covering visual stimulation, textures, scents, movement and music. The room is arranged to match the focal distance of a young baby's eyes, and instruments are kept within measured decibel limits. Songs and rhymes — including the signature opening song Say Hello to the Sun — run through every session to build early speech and language. Each session closes with sounds that mimic the womb, settling babies gently before you leave.

The programme is built as much for parents as for babies. Massage techniques, tummy time and sensory play are all demonstrated in ways you can repeat at home, building a practical toolkit week by week. It is also simply a reason to get out on a Tuesday — to sit alongside other parents, share the early months, and feel less alone. Many of the practitioners running Baby Sensory classes were originally parents who attended with their own babies.