By Jenny, Blaze Trails Director
Baby sensory: A phrase that gets chucked around a lot as soon as baby arrives.
When I had my first child, every new parent I met was signing up to baby sensory classes, myself included. For those who don't know about baby sensory, it's a class designed for babies to engage their senses. It involves bright flashing lights, loud music, fancy dress and a lot of dribble!
I get it. Being a new parent can be intense, and baby sensory classes are a great way to meet people, plus the kids do enjoy it. However, as someone who loves being active and spending time outdoors, sitting on the floor of a village hall every week singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ just wasn't for me.
I spent a lot of time walking with my first born. I was on maternity leave, I had time on my hands and the weather was mainly dry. We'd walk half an hour to grab a coffee in the park and it was ticking all the boxes that baby sensory did. The dabbled light through the trees, the sounds of birds, we didn't have to sing 'Five Little Ducks' around a fake duck pond made of mesh; we had a real duck pond with real ducks to count.
We practiced our animal sounds and sang 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' surrounded by – you guessed it – real sheep. And with every season comes a plethora of new things to experience and play with – icy puddles to break, frosty grass to crunch – I can't be the only one whose daughter shouts "Elsa has been!" when they see frost?!
Then there's the multi-coloured sunset, autumn leaves to throw, bonfires to smell and blackberries to pick and taste – it doesn't get much more sensory than that.
The only thing missing was the opportunity to meet new local mums, but then I discovered Blaze Trails. Perfect!
Suddenly, walks, talks and the occasional al-fresco nappy change became the norm. An interchangeable group of bad-ass mums who didn't mind donning the waterproof gear and getting out for a coffee, natter and a stomp around the countryside. My kind of people.