Baby Sensory

Every Wednesday morning during term time, Helen Claye and Sarah Herrett run the Baby Sensory Sheffield session at the recreation ground on Beighton High Street — 10:30 to 11:30 am, welcoming babies from newborn right through to 13 months in one mixed-age group.

The hour follows a structure built around a baby's natural play-rest-play cycle, so there is always a rhythm to it. Sessions draw on 40 core lesson plans plus seasonal and special-event extras, weaving together creative play, tummy time, massage, movement, textures, scent, and music. Original songs composed by Dr Lin Day — pieces such as 'Say Hello to the Sun' and 'Wave Goodbye' — sit alongside traditional rhymes to help early speech and language along. The instruments used throughout have their decibel levels measured to ensure they are not too loud for small ears. The exploratory play area is arranged to match the distance at which young babies actually see clearly, which is the kind of detail that only becomes obvious once someone points it out.

For the very youngest babies — those in the first three months — the Hello Baby strand runs alongside the main programme. It covers reading your newborn's behavioural cues, understanding what different cries signal, and touch techniques including massage and reflexology. Sensory signing activities are also woven in, giving babies and parents a way to communicate from birth. Every session ends with womb sounds to settle babies before you head home.

You are welcome to feed or cuddle your baby at any point. Activities are adapted so that babies with physical or sensory impairments can take part fully alongside everyone else.