Baby Place — Ultimate Stay & Play
Music, colour, parachutes, shakers and characters they’ve only ever seen on telly — run by the people who do this in nurseries every weekday. Sunday mornings at The LAYCA Centre, Solihull.
£5
per baby under 1 · 10am – 12pm
One grown-up comes free. Any extra adults are just £1 each.
No food included for under 1s — they don’t eat ours, so bring whatever yours has.
📅 10AM – 12PM · THE LAYCA CENTRE, SOLIHULL
Sun 15 November2026
Sun 13 December2026
Sun 24 January2027
☝ Got older children coming too? Book their tickets as well — £12.50 for your first child, then just £5 for every other brother or sister. If your baby is your only little one, this ticket on its own is all you need.
🎵 A Sensory Extravaganza
It’s loud, it’s bright, and that is entirely the point. Nobody whispers at a Tickety-Boo session. Music up, disco lights going, the parachute cracking over their heads, thirty voices singing the same song, shakers and bells in their hands, bubbles everywhere — and characters walking in that they have only ever seen on a screen.
For a baby that is an enormous amount to take in at once: sound, colour, movement, texture, faces, rhythm. Taking it in is the work. They don’t need to join in with any of it. They need to be in the middle of it.
Busy is not the same as chaotic. Every activity is structured, timed and led from the front, the room is supervised throughout, and there’s a quiet corner the moment they’ve had enough.
What It’s Actually Doing
We run weekday sessions in nurseries and preschools across the West Midlands, and every activity is mapped to the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning. The same activities run on a Sunday. Here’s what each one is working on.
| What we do |
What it supports |
| Action songs and singing |
Communication and Language — listening, attention, rhyme and repetition |
| Puppets |
Communication and Language, Expressive Arts — the part where a loud room suddenly goes quiet |
| Shakers, bells and instruments |
Expressive Arts, Physical Development — grasping, rhythm, cause and effect |
| Parachute play |
Physical Development, Personal and Social — gross motor movement, colour, working together |
| Soft play and free play |
Physical Development — crawling, pulling up, reaching, balance |
| Mini disco and bubbles |
Physical Development, Expressive Arts — moving to music, tracking, grabbing |
| Being in the room with other children |
Personal, Social and Emotional — building relationships, watching and copying |
This is a family session, not a nursery placement — nobody is assessing your child. But it is the same practitioner, the same songs and the same structure our settings book us for, and we thought you’d want to know what sits behind it.
🎬 SEE THE ROOM FOR YOURSELF
Colin shows you round, and Spider-Man drops in
🛡 Colin Takes Charge
That isn’t a slogan, it’s how the room is run. Colin is on a microphone for the whole two hours and he uses it. If something needs saying to sixty people, it gets said once, clearly, and everybody hears it. Quietly where that’s enough — out loud when it isn’t.
Our rule is prevention. If one of us sees something happening, or about to happen, we step in and stop it there and then — not afterwards, once somebody is upset. Twenty years of mixed-age rooms means we can usually see it coming.
No running. Proper use of the castle. Little ones given space. Colin leads from the front, one of the team is on the bouncy castle and soft play throughout, and there are three of us on every session.
💃 Dads, You’re Not Watching From The Side
Fair warning. Colin will pick you out, and you will end up at the front, in front of everybody, doing The Bendy Knee Baby Shark Dance with the mascots.
It’s the bit the children laugh hardest at, it’s the bit they go on about afterwards, and it’s a great deal more fun than standing at the back holding everybody’s coats.
Every Sense Going At Once
There is more coming at them in two hours here than in a fortnight at home. That is exactly what you want at this age.
🧸 Soft play to crawl on and pull up against
🎊 Bubbles to track and grab at
🎵 Shakers and bells to hold and bang
🎤 Songs and puppets, close enough to see faces
🌈 The parachute going over their heads
🖌 Mascots they’ve only seen on telly, right in front of them
🎇 Disco lights, music and movement all around them
🎨 A quiet corner to take them to when it’s a bit much
👪 Floor space to sit down with them properly
👶 Other babies doing exactly the same thing
☕ And A Morning For You, Too
You will be sat on the floor next to somebody in the same boat. That is half the reason these sessions work — a room full of parents who are all a bit tired, all watching their own, and all glad of somebody to talk to for two hours.
The kitchen is open the whole time. Tea and coffee are a pound, so you can actually have a hot drink and a natter while they play.
Quick Answers
Can I book a baby place on its own?
Yes. If your baby is your only little one, this £5 ticket is all you need — you don’t have to buy a child ticket as well. Plenty of families come with just a baby.
My baby isn’t walking or joining in yet. Is it worth coming?
Yes, and this is the question we get most. At this age they take in far more than they give back — music, disco lights, the parachute going over, shakers in their fist, other children moving around them, faces that aren’t yours. You’ll see them locked on to the bigger ones for most of the first hour. That staring is them joining in.
Will my baby get knocked over by older children?
We run the room so it doesn’t get that far. Colin is microphoned for the whole session and leads from the front, with a second team member on the castle and soft play throughout. The older ones know the rules — no running, proper use of the castle, space for the little ones — and our approach is to step in before something happens rather than deal with it after. Quietly where a quiet word does it, out loud when it needs to be. Mixed ages are deliberate here, and managing them is a job we do every week, not something we hope goes well on the day.
Is it loud?
Yes — deliberately. Music, singing, disco lights, instruments and sixty people in a hall. That volume and colour is most of what a baby is here for. It runs in short bursts rather than two solid hours, so there are natural lulls built in, and there’s a quiet corner with a colouring table and a cinema screen away from the main room whenever they need a breather. Two of our own children have Autism and ADHD, so this isn’t an afterthought for us — tell us when you book and we’ll keep an eye out.
Why is there no food for babies?
Because they don’t eat what we serve. The party food is hot dogs or sandwiches, crisps, popcorn and so on — not baby food. So we charge £5 instead of £12.50 and you bring whatever yours has. Baby food, bottles, pouches, all very welcome.
What counts as a baby?
Under 1 on the day. From their first birthday they’re a child ticket at £12.50 if they’re your first child booked, or £5 if you’ve already booked an older brother or sister at £12.50. If you’re not sure which to book, message us and we’ll tell you.
Do I stay with my baby?
Yes — it’s a stay and play, so little ones stay with their grown-up throughout. There’s somewhere to sit down with them whenever you need to, and the kitchen is open the whole session.
Is there room for a pram?
Yes. It’s a full-size hall with parking right outside the door, so you’re not carrying anything far or folding anything down in a doorway.
Where is it, and is there parking?
The LAYCA Centre, Stretton Road, Shirley, Solihull B90 2PZ. It’s in the grounds of Light Hall School — use B90 2PZ in your sat-nav, not any other postcode, and come in the left-hand gate. Parking is free and right outside the door.
What Actually Happens On The Day
The hall is dressed as a full Ultimate Party — balloon arch, red carpet, disco, bouncy castle, soft play, mascots and a quiet colouring corner. Babies, toddlers and older brothers and sisters all together.
🏆 Est. 2005 — over 20 years
📚 EYFS-linked, same as our nursery sessions
❤ SEND-friendly, personally
✅ Enhanced DBS · Fully insured