Baby Sensory

Baby Sensory at Rhos Community Centre runs every Monday during term time, with three sessions to choose from: 09:30–10:30 (mixed ages, 0–13 months), 11:00–12:00 (younger babies, 0–9 months), and 12:30–13:30 (mixed ages, 0–13 months). The venue is on Plas Road in Rhos, near Pontardawe, and is part of the Swansea East franchise — covering Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Powys. Lucy, who joined the team in 2017 and took on the franchise in September 2020, leads the sessions. She is a mother of three herself.

Sessions are built around a baby's natural play-rest-play cycle, so activity comes in bursts rather than one long stretch. A typical class moves through creative play, tummy time, movement, textures, scents and music — including original songs composed by Dr Lin Day, who founded the programme, such as 'Say Hello to the Sun' and 'Wave Goodbye'. The sensory display area is arranged to match the distance at which young babies actually focus, and every instrument used in class has been checked so its decibel level is safe for small ears. Each session ends with womb sounds to soothe babies as the class winds down.

for ages from birth to 13 months to three months there is also a Hello Baby sub-programme. It runs across three strands: newborn observation (learning to read your baby's behavioural cues), a crying, colic and comfort workshop, and gentle massage techniques including baby massage, reflexology, yoga, sensory integration and containment. Sessions are priced at £8.00. If your baby has a physical or sensory impairment, activities are adapted so they can take part fully alongside everyone else.