Baby Sensory

Thursday classes at Crantock Village Hall run across four slots — 10:00–11:00 (3–13 months), 11:25–12:25 (younger babies, 0–9 months), 12:50–13:50 (0–13 months mixed ages), and 14:15–15:15 (0–13 months mixed ages). The programme itself was designed by Dr Lin Day, a Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine who has worked across nursing, special education, nursery management, and early childhood development since 1974. The Mid & West Cornwall franchise is run by Melanie Blake, who described knowing instantly she wanted to bring the programme to Cornwall. Vicki Dewar, who previously worked as an Early Years Teacher in Newquay, is also on the team.

Each hour-long session is structured around a baby's natural play-rest-play cycle. Over the course of a class you'll move through tummy time, movement, visual development, textures, and scents, alongside original music composed by Dr Lin Day — songs like 'Say Hello to the Sun' and 'Wave Goodbye' — woven together with traditional rhymes to build early speech and language. Sensory signing runs through the sessions, offering simple ways to communicate with your baby from the earliest weeks. The sensory area is designed so that objects sit at the distance a young baby sees most clearly. Every session ends with womb-sounds to settle babies gently.

For families with a newborn under three months, the Hello Baby strand sits alongside the main programme. It covers how to read your baby's behavioural cues, what different cries tend to mean, and touch techniques including massage, reflexology, and yoga. There's a social thread running through it too — time with other parents navigating the same early weeks. Photography by Jo Buckley Photography is available this term at Crantock Village Hall. The summer term runs on: 04 Jun, 11 Jun, 18 Jun, 25 Jun, 09 Jul, and 16 Jul — with no classes on 28 May or 02 Jul. You're welcome to feed or cuddle your baby at any point during a session.