Activities and classes for your LO?

Sam914 · #1 November 22nd, 2011, 06:57 AM

What type of classes and activities do you take your LO's too? (outside of the house).

We can't really afford a regular Little Gym/Gymboree type class thats $200+ but I'm thinking of starting to take M to a gymnastics/open gym type of thing a couple of times a month, our speech therapist told us about it and she said its great and only $5 and you pay as you go so that would be awesome. I've heard some of you talk about art and music classes... do you do those through local places or what? I'm not sure Michael has the capacity to sit still through a music class but art could be fun where he can make a mess and i dont have to deal with it

mylene169 · #2 November 22nd, 2011, 07:08 AM

Our local community college system offers different enrichment classes and includes stuff for toddlers/preschoolers. That's where we take our art class through. It's $24 for 6 weeks and WELL worth it! It's at our community center a few blocks away and Kolbie can get paint and mess everywhere and I don't have to worry about it! I started taking Kaija when she was 2 and only took 1 session since the off, and that was only because Kolbie was due the first week of that session and I wasn't so sure about taking a newborn with us. So Kolbie started at 6 months

but she just rode in the Ergo for a while.

We couldn't afford a lot of the other stuff either if we had it around here. Our town has a community gym (like the Y but run by the city Park Board) and they offer stuff too but it's kind of pricey.

Shea131 · #3 November 22nd, 2011, 07:26 AM

I had to freeze my account for a few months around the holidays at our local Y so my money could go to other things but the first of the year I will be paying for my membership again and taking Peyton back to swim class! She loves it! Like I said she hasn't been for a couple months now so I hope she still likes it when we go back in January!

I just heard about a dance class in our town that I may look in to when she is 2!

Sam914 · #4 November 22nd, 2011, 07:39 AM

Yeah we dont have a y here, there is a little gym but its $$$, theres a play zone place but there arent classes there its just open play, we dont have gymboree classes and we dont even have a park near us besides the school playground!

My area sucks! I totally forgot this Thursday is thanksgiving i was gonna take M, haha. I'm also limited to stuff that is on Tuesday's, Thursdays, Fridays or the weekend i can't do anything M or W. Ugh. I think gymnastics might work since he's insane, never stops moving.

We actually took him to a place called Monkey Joe's to see if we wanted to have his birthday party there and he seemed to really like it... the entire place was inflatable bounce house things. I was kind of surprised he was actually so into it but there were only two things he could play on and there were a ZILLION kids so i dont know if i want to go there that often (especially in winter)

Sam914 · #5 November 22nd, 2011, 08:56 AM

I also just looked up some other stuff in the neighboring county and everything there seems to start at 2... i know M's technically almost 2 but he wouldnt be mentally what they're expecting from a 2 year old until April at least

mylene169 · #6 November 22nd, 2011, 09:14 AM

I ran into a lot of that same problem. Most programs here don't start until 3 or 4, mostly 4. Add that to the fact that Kaija is just now potty trained (knock on wood!!!!) she wouldn't have been able to start anything until this winter. So I'm glad I looked in that catalog when it came.

I'd look at your budget and what's available and find out what their refund policy is. You never know if he can do it unless you try it out. Maybe they'll let you try one session free to see how it goes? It doesn't hurt to ask!

Twhylite21 · #7 November 22nd, 2011, 09:53 AM

Violet has been in Music Together classes since she was 2 months old. I didn't have to pay for her (Lily's enrolled as well) until she was 8 months. It's somewhat pricey...it costs $195 for Lily and then $115 for Violet for 10 weeks. Class is once a week for 45 minutes. They both love it though. They're not expected to sit still or anything, the class is very upbeat and you're dancing, singing, etc. Vi can match pitch already perfectly and she's definitely musical, so it's a good class for her..

Right now, that's the only thing we're doing with Violet. Most other classes don't start until age 2. If it's before age 2, then parent participation is required and it's hard for me to have someone watch Lily for that, etc. We might start doing private swim lessons for her though with Lily's coach.

amazing_love · #8 November 22nd, 2011, 10:14 AM

There are alot of options here such as different music classes, gymnastics, even soccer starts as young as like 18 months!! I couldn't believe that, haha. I haven't found the need to pay for any of that yet but we did do swimming lessons a couple of times. Now i prefer to just take him to the Y myself since we have a membership and not spend the extra $ on lessons. We get together enough with playgroups, that is the biggest way he gets interaction with others and different environments. We also have a few different public play areas that cost between $3-6 each time you go but i feel its worth it when we have gone.

Shantastic27 · #9 November 22nd, 2011, 06:20 PM

We have been enrolled in music classes through a locally owned store here in town since...april or may? It's right around 30/month and it's worth it! It's really laid back and informal. Some of the kids are pretty wild and run around a lot of the time, and others are more chill like liv..she just sits on my lap and we sing the songs and dance together. It's really fun!!