London-Baby: For Under Five in Central London

Weekly Rota of Baby and Toddler Groups in Victoria:

(please ring ahead to confirm times and pricing details and descriptions to come)

Monday –

St. Peter’s Eaton Square, Parent and Toddler Group, 10 – noon, £1

Cardinal Hume Centre, Parent and Toddler Group, 10 – 3, free

Queen Mother Sports Centre, Baby and Toddler Swim, noon - 1

Tuesday –

Cardinal Hume Centre, Parent and Toddler Group, 10 – 3, free

Queen Mother Sports Centre, Baby and Toddler Swim, noon - 1

Wednesday-

Victoria Library, Story Hour, under 5’s, 10 – 11, free

Buckaroochies, Parent and Toddler Drop-in, 10 – 11:30, Westminster Chapel, Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6BS, £2 suggested donation

St. Michael’s Church, The Arc Playgroup, 10 – 11:30, £20 / term and you need to register. (Call ahead for an introductory session)

Cardinal Hume Centre, Parent and Toddler Group, 10 – 3, free

Queen Mother Sports Centre, Baby and Toddler Swim, 9:30 – 10:30

Thursday –

Cardinal Hume Centre, Parent and Toddler Group, 10 – 3, free

Queen Mother Sports Centre, Baby and Toddler Swim, 9:30 – 10:30

Friday-

The Abbey Centre, Music and Movement (18 mos – 5), 10 – 10:30 and 10:40 – 11, £1

Queen Mother Sports Centre, Baby and Toddler Swim, 12:30 – 1:30

St. Peter’s Eaton Square

St Peter’s Eaton Square Church, 119 Eaton Square, SW1W 9AL, Mondays 10 AM - 11:30, £1,

• Small, friendly group mostly made up of mums
• Very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere
• Located in the church crypt, so there are quite a few steps to contend with
• Tea, coffee and biscuits served
• Tube: Victoria
• Bus: 2, 8, 16, 36, 38, 52, 82, 148, 436, 11, 44, 170, 211, C1, C10

http://www.stpetereatonsquare.co.uk/

The group meets in the crypt of St. Peter’s Church. The buggies are parked outside and you descend about 10 steps to go inside. If you like, you are welcome to bounce the buggy down into the crypt. Inside children have their choice of some riding toys, kitchen, tool bench and a really good art table with paint bottles, markers and smocks.

This is the group to go to if you would like to find out more information about St. Peter’s Eton Square School as many of the regulars are also parishioners.

The Cardinal Hume Centre, Drop in Play Session

3 – 7 Arneway Street (off Horseferry Raod), SW1P 2BG 0207 222 1602. Monday – Thursday, 9 – 3pm, under 5 years, free

• Spacious and well resourced indoor play area
• Adjacent outdoor play area
• Extremely safe for two toddlers running in different directions
• Coffee, tea, juice, snacks and kitchen facilities
• Really good changing and toilet facilities
• Tube: St. James’s Park, Victoria and Pimlico
• Bus: 2, 36, 185, 436, 11, 24, 148, 211, C10, 88

http://www.cardinalhumecentre.org.uk/editorial.asp?page_id=58

This is an amazing children’s centre where one can take their children to have a really good play and know they are completely safe.

The centre also serves as a crèche for parents attending classes at the Cardinal Hume Centre, so there is a wonderful, happy, helpful staff that keeps things running for the children.

The free play session is followed by the nicest snack of fruit, toast and mild and story. Further, there is an organised art activity each day.

If you bring you lunch with you, there is a lunch time meal where everyone sits down to eat together

Victoria Library

Story Time for the Under Five’s, Victoria Library, 160 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9UD, 0207 641 7641

• Perfect buggy access, roll it directly into the children’s library just off the main entrance
• Wonderful room, contained and good for two children
• One of the better library programs
• Tube: Victoria
• Bus: 11, 211, 239, C1, C10

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/findalibrary/victoria.cfm

This is a really good Wednesday morning activity. The staff plan it nicely and have gone to great effort to make it a literary experience accessible to little children.

The session takes place in the Children’s Library, a nice, high ceilinged room just off the entrance.

Lots of mums at this group, making it a good place to meet other mothers in the neighbourhood.

Queen Mother Sports Centre Crèche

Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 020 7630 5522

• Safe and trusted crèche favourite with neighbourhood mums who fancy a workout, a coffee in the café or a facial at the spa located on the premises.
• You can leave your children for up to two, one-hour sessions but must remain in the building.
• £1.50 per hour, per child plus any fees to use the gym.
• Buggy park on the ground floor entry, £1 deposit to use the automatic buggy lock
• Lockers .20 p deposit
• Tube: Victoria
• Bus: A1, 16, 52, 211, C10, 2, 24, 73, 9, 11, 36, 38, 82, 185, C1

A basic, open and reasonably priced crèche for deserving mums. As long as you stay in the building, you are free to leave your children and take some time for yourself. The times are from 10 – noon, Mondays and Thursdays, term time.

The crèche is held in a large windowed studio on the ground floor of the gym. They have lots of toys for the children and bourbon cream biscuits if they like.

The crèche is a real favourite with local mums.

Queen Mother Sports Centre Baby and Toddler Swim

Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 020 7630 5522

• 1 metre pool heated to 45 degrees, with steps leading inside – great set up for even tLohe most timid children
• Buggy park on the ground floor entry, £1 deposit to use the automatic buggy lock
• Changing rooms in the locker room (the changing process is easier when your toddler is contained in a small room)
• Lockers .20 p deposit
• Tube: Victoria
• Bus: A1, 16, 52, 211, C10, 2, 24, 73, 9, 11, 36, 38, 82, 185, C1

This pool is well thought out and especially conducive to talking hesitant toddlers into, it is worth the trip in to use it. The drawbacks include the horrible chill in the air getting from the pool to the locker room and the convoluted system with the pushchairs.

Upon entering the gym, you leave your pushchair in an area where you can lock with a chain for a £1 deposit. You then walk up a small flight of stairs and down another before entering the locker room. There is a lift if you would like to avoid all of this, but ring ahead to see if it is working, otherwise, members of the staff offer help if they see you struggling on the steps.

Another bonus to the Queen Mother Sports Centre pool, across the way in the recreation pool, is a giant waterslide that parents are permitted to use with children of any age. The covered, water-soaked slide wraps around three corners of the pool and takes a few seconds to descend. This pool is deeper and much cooler than the teaching pool where the baby and toddler swim is held. You can only access the recreation pool at certain times and you need to consult the web site for times: http://www.courtneys.co.uk/class-timetable

Buckaroochies

Westminster Chapel, Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6BS, 0207 834 1731, £2 suggested donation

Ball poll, soft play, baby corner, arts and crafts, reading corner and dress up.

• Bus: 11, 24, 148, 211, 507
• Tube: St. James’s Park or Victoria

http://www.westminsterchapel.org.uk/ministries/buckaroochies.php

Have yet to go, but the coffee and cakes are rumoured to be excellent