Lockdown baby sensory class still in its infancy but going strong

With the current lockdown situation, that has become more difficult as centres have closed and classes have been cancelled.

But one baby-centric business has found a way to maintain a sense of normality for both parents and babies in these unusual times.

Orla Dineen of Baby Sensory North NI switched her new term of classes online at the end of March, and now five weeks in she explains how she made the transition.

“Baby Sensory is in China as well, so when everything started over there I was keeping a close eye on what they were doing. They had to close and cancel classes. So by mid-February I started to get a bit nervous, and knew that we had to start planning something. I didn’t know what at that stage, but a new term of classes were due to start on March 23,” said Orla.

Baby Sensory head office is based in England, and they were waiting for school closures to be announced, but Orla said she knew she had to act more quickly here.

“The schools in the South had already closed, so I let the classes run on the Monday before St. Patrick’s Day, and let everyone know that we had closed. From then it was a two week whirlwind. I don’t think I’ve worked as much in my life, we had to plan how to deliver the classes and go through the lesson plans to see if they would physically work online,” she said.

Baby Sensory classes are designed to stimulate the baby’s sense and move their development and learning forward.

”The classes involve things like parachutes, bubbles, and it’s trying to do that online, but then not take away the magic from it either. We had to come up with ideas for props, because not everyone is going to have stuff like that at home,” said Orla.

There’s also a social aspect to the class, with a break in the middle for a chat and catch up.

“The classes are a way of catching up with other people too, even if you’re not close to them, it’s just chatting to someone else that isn’t in your house.

“The classes are going to be online for the foreseeable future. We are five weeks in now, and people are starting to become more confident with it too. It’s not about your baby sitting looking at the screen either, its one to one time with you and your baby. We’re sociable beings and that’s the hard part about it, so this is helping to bring a social aspect as well,” she added.

Visit www.babysensory.com/derry-coleraine-ballymena/ for more information.