First stop was Sanderstead Library for its toddler rhyme time.
We were a very select group yesterday although a couple of late arrivals (who didn't actually realise rhyme time was on but joined in anyway) gave a welcome boost to our numbers.
We started, as usual, with a rousing rendition of "Happy and you know it" and made our way through various other toddler classics including "Sleeping bunnies" and "Wind the bobbin up" and ended with, ummm, I can't remember what now but I'm sure it was another classic.
Then the toy box came out for a little play, we checked out a few new books, and made our way.
I deliberated for a few minutes at this point whether to head up to Sanderstead Recreation Ground and have lunch at the cafe there (Pricilla's), or to try out Layhams Farm Shop for the first time. Since it was threatening to rain, and as you can probably guess from the title of this post, I opted in the end to go to Layhams Farm Shop.
Layhams has just (this June, I think) opened a new tea room and toddler play area. The play area is indoors, right by the tea room, and signs said that an outdoor play area would be coming soon as well.
We got down to the important matter of lunch straight away and, although the cakes looked extremely tempting, we opted for sandwiches. My two-year-old had a ham sandwich, which was served on a plate with a few crisps and slices of cucumber, and I had a cheese and pickle salad sandwich. Both of them were made to order, the ham was thick slices of proper ham, and the bread was soft, fresh and tasty. I had a cup of "tea pigs" tea with mine, which was lovely. It was a really nice lunch, very good value, and I'd be very happy to eat there again (especially if it included trying one of the cakes as well).
The only downside was that the table was slightly sticky and could have done with a wipe. The cafe was quite busy though (we arrived just after a morning story-time session) and I got the impression that the staff were still finding their feet a little. With more frequent table-wiping, I'd say lunch would have been near perfect.
In terms of play areas, there was a fenced area with foam mats, play tents, tunnels, small see-saws and various ride-on toys which my daughter explored for a short time, but she was more interested in going to the soft play area in the room next door, which consisted of some large soft blocks of various shapes arranged around some soft mats. She had soon figured out a circuit around these blocks and was happily climbing around, sliding and jumping for quite some time. Fortunately, there were tables and chairs around the edge for parents to sit and watch from.
I'd really like to come back to Layhams and try some of the many activities that they are putting on (including story-time, toddler fruit and veg sessions, music time..) as it seems like they're making a real effort to make this a great place to take toddlers. I'd also like to try the cake.
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