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Baby Play Packs

We first created baby play packs for families and babies born during lockdown across parts of Tees Valley to play together and have some creative fun.

The free Hullabaloo Baby Play Packs aimed at babies 12 months and under were created by Theatre Hullabaloo with support from Tees Valley Combined Authority and Local Authorities.

We really missed meeting the new babies who would usually be visiting us to play at The Hullabaloo and hoped that these Hullabaloo Baby Play Packs would allow parents and carers of new babies to enjoy some creative play time together at home.

The Hullabaloo Baby Play Packs included a mixture of creative toys and props and a Playbook packed with ideas for how to play creatively with your baby.

Further down this page you will find a series of short videos to accompany these packs that have been filmed by some of the artists who work regularly with Theatre Hullabaloo.

From April – June 2021 we  ran a short evaluation with York St John University to better understand the effect of the Hullabaloo Baby Play Pack Programme on the experience of new babies and their families.

Click here to download a copy of the findings we commissioned from the Institute of Social Justice on the impact of packs and the importance of play from the very start.

short films of creative play ideas

Here are some short films of creative play ideas.

Wind the Bobbin
Sing along to your baby to this classic children’s song.

Creating a calm space
Tips on how to create a calm space for you and your baby using the bell from your baby play pack

Introduction to storytelling
Storyteller Chris Connaughton on the importance of storytelling and shares some tips on how to tell a good story.

Peek-a-boo
Sing along to Peek-a-boo using your scarf from your baby play pack.

Playing with Puppets
Anna Newell shows us some great ways to engage with your baby using the puppets from your play pack

Lullaby – Nila 

Nila is a specially composed Tamil lullaby  in which a mother requests the moon to come running and sprinkle sleep dust on a baby’s eyes and gently lull the baby to sleep. 

Reading of Elmer and the Lost Teddy

Chris Connaughton reads Elmer and the Lost Teddy (By David McKee)

Row, Row, Row your Boat

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Reading of Tip Tap went the Crab

Meet the stars

Stars of the short videos

Claire Tustin


Claire Tustin is a singer, songwriter and theatre maker who specialises in writing songs for children and families. She leads music workshops and performs for children in schools, hospitals, theatres and in community settings.

Anna Newell


Anna Newell has been making theatre adventures for 31 years and her work for early years has been seen on 6 continents, off-Broadway and in every single Sure Start in Belfast.  She helped started baby theatre in South Africa and invented the world’s first BabyDay.  She is based in Bray, Ireland.

Chris Connaughton


Chris Connaughton is an actor, storyteller and author who specialises in writing for children. He tours the country with his plays, books and workshops, and is a regular storyteller for Theatre Hullabaloo

Supriya Nagarajan


Supriya Nagarajan is a UK based vocalist/composer who creates cross- cultural cross-genre concept driven immersive music work. She has toured the globe and created work for festivals like the hcmf//, Ultima Oslo and Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She is a Performing Rights Society/Jerwood composer and an alumni of New voices 2018 Sound and Music. She is the Artistic Director of Manasamitra, a UK based arts charity and a passionate advocate for fair access in the music sector. Apart from releasing a lockdown album Dusk Notes and an album Drifting Slowly on Café Oto label Takuroku, forthcoming releases are on the Leeds based Come Play With Me label. Supriya also runs a mentoring program for Composers of Colour and has recently been selected as one of the Wonder Women of 2021 by The Women & Home magazine for her work in the music sector. She also hosts a brand new  radio show on Worlwide FM. When Supriya is not in the music world you can find her trying something new in the kitchen or walking amongst trees somewhere.

With thanks to...