Baby Sensory Classes
Author: Elise Easdown (Occupational Therapist and Mum of 3)
I had heard many positive stories about Baby Sensory classes so went along to the class with my 8 month of Elijah with high expectations.
The group was very warm and friendly as soon as I entered and there were about 9 other mums with babies ranging from 9 weeks to 9 months. Everyone was made to feel comfortable by the instructor and we were told where the toilets were and that it was fine to feed and attend to our babies as needed through the class (many mums breast fed and bottle fed throughout the class).
The class began with a cheery “Hello to the sun” song that incorporated basic hand signs to the actions. We were told that babies can often begin doing sign language to communicate before they can vocalise the words. Elijah was a little overwhelmed initially with sitting outwards and preferred to face me while singing this song and I enjoyed the cuddles.
We then moved into some more structured activities that incorporated stimulating each of the babies senses. There was dancing around the mat with music, in fact music made up a large part of the class, then there were sensory squares to explore, different foods and spice in jars to smell, lights to watch (great for visual tracking), water play with bubbles, musical instruments and more singing.
There is also a wonderful ‘free play’ session where the babies could explore a range of different sensory toys, crawl or roll around, mouth things (they pointed out everything is washed) and the mums can have a bit of a chat.
(Photo Suplied by Baby Sensory)
The hour class goes surprisingly quickly and it was so lovely to give Elijah so many wonderful experiences and you don’t need to do the tidying up! I know for me I felt like I’m constantly cleaning up after three children so it was quite lovely to have someone do that part and I could just stay focused on Elijah.
The instructor was very knowledgeable and she gave us so much information on the benefits of all the activities and how we could do them at home and where to buy the resources.
Elijah thoroughly enjoyed the class and I walked away feeling as though I’d had some lovely quality time with him. He also slept very soundly afterwards which was a huge plus.
Who would benefit from a Baby Sensory class?
Baby Sensory Classes would be loved by mums and babies of all ages. They are able to accomodate for children with additional needs also. Classes can be found at select venues all over Australia including Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney, Tweeds, Brisbane, & Gold Coast.
