Baby At Play

The players

Here’s something fun to do with your little ones…sign them up for baby gym classes! This has nothing to do with building muscle or losing weight. What it is is an instructor led class that helps with building motor skills in a fun way with other kids of the same age. My wife and I were in search of a gym for our baby and found two to compare: Gymboree and The Little Gym.

Try before you decide

The great thing about these two gyms are that they are both nationwide and have locations almost everywhere. Both offer free trial classes (or two, or three if you’re nice ) for you to bring your baby in and try them out before committing. Pricing is similar for the two. We went with The Little Gym for about $400 a semester, which lasts about 4 or 5 months (1 class per week). Each class lasts about 45 minutes.

What is there to do?

There are different activities for every age groups. For our classes (up to 3 years old) we start with ringing bells and singing some songs. We then explore the gym and the instructor teaches the children the activity of the week. Activites range from balancing beams, jumping, sway bars, and other gymnastic types of equipment. It’s not all just work and no play though. We wrap up the day with some bubble popping (kids love this!) and more singing to close out the session.

Is it worth it?

To us, yes it is very well worth it. It comes out to about $20 per class (45 minutes a week) but you get so much out of it. Our baby looks forward to going each week. She loves the music, enjoys the other kids company, and just having a place where she can run freely. As parents, we love that she is getting more interaction with others her age, we get to meet other parents in the area, and our daughter is developing some vital skills in life.

More information

You can find more information about Gymboree classes here.

You can find more information about The Little Gym classes here.