Children's Play center/Gym

Hi D.,

I enrolled my daughter at the Little Gym (similar to Gymboree) when she was 18 months old. She was never engaged in any of the activities but we persevere. I cried for help to the teachers but they told me to let her to her business, some kids take more time than others). By the time she was 3 years old, she would sat down against the wall for all the aerobic activities (warm up) and only join the group for the more gimnastic or music type of activities. I was up to my last drop of patience thinking how much money I was wasting on this. But we kept going, eventually at the age of 4 somethng magic happened, she was up there with everybody else!! Running, jumping, laughing, playing etc. If your kids are anything like mine, my advice is patience, patience, patience, it will happen at their own time.

They may not feel the need to connect to the rest of the group because as twins, they already have each other! It's not uncommon for twins to kind of be in their own world. For many other kids in these classes, this is their first entrance into peer socialization. Your kids have had socialization from day one.

Hang in there!

I did the trials at Gymboree & Little Gym before finding a much more affordable (local mom-owned business) that is a fraction of the cost! I work full-time and can only take my girl to this type of activity on the weekend, and paying $60-100 each month for ~4 visits (45min-1hr long) was not going to work for me. So, I found this one that is very similar but only $30-40 each month (huge discounts for mulitple kids) and has the flexibility of attending "free" classes when I can (holidays or random days off) in addition to my regular Saturday or Sunday class.
I started taking my girl at 13 months and she loved it from the get-go. She has been in daycare since 2 months old, so she is extremely sociable and friendly. She likes to try new things and enjoys the mom & me time (sitting in my lap singing or whatever), so she was game for whatever activity we tried. Now that she is 19 months old, we still go once a week and she still loves it. Sometimes, though, she does get a little bored (especially on the days when there are mostly "babies"), so I let her go and explore until it is time for the next activity. I show her what we're doing and she can either join in or continue on her own--most of the time she wants to do what everyone else is doing.
At these classes, there are some kids who just want to cling to mom/dad, while there are others who just run amuk the whole time. I would suggest that you look into other budget-friendly options and consider your kids' personalities. Would it be better if you took them separately? Could you work on structuring their time at home so they realize that there is an order to when things are done? My girl has always been a "stickler" for routine, so I think she really appreciates the structure of these classes.
Good luck and have fun! I love having this activity to share with my girl!

Some kids do not have the attention span for it until 4/5 years old while other kids do it at 2/3 years old already... also it depends on what other structure is in their life, and what activities you do with them to help them improve their attention span (in the end it really is when the child is mentally ready to have a longer attention span but can be encourage with structure/activities at home).

I did try Gymboree classes for 2 months but my daughter got bored with it quickly so I decided not to waste my money. Once my daughter learns something she moves on and wants to learn something new, well that is not how Gymboree is set up so it is not a good fit for us. I have gone to the open gym when she was between the ages of a year and 2 1/2 years old, after that she would step in do one or two things and get bored and want to leave so we no longer go.

Personally Gymboree is not a good fit for everyone or all kids. It can be fun, gets you & child out of the house, and works on fine motor skills BUT if your kid does not take interest in it in a month or two wait a few months or a year before doing it again OR just do similar things at home for a fraction of the cost. The "teacher/instructor" did keep telling me that after a few months my daughter will get the hang of it and "fit-in" and I simple said "I do not need her to 'fit-in' and that maybe we will join another class in a few months instead of keep paying for something we/daughter is getting nothing out of since she wants to explore."

I took my 14 month old son to Gymboree for one of their free trials and didn't end up signing up for that very reason. He cried and wanted to do more of his own thing. I ended up taking him to another location called My Gym and he did much better there. Although they still have singing, circle time and some structured activities, there is a lot more free time for exploration. So far I've found that he's enjoying his time there and is eventually doing more of the structured activities and playing with the other kids. Maybe you want to think about looking into other types of classes (doing the free previews) until you find something that works for your twins.

did classes at the rec center. first time was 23 months and took till the 8th or 9th class (1x/week) before she got into the swing of things, and it was a Parent & Tot class too. We did the same class again at 26 months and she did better, but still wanted to wander around like it was free play, but she would come do the teacher's activity when it was her turn and then free play again. I liked that it encouraged social interaction, taking turns, and following directions, but don't expect the kids to be perfect patient people. We did a different sports class (parent participation still) at 2.5 yrs and she still had a hard time following directions (to the point I was so frustrated I cried), but when I changed my expectations of her I was happier.

If their lack of participation is frustrating you, try a less expensive alternative, like free storytime at the library--they tend to mix it up with songs/dancing between each story. Our library does it 1x/week and has a nice big children's area... maybe you can look at the libraries around you and find one that does it too.

(BTW, my daughter never attended daycare, she regularly goes to grandmas, and has IRregularly scheduled playdates with a few neighborhood kids)