for their "It's the Little Things" link up.
We enrolled Mason in his first Gymboree class last week and to say he loved it would be an under statement. Seriously, this kid was having a BLAST! Why I didn't think to enroll him earlier, I have no idea! Well, actually yes I do... it is kind of expensive, that's why. So when I heard you could sign up for a free class to test it out, I was all over it. I figured it was a win-win situation. If he didn't like it, no money wasted. If he did like it, that's great! And then we could go from there. And what happened? LOVE LOVE LOVE! So, we decided to enroll him in the Play and Learn 4 classes every Sunday.
Cue the mommy guilt for not enrolling sooner! But hey, better late than never, right?
I'm sure most of you have heard of Gymboree but for those of you who haven't, it's basically a gym for little kids. There is equipment all around that kids can climb and play on. There are balls and hula hops for them to play with as well. Then if you are enrolled in a class, there are activities and music also. In addition to the membership to the classes, you can come to any "free play" time you want. There is one right before his class that we sometimes go to but there's one on Saturdays that I'm hoping to be able to meet our friends Lauren and Seth and their son Logan at when I finally stop working Saturdays. Since Mason and Logan are different ages, they can't be in the same class, but they can go to free play together - it is open to all age groups.
We spend the majority of the free play - and the class - climbing up the slide. He's actually gotten quite good at it and finally gets that he needs to use his feet instead of his knees so he doesn't slide back down as he tries to go up. He doesn't really need any help anymore though we are standing right there just in case. Once he gets to the top, he sometimes lets go and slides down backwards on his stomach or lets me turn him around so he can slide down the correct way. This kid seriously LOVES the slides and could spend the whole 45 minute class here.
They also have various other things to climb on besides slides. There is this "rock climbing wall" that Mason also loves because h can grab on to the "rocks" to help him get up.
You can kind of see in the background of this picture that they build little obstacles for the kids. In the very background with the girl in the pink shirt is where the purple slide is that he was climbing up. The slide is attached to various stairs and that blue wedge that you can climb or slide down. There is also the ring like tunnel thing right behind Mason that he spent a good amount of time climbing through to me and Seth. We tried to roll him around in it while he was crawling through but he didn't like that.
This teeter-totter was meant for 2 kids but I sat Mason on the one side and I pushed down on the other side and he was having so much fun going up and down.
A different, smaller tunnel to climb through.
He HATED being inside of the tubes but loved throwing the balls in to the hole.
We put Mason on top of this ball and rolled him around and he giggled and giggled. What you can't see in this picture is that Seth is right behind Mason, holding on to his legs. Don't worry, he was safe and didn't fall off the ball :)
What I didn't take pictures of was the structure of the class. We start out with an explanation of an activity and what that activity promotes (last week's theme was big vs little and this week's theme was loud vs quiet, etc). Then we have free time to do the activity. The first activity this week was climbing up a ladder to a loud bridge and then down to walk across a quiet bridge. Mason mainly ends up at the slides again but after we do the activity at least once. Then we do an activity with the air log where the instructor, Blaine, plays music and the kids bang (loudly or softly) on the air log. Then when the music stops, everyone freezes and puts their hands on their heads. I had to help Mason the first time but after that he remembered and did it himself. It was so awesome to see him remember what to do! Then we did another activity on the play structures, played with the parachute for a while, Blaine blew bubbles for the kids (which Mason LOVED) and then we sang a song with "Gymbo" and then the class was over. And at the very end of the class, the kids get stamps.
Overall, we all have a great time and always look forward to going back the next week!
(Disclaimer : I was not compensated for this post or asked to write this.
Just sharing about my weekend and my opinion only.)
Oh my gosh he's having so much fun! Just be prepared, mommy, something about these gym classes makes them learn extra mischievous skills (aka furniture climbing, a love of heights) super quickly ;) Love the photos and am so glad you're all having so much fun!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm sure he will become extra mischievous! He already gets into EVERYTHING! I'm sure in a matter of time he is going to climb somewhere high and I am going to have no idea how to get him down lol!
DeleteJust found your blog via linkups - your little guy is so cute! That place looks like so much fun! It turns out there's a gymboree near me so we'll definitely try it out.
ReplyDelete~ Elizabeth
Thank you for finding me and stopping by! Definitely check it out. I wish we had started sooner. He LOVES it!
DeleteVisiting from the link up. I just did a post as well about how much my daughter loves Gymboree! It has helped her develop a lot!
ReplyDeleteWe've only been a couple times, but I can already tell it's made a big difference!
DeleteThanks for visiting! :)
We go to the Little Gym which is pretty much the same thing I have heard. We've been going since Myles was 11 months for a place to interact with other kids. I really love it there and I have seen him progress so much. It's a great way to get them learning how to play with other kids as well. I think it is so worth the price, like you said. I'm so glad you decided to go. And the pictures are so great. I need to take my camera one day.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of the Little Gym too. We thought about taking him there too but chose Gymboree after a recommendation from a friend. I, too, have seen progress in just the short amount of time were been going! Isn't it great?
DeleteI'm so late in catching up on posts from last week! I absolutely love this though! I've really been wanting to get Sadie enrolled in something like this, it's just so hard for us because we basically live an hour from everything. It makes going to a regular/weekly class tough when you have to drive 100-150 miles roundtrip to do it! That's why I always try to come up with fun things to do around our little country town :) Thanks for linking up with us...I look forward to your post each week!
ReplyDeletexoxo
www.sadieskyboutique.com
No worries! Thank you for reading! I think it is so awesome that you read all of your "link up-ers" posts! I love your posts about the little fun things you guys get to do! I am definitely going to steal your picnic idea one of these days. I absolutely loved it!
Delete