Sharon Graves had two previous thriving businesses in the Early Years sector before launching Time to Play Sensory in January 2025. She spent almost a decade growing her baby/toddler and parent sensory musical class franchise up to 27 classes a week with a team of 5, and this enjoyed an excellent reputation locally. Many life long friendships have been formed in her classes! Sharon also enjoyed the puppetry and performing arts aspect of her classes as a life-long lover of singing, dancing and theatre.

In 2021 she launched her own independent venue, The Happy Toadstool. The aim of this Early Years hub was to provide a safe space for play, learning and connection as well as much needed peer-to-peer parent support coming out of the global pandemic. At her stunning bespoke venue she ran popular weekly playgroups, with a particular focus on providing high quality learning through play experiences for the under 5s. At the heart of this was sensory experiences, including a full Sensory Room suite. She also hosted a variety of workshops and events for parents and young children and a support group for SEN parents which Sharon still leads today.

Sharon is also a qualified primary teacher, baby yoga and baby massage instructor. She is a creative thinker, good communicator and loves working with children AND their parents and carers collaboratively. She builds excellent client relationships through her communication skills and natural warmth and compassion. In total her teaching and Early Years career spans 20 years, working with thousands of families in Hertfordshire and Essex.

Sharon's lived experience of PND has made her a passionate advocate and campaigner for maternal mental health issues. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Alex and two children, a boy and a girl. Her son is Autistic and has ADHD.

Sharon is now using her extensive knowledge of Early Years development combined with her creative flair to make fun and practical high quality sensory resources to be used at home or in childcare settings. She hopes that Time to Play Sensory's range of sensory bin mixes, small world goodies, tools and digital resources will help busy, frazzled parents by providing a stress, mess and screen-free solution to imaginative and sensory play!