ClapHandies PlayLabs offer babies, wobblers and toddlers (birth to 31/2 years) a chance to play, meet other children and develop new skills along the way. Our weekly engaging social play classes offer a wide variety of experiences tailored to the needs of each age group. As well as a chance for children socialize with children of their own age, it also offers parents/caregivers the opportunity to get to know others in their area too.

The PlayLabs are created to bring out and develop the key skills your baby or toddler needs to grow and thrive. Every week during the term we have a different theme where we practice different skills. Attending the PlayLabs regularly can really help develop the social skills which will help with the transition to creche, montessori or play school.

Babies and toddlers learn more in their first three years than in any other time of their lives, and the skills they develop spacial awareness, cognitive knowledge, socialisation, fine and gross motor skills, visual understanding, cause and effect, and listening and language form the building blocks for the rest of their lives.

We really try to make it feel like home, and go out of our way to make sure our activities are as interesting to the big people as the little ones, each child receives their own set of play tools and our venues are clean, comfortable, safe and accessible. We're a little obsessed about cleanliness... well with that many little ones sharing our space we need to be, small equipment is washed daily with the larger items such as the flooring and yoga mats weekly.

Each class lasts between 50 and 55 minutes.

Each term runs for 7 weeks, you can join mid term (space permitting) and only pay for the remaining weeks in the term.

Baby Playlabs are made up of music time, sensory baby play, baby movement time (a little baby yoga and a little baby massage) and baby sign-language.

We are looking at all the skills they will develop in the first year and showing you how through play you can help them develop skills like gross motor skills, language development, hand eye coordination etc. Also every week we host a discussion with topics such as teething, sleeping, childcare options etc. All in all it's a lovely activity to do on your maternity leave. Many parents come to the Baby PlayLabs to help them transition to creche (and in fact we run in many creches).

Wobbler PlayLabs are made up of music and movement time. Wobblers are all about exploring, so each week we have an ‘open’ play activity for the wobblers to explore, one week we might have 100 moving cars while another we might be playing with boxes. We have bubble time and story-time where every child gets their own book etc. It's a special time for them to spend with Mum/Granny/ Minder etc.

Toddler PlayLabs are made up of music and movement time. Each week we have different play activity like “I can cook”, where we play with lentils, measuring cups and funnels. "I can bake" where we play with homemade dough and flour, “I can do arts and crafts” etc.. We have bubble time and story-time where every child gets their own book etc. it's a special time for them to spend with Mum/Granny/ Minder etc. The Toddler PlayLabs are a great way of preparing your little one for pre-school.

Check out some customer comments here

Click here to find the class schedule for your venue.

Yes we would love you to come a try out one of our classes, you can book on our website here. Trials are charged at €15.

• 1 PlayLab term (7 classes) ...................€100
• 2 PlayLab terms (14 classes) ...............€180
• 3 PlayLab terms (21 classes) ...............€255
• 4 PlayLab terms (28 classes) ...................€320
• 5 PlayLab terms (35 classes) ...................€385

• 1 PlayLab term (7 classes) ...................€150
• 2 PlayLab terms (14 classes) ...............€270
• 3 PlayLab terms (21 classes) ...............€382
• 4 PlayLab terms (28 classes) ..................€480
• 5 PlayLab terms (35 classes) ..................€577

• 1 PlayLab term (7 classes) ...................€200
• 2 PlayLab terms (14 classes) ...............€360
• 3 PlayLab terms (21 classes) ...............€510
• 4 PlayLab terms (28 classes) ..................€640
• 5 PlayLab terms (35 classes) ..................€770

Joining late in the term fees as follows

• Joining week 2 (6 classes) ...........................€85
• Joining week 3 (5 classes) ...........................€70
• Joining week 4 (4 classes) ...........................€60
• Joining week 5 (3 classes) ...........................€45
• Joining week 6 (2 classes) ...........................€30
• Joining week 7 (1 classes) ...........................€15

If you would like to come along to a trial, you can book a trial at a venue near you by clicking here. Trials are charged at €15.

Multiple venues same term - if you want to attend multiple venues each week, we charge 50% for 2nd venue and 25% for a third venue

Email the office - office@claphandies.com

Call the office - 087-919 6042 (9:30am to 12:30 Monday to Friday)

Our Babies PlayLabs are for babies from 6 weeks up to approx 11 months or once they are crawling whichever comes first ! Our Wobblers are from 11 months up to 17 months & our Toddlers from 18 months up to 3 years of age. Come for a trial and see which class works best for you.

You can make up any missed class at any of our other venues during your term at a venue that suits & there is no limit to the number of classes that you make up within your term (space permitting in other venues). You also have the option of bringing a friend to a class for free or donating a class to a friend during your term. And finally you can carry one class into the first week of the following term (this covers you if you miss the last week of your term).

All our make up classes are booked online.

Under special circumstances we can arrange a partial term but the minimum number of classes is 3.

Under special circumstances we can arrange for you to pay for 1 term but take the 7 classes over 2 terms.

All classes must be booked online beforehand otherwise we would have no way of controlling our numbers. A lot of our venues fill up each term so once you have made your booking you are guaranteed a place.

Some of our customers want to attend multiple venues each week, we charge 50% for 2nd venue and 25% for a third venue.

We charge first child 100% second 50%

Of course, babies are more than welcome in the Wobbler or Toddler classes & non participating siblings get to come along for free !

Just enter your voucher code in the voucher code box on the booking page & this will apply the appropriate discount to your booking.

We charge first child 100% second 50% and 3rd 25% so 175% and 4th free...!

Just to confirm the discount for triplets works as follows, so it’s full price for one child & then a 50% discount for the second & third child so a term of 7 weeks would cost €200.

Generally we don't think it's a good idea for older siblings to attend the baby class as new mums are fearful of older children around their precious tiny baby however a 7 year old (for example) might be okay. If you think your older child will sit quietly in the background then you could give it a go, but if on the day he's / she's out of sorts or has any sniffles best to stay away and make up the missed class using one of our makeup options.

Every week of the term we have a different set of activities, practicing different skills and learning new rhymes, while following the familiar pattern. After coming for just a few weeks the little ones start to anticipate the next activity, feeling comfortable in the space and knowing they have your undivided attention, "it's their time" and they know it.

Stopping the spread of germs is very difficult, I would say impossible when socialising. We do take it seriously & have a rigorous cleaning schedule, where all handheld equipment is Detol wiped or dishwasher washed after each 5 hours of use (or less but not more), with items such as the small hand held shakers wiped daily (as these get the most mouthing). Our policy goes well above and beyond any guidelines for creches, schools or toddler groups.

Yes we have public liability insurance

When new instructors come on board we arrange to have them garda vetted. This can take some time (up to 3 months) so we don't guarantee that all instructors are vetted.

We ask all customers to avoid taking photography during class unless it is of their own child only.

Many of our instructors are but it is not a prerequisite, as outlined in our terms and conditions parental (nominated carer) supervision is a must during the PlayLabs. Children should not be left unsupervised at any time. ClapHandies is not a preschool service, falling under the Preschool Services Regulations 2006. Children remain in the care of their parents / minders at all times when attending PlayLabs.