New Classes

We're often out of town on the weekends...especially in the Fall. But, as winter settles in (and at an average high of 24 degrees, its here), we thought it might be a good idea to look into some indoor weekend activities for Jack. Afterall, I'm convinced that Jack likes to be on the go just about as much as I do...and when its winter and we have to stay inside...we both get cases of "Cabin Fever." I think we found a little fix :)

I did some research and found that there were a couple of different options near us. The Little Gym & Gymboree Play & Music both offer Saturday classes. Our Rec Center also offers swim classes on the weekend, but I don't know how I feel about taking little guy from warm water to wintery outside right now...so we put that one off until the spring. Although, I will say that I can't wait to see him in swim classes. He LOVES water. Anyway, we decided to go with Gymboree because our local center had so many positive reviews.

Our first class was this past Saturday--- and I think he really liked it. He's in their "Play and Learn 3" Class, which is for 10-16 month olds. Its all about exploration through play as they strengthen and develop their fine-motor skills. The classes take place in a very "kid-proof" gym with a bunch of mats on the floor and soft-edged modules to climb on. Jack's favorites are the tiny trampoline and the slide. Of course, every time he climbs up to go down the slide, we have to remind him that he needs to sit up and not go down face first (I wonder who showed him that fun trick...I'll give you a hint...it was a parent and not me :).

So, we signed up for the classes and will see where it takes us. Jack did really well for his first session. There were a lot of kids there who you could tell had been in a number of their classes. Each class begins with free play, then they review the week's gym set up (which always has a developmental theme to it), then towards the end, everyone sits in a circle, sings and plays the parachute game. It takes a little getting used to (especially the circle time when Gymbo the Clown comes out. Yeah, Jack usually crawls out of the group circle at that point. But hey, we're learning and having fun as we both explore.