5 Reasons You Should Join Gymboree Today

You know those times when you are kind of desperate and feel like your blindly fumbling through life?  That was me when my first born was a toddler. This child was not content to sit at home playing with the 1001 trains we owned.  He needed a lot of stimulation and had a lot of energy to burn and our little condo living room just wasn’t cutting it.  

We joined our local Gymboree Play and Music when he was about 15 months.  What a god send.  A place where he could climb and jump and throw stuff and explore and beat the heck out of a drum…and non of that took place in my living room.  We moved when he was 2 1/2 and the very first thing I did was find the Gymboree and sign him up for classes.  We stayed there all the way through preschool.  Did you know some Gymborees have preschools?  The Norman location does and it was the best thing in our lives at that time.

Our second kiddo came along and he was so much more easy going.  He didn’t need constant entertainment so I wasn’t as desperate to get to Gymboree.  I didn’t enroll him and now I regret that.  He missed out on the fun gym, parachute time and the messy art.  Recently I took him to visit our Gymboree so I could catch up with my friend (who happens to be the owner) and I remembered how valuable this magical place is in those first years.

If your kiddos are under the age of 5 here are 5 reasons why you should join Gymboree right this minute.  Well, finish reading this and then you can hop on over to their site to sign up.

5 Reasons You Should Join Gymboree Today

1.  Developmentally Appropriate Play

Whether you have a newborn or a preschooler, Gymboree has classes designed for their developmental ability.  There is such a wide range of classes with professionally developed curriculum; calm, low-key classes for tiny babies, play classes to encourage movement and exploration for babies, building problem solving skills for toddlers, exploring imaginative and pretend play and building social skills for pre-schoolers.

2. Finding New Little Friends

Places like Gymboree are where play dates are born.  This is where your little one will find their first friend and new relationships blossom. 

3. Getting To Talk To Other Adults

Staying at home with baby can be draining emotionally and mentally.  Sometimes all you want to do is talk to another adult (Steve on Blues Clues does not count) about how hard this parenting gig is.  That’s when you have to take yourself to someplace where moms are gathered other than Target on a Monday morning.  Knowing you aren’t alone in your struggles and joys is half the battle.  I still have friends that I made at Gymboree years ago

4. The Mess Is NOT In Your House

Imagine the mess this would create in your kitchen…finger painting, water colors, creating art with shaving cream and food coloring, ten thousand glue sticks, confetti, glitter – for the love of glitter in every crevice.  Guess what?  It’s not in your kitchen!  Someone else is in charge of this mess and you get to leave it all behind as you walk away with a tiny masterpiece.

5. Exposing Your Kids To Something Unique

Not only does Gymboree have super fun and colorful play structures built specifically for tiny toes (that change in layout every two weeks) but you can expose them to music that may not normally be on your radar.  Give them an artistic experience beyond crayons and coloring pages.  Remember the big parachute from gym class?  This one is so cool.  Just try sitting inside a rainbow colored parachute with the air filled with bubbles and not have a light heart.

Bonus: The Clean Up Song

Yes, we can sing the Clean Up song with our kids at home but there is something about 10 other tiny tots running around, picking up balls, scarves and maracas to put them away.  Suddenly peer pressure is awesome.  When the Clean Up song is learned at Gymboree, getting kids to sing it and actually pick up toys at home is a little bit easier.

Bonus #2: The Bubbles

I’m not sure what magical brew the Gymboree bubbles are made of, but these things are the bomb dot com.  They will cling to tiny fingers, noses, eyelashes, hair, whatever, without popping until you are ready to.  Once I brought the bubbles home and filled my living room with them.  I found bubbles a week, A WEEK, later in out of reach spaces.

I may sound like a commercial for Gymboree but this time I’m not getting paid.  I just really love it.  I love the learning experience it offers littles and the sanctuary it offers parents.  Go, go now.  Join Gymboree!