I'm looking at taking DD to Baby Kindergym and am wondering if others have taken their little ones to a kindergym or similar, what sort of things did they do? Keeping in mind this age group is only 0-2, so I'm not expecting cartwheels...
Alexzander did gymnastics from 18 months to three years. At first he really loved it, but it was very repeitive so after 18 months of the same thing every week he got a bit bored with it all. The one he went to wasn't an actual Kindergym one, just a toddler class that the local gymnastics centre did.
Ours had 15 minutes of unstructured play, then 45 minutes of actual class. There was always an obstacle course to start with, climbing under & over things, mini trampolines, forward rolls, that sort of thing. After that they would go on to doing balance beams, swinging on the rings, jumping into the foam pit, climbing ladders & jumping on the big trampoline. After that was a song, usually with the big parachute.
It's great fun & good exercise for the kids (and mums cos you have to help them with everything ).
We were still going after Juliette was born & to be honest I struggled in the first few weeks.The hardest part though is not being able to lift them for the six weeks after the c/s. The teachers tried to help Alexzander but he is very funny with strangers touching him so they just couldn't. We were lucky though in that I had a friend that came with us & she'd lift him where needed.
And don't be scared. You are with her the entire time helping her, lifting her up, holding her hands on the beams etc. Also if you're not comfortable with her doing something, say no
DD1 has been going to gymbaroo for ages now which I assume is alot similar to kindergym.
The first half class was involved with free play on the climbing things, swings, trampoline, etc. Parents just walked around with them and supervised their child and just showed the child how to place hands and feet when climbing up or down things, the teachers also come around and show you things and give you tips.
Second half class we'd sit in circle with our child and that half class would involve sing song, instruments, toys related to the topic of the day that sort thing.
DD loves going. She gets excited every friday for it.
We love kindagym! We started going when Jaidan was just 2 and still go, there are babies there who can't even crawl yet to 4 year olds. It's great! They have lots of things set up, balancing beams, tramps, climbing stuff, tunnels, spinny things, baby toys. All the boys love it and I highly reccomend it, it's also great for social interactions
OK - we go to gymbaroo - it is the highlight of DD's week!! She just loves it! It is challenging for her, but not above her limits and we never would have realised what she can do by herself if we hadn't taken her. She started around her first birthday.
As someone who has also been to kindergym I would recommend gymbaroo over kindergym in a heartbeat. Although, I suppose it depends on the kindergym. Gymbaroo is more expensive, but in my experience the people conducting the classes are much more experienced in childhood development. Gymbaroo is much more wholistic and structured that kindergym. I like structure and the kids respond well to it too. Things we do at gymbaroo are:
- welcome song
- activities and songs with different physical skills
- small equipment (different each time - balls, hoops, bean bags, ropes, etc)
- treasure bag (each week has a different word for the theme and the kids bring along an item representing the word, which is handed out at treasure bag time)
- word and picture recognition (with the word of the week)
- time on the large equipment
- musical instruments
- goodbye song and parachute
Yes, it is very physically demanding on the parents- so after a c/s it would be too much, in my opinion.
I think that's all, apart from how much DD gets out of it, she really looks forward to it, and often "plays" gymbaroo at home!
Oooh leesa, didn't realise you were in SA too! There are two gymbaroo centres in Adelaide - one at Hawthorn and the other at Mawson Lakes. Maybe one of those would suit?
ETA: by the way, gymbaroo also let you do a "come and try" session for free, so if you're not sure which you'd prefer, you can check out both and find out what they do.
Baby Kindergym - worthwhile?
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