"I walk on beam"

That was one of Madeline's first four-word sentences. She uttered those words while walking across a balance beam, her tiny hands cupped in mine. One of the things to do with a toddler in St. John's is take them to gymnastics class. There two gyms offering a parented class for one and two year-olds: Cygnus Gymnastics and Campia Gymnastics (okay, this one is really in Mount Pearl, but really, what's the diff?).

We took the toddler class at Cygnus over the summer - the last class was on Friday. Madeline and her classmates got to try out miniature versions of the highbar, the parallel bars, and the balance beam (though the toddlers were free to walk on the elevated beams, which Madeline totally preferred). There were trampolines for jumping, soft padded blocks and mats for tumbling and rolling, and a big pit of large, moist, damp, mildew-y foam blocks for jumping into. Oh, how I loathed that foam pit ... I think that most of the parents felt the same way, actually. One thing that I have to mention is that the facility is really dusty, probably because of all the chalk, and that it could be a dangerous environment for toddlers who run before they think. In parts of the gym, there are cables running from equipment to the ground every few inches, so the tripping hazard is great.

The cost was about $10/class, and the classes were an hour long. Madeline had a really good time, and it was neat to watch her courage increase and her balance improve from week-to-week. The class ended with "sticker time", so she was always happy when we exited the building.

Comments

[amycah]

Yay Madeline! I can't even walk a balance beam, and I've been post-toddler age for several years now. I think that perhaps more activites should end with "sticker time". I got a sticker for being brave when I got blood drawn last week and damn if I didn't like it. Just think...you paid your bills on time--hewre's a sticker. Good day at work--here's a sticker. How much happier would we all be? Hee!

[Jaime]

Nikyla LOVED gymnastics. I think it improved her coordination as well. We didn't have the gross pit though, her highlight was the big rope swing. We have a trampoline in the backyard that she is great at doing tricky things on. Are you going to keep it up?