the little gym vs. gymboree play classes -- are there others?

[holliam]

Hi mamas,

So, what about these little exercise play groups? Opinions on them?

Holli, trying to find activities for SAHD and girly to keep them entertained :)

[Joshuasmommy]

We used to go to Gymboree play and have done a trial at Little Gym. I loved our Gymboree play! We started going when Joshua was about 6 months old and he just thrived in it. I liked that they had a lot of bright colors and age appropriate equipment. He loved the balls, bubbles and music especially. We would still be going if the close location didn't close down.

I didn't care for Little Gym for babies/young toddlers. We did the trial when he was already walking well but I felt that the equipment was geared more for older kids. I didn't think that their was a lot that he could do unassisted compared to Gymboree where I could let him be more independent. I may take him back when he is older.

We also did a My Gym trial and I didn't care for that. The employees were just teens who were working their and didn't seem to have any actual knowledge of child development. I may have been spoiled because our Gymboree teacher had a degree in early childhood education. They went from activity to activity too fast so the kids barely got started when they would be taking the swings down etc. Now this may just be the particular location and another franchise could be totally different.

[Roleysmom]

Holli, congratulations to you and your DH on Mari's arrival home! There's also My Gym and we did that for two sessions starting after Roley's second birthday. I tried out a free class both at My Gym when Roley was Mari's age and at Gymboree when she was a little over a year and I thought they were a little too overwhelming for her. It seemed like music classes where more her speed at that point. When she got a little older we did it because it was a good outlet for her in the winter and I thought it would be good for her to gain confidence in her physical abilities. (Something I never had!)

I don't know what's offered in your area but I've heard great things about various park and rec parent and tot programs. I think generally those tend to be less expensive and definitely less corporate. (The marketing at the national places, the Gymbo clown, My Gym monkey, etc., drives my DH crazy.)

I hope your DH and Mari find some fun activities!


Paula -- mom to Roley Julia, January '02

[bostonsmama]

A girlfriend of mine goes to a regular gymnastics program for toddlers with her 18 month old DS. I've gone with her for the past 2 months (mainly to keep an eye on her youngest of 5 months), but I've witnessed some great things. The Wednesday instructor is fantastic with the little ones, but the Friday one isn't. It's a place called Ocean Tumblers, a private gymnastics studio with two locations in our area. But I'm sure you could rifle through the yellow pages for something similar. It's about $44/month for one session per week of 55 minutes. Many of the kids are older (2+), but they do tumbling, mock summersaults, swinging on the double rings, rolling down foam wedges, kicking their feet in the air (handstands), trampoline jumping, ladder climbing, uneven bar swinging (w/ assistance), and jumps into the foam block pit. He's always pleasantly exhausted at the end! My girlfriend is about ready to try Little Gym, as most of the classmates are starting to become pretty advanced. She is interested in a music class...so we'll see how it goes.

I think there are a lot more options than Gymboree (although another girlfriend thought it was the cat's meow). Personally, it just seems kind of expensive (although I'm slowly beginning to understand how nice it is to get out of the darn house when you have children).

[dowlinal]

Holli,
Congratulations on Mari's arrival. I love the skort pic over in butts. She's really beautiful!

DH works a rotating schedule so he and Madeline spend alot of time together during the week. RIght now he takes her to swim lessions. She loves the water and they have a blast together. They used to go to gymboree, but it was a little too mommy oriented so now she goes to a Sat class with me. If you have a YMCA nearby they tend to have lots of different play classes and I just found out that our local library has story/play time classes for babies and toddlers so DH is going to taking her there starting thurs.

I have mixed feelings on gymboree. The quality of the class really depends on the instructor. I've had great ones and ones that were so bad that I changed classes. I thought that the babies, crawlers, and walkers classes were good, but I don't love the runners. It seems like I could just bring her to a playground for free. The younger classes have more songs, circle time, and parent/child activities. It was a great place to encourage Madeline to crawl, climb and walk and also to socialize with other children. Most play classes let you take a trial class for free so you might want to try it out.

A

[squimp]

The best thing we have done is to join an indoor playground. Not sure if other places have them, but there's two in our town of 50K. It's basically a big open room with toys, and folks just show up and play. It has been a great way to get to know other kids/families and to have fun in an unstructured way. We go there usually two mornings a week.

I found myself embarassed and a little lost at the mommy and me type classes. Lots of singing, too little time for just chatting and getting to know other parents/kids.

Other fun stuff we do:
Storytime at the library
Swimming lessons
Pet store
Feeding the ducks

[jk3]

Although I am not a huge fan, my DS LOVES going to Gymboree. I've had it at this point (it becomes an extremely repetitive experience) but he continues to get a lot out of the classes and the open gym times. Additionally, he's attended for more than 5 sessions so the fee is half price and significantly less expensive than other classes. I agree that the quality of the instructor is essential. There are 2 instructors at our Gymboree who are excellent. I will not attend a class led by the other instructors!

My DS also enjoyed music classes when he was Mari's age. Once he became monile, he was more interested in running around but pre-walking he loved the class.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

[holliam]

Okay, I am thinking these will be too structured. He found a wonderful park yesterday and they had a ball. Mari supposedly LOVED the swings like more than anything else in the world. Luckily she has a smart mama who bought her a swing for the backyard that daddy just needs to hang up.

They are going to do Music Together classes starting in late June. They didn't really like the Gymboree music class so much. Mari really likes instruments and Liam said they just sang and clapped really.

Swimming lessons are mommy's domain. ;) Liam is not into swimming whereas I would prefer to be a dolphin. lol

We live right next to our local Y and we used to be members but in our area the emphasis on the C part of the name is much too much for us. We are not C so it really makes us uncomfortable.

I looked into the local programs at area parks and most are for 1+ years.

I think he just needs to find some playgroups too. Every time he leaves the house with her he runs into a mom we know. It's getting to be that he walks in and I ask who he ran into today. lol So, I guess we do know a lot of families in the area!

Holli

[August Mom]

Community centers around us have something similar. They have an open gym for babies/toddlers/preschoolers one or 2 mornings a week. Both we have gone to are drop-in programs. You pay $3 for 2 hours or so of free play. The one has lots of mats and foam blocks to climb and tumble on, along with basketball hoops, lots of balls, climbers, a low balance beam, a few ride-ons and some Legos. It's fun. Ours are run by local parks and recreation departments.