The Little Gym

djm31012

We take DS to the Little Gym on saturday mornings and he absolutely loves it. Smiles from ear to ear, laughs the whole time.The class goes from 18 mos to 2.5, but he is definitely the youngest one in there.  He loves running around, he will participate in the circle time activities and singing songs, he likes the low balance beam 60% of the time, but thats really it. He wont hang on the parallel bars, he wont grip the rings and try to swing and he wont do the high balance beam. He really loves to just run and climb on the different mats. All of the other kids try the skills of the week, but he just has no interest in even trying. I cant tell if hes nervous (I think thats it) or just doesnt have the attention span. He also doesnt jump...I am not sure if most of your kids are jumping, he will bend his knees and do the movement, but he never takes air. And when we tell him to jump off a step, again he bends down, then steps off.

What I am wondering is, is this normal for a 21 month old crazy busy boy...or should I be concerned with his motor skills? How much are your kids doing at their gym classes if they take one?

djm31012

byebyebooze said:

We do My Gym. DD also has very little interest in their "skill of the week". She also jumps just like you described - does the motion, but with no actual take off. Your kid sounds totally normal to me. Those activities can be intimidating - especially if your kid is by far the youngest. If he's having fun and getting out some energy, that's all that matters. He will try the other stuff as he chooses.

Perfect. Thats exactly what I was thinking. He totally doesnt seem phased by it and I never thought something was wrong, but then this weekend the teacher wanted to use him to demonstrate walking backward on the balance beam and when she tried to get him to stand on there he wanted no part. All the other kids were lining up to help...again, hes 6+ mos younger than most....

How do you like My Gym? Someone also mentioned to me that Little Gym was more geared toward older kids and My Gym had much more for the 1-2 year olds (a ball pit, etc). I am going to take the free class there and see if we want to switch,

brachysira

We are going to try our first gymnastics class this week.  DD does not not jump, but tries like you described or sometimes gets one foot up and kind of skips. She has been practicing jumping for almost a year, and still doesn't get air.  I have no expectations that she'll do anything at the class but run wild.  As long as she isn't bothering anyone or getting into things she isn't supposed to, that's fine with me.  Even with crafts at home, some times she gets into it and does it for a long time, and other times she just chills and lets me do it or wants to get up and not do it.  I don't think this has anything to do with her fine motor skills.  I think she is just too young to do what is asked all the time and instead she just does whatever she thinks will be fun.  I would not worry at all about your child.

jdilorenzo

I have heard kids don't actually jump until 2. I think it's so cute when they try. MJ jumps and actually gets off the ground and I can't believe it.

MommyAndHerLatte

Your LO sounds perfectly normal. We do My Gym and DS loves it. He loves the slides, low balance beam, swings...but has no interest in the parallel bars. He also loves the trampoline but doesn't really "jump" yet. He says "jump" and bends his legs, but doesn't really get both feet off the ground. The first month or two, he wasn't super into the practice skills either. But now he runs over to the instructors to do all the practice skills. I noticed that once he started feeling comfortable with the instructors, he grew more confident in trying new things at the gym. Your LO sounds like he's doing great, and as long as he's enjoying himself, I wouldn't be worried. I haven't tried Little Gym because it's too far from us, but we love My Gym. I think they're all independently operated though, so definitely take a trial class to see what your location is like.

cinnasugar

Totally normal.