My Gym vs Little Gym

Brandon is 16 months now, and I’m just now ready for him to start going to “classes”.  And by classes, I mean about 45 minutes long.    I found 3 options in my area – Gymboree, My Gym, and Little Gym.  They all offer one free trial class, so I decided to try them out.

Gymboree.  I walked into my nearest gymboree, and walked right out because it was too small, the equipment looked really old, and frankly the kids looked pretty bored.  Maybe that was just that particular location.

My Gym.  This was the first one that we tried, and Brandon LOVED it.  They had a ball pit (he loves balls), a trampoline (he loves exploring with jumping), and a basketball hoop (guess what?  yup, he loves basketball.)  They did a few (optional) organized activities, with free play in between.  A few activities we did were hoops, swings, hanging from the bar, and singing songs together.  They told me that they rearrange the facility every so often so that they kids don’t get bored with it.  What a great idea!  I’m going to do that with his playroom at home!    He didn’t really care to explore anything else there, but he didn’t take offense to any of the instructors (there were at least 4!), and didn’t mind sitting in circle time and listening to the songs.  Success!  Unfortunately, their schedule didn’t quite work well with mine, and it was pretty far from my house.

Little Gym.  I think this is better suited for older children, because all of their equipment was actual gymnastics equipment – uneven bars, parallel bars, balance beam, etc.  They did bring out a huge bucket of gertie balls towards the end, but only for a few minutes.  They also do bubbles right after ball time, but again only for a few minutes.  The first activity we did was take out a bucket of hand bells.  Everyone got one, and we sang the “hello song”.  Another activity they did was take out a large parachute and wave it around a little bit.   They sat the kids down on the parachute (minus Brandon), and all the adults held on and walked in a circle.  I’m not sure if it was this particular location, but Brandon seemed to think that the music was way too loud, and the instructor (only one) was also very loud.

Conclusion: Brandon likes My Gym better!  At this age, it’s mostly about free play and socialization, so pick the place where your kid likes the equipment best and feels the most comfortable with the instructors and other kids.

What classes do your kid go to?  I know there are also music classes, art classes, swimming classes, language classes, etc.