The Little Gym

Today we went to The Little Gym!

The Little Gym is located in the KMart shopping center just past Biltmore Square Mall on Brevard Road. We had a free introductory class for Mini Jacks, a “sports skills” class.  The class is for kids 3-4 years old and, including Tate, today there were 5 kids (4 boys and 1 girl). The kiddos today were 3-5 as this was a joint class.

Each class has "Skills of Focus," kind of an outline of what to expect in the class. The Skills Of Focus for the Mini Jacks class are: Target Practice Tally, Frisbee Catching, Front Support to Tummy Rolls, Sets of Tennis Hits, Cast to Horizontal, Overhead Tennis Serve, Shot Put Addition and Subtraction, Four Skill Tumbling Combo, and High Jump. The "sport" for today was Track & Field so there was running - lots and lots of running. Fortunately, that suited Tate just fine. He was the youngest in class today and had a hard time following some of the directions. Unlike Mighty Mites at Asheville Gymnastics, this class was not "free play." The kids had an instructor, Mister Chris, who led them through the different tasks. It was hard for me - being such a hands-on, be-right-there-all-the-time kinda Momma - but parents weren't allowed in. We all sat in the lobby and chatted while the kiddos played. There was a huge window into the gym so I could keep an eye on Tate but I just wasn't expecting that. (Thus the glare on the pics!)

A little warm up with the "shakers"

Wouldn't it be nice to have that much energy? :)



Working on the bars with Mister Chris



Just a good overall view of the gym

Tate loved this little station

"Riding the whale"

Aaaaaaand the dismount!

BIG FINISH! :)

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Overall, we had a great time. Mister Chris was awesome. He made Tate feel very welcome and gave "high 5s" (Tate's favorite!) right off the bat. He worked with each of the kids and gave lots of praise and encouragement.

Even though Tate is 3, Mister Chris said that since he's a "green 3" (meaning he just turned 3), we might be better off enrolling him in the gymnastics class for now. The gymnastics class is apparently a little less structured and it will give Tate a little more time to grow - he is a little on the small side for his age - before getting into the "sports."

The only thing I really didn't like about today was the timing. The class ran from 1:30 - 2:30, slap-dab in the middle of our usual nap time. By the time class ended, we loaded everyone in the car, got home and got everyone fed, it was nearly 4:00 before the kids went down for nap! Whooo! Tate was in sleep-deprived overdrive at that point.


In addition to the sports skills (3 - 8 years) and gymnastics (3 - 12 years), The Little Gym also offers dance (3 - 8 years), karate (4 - 12 years) and parent/child classes (4 months - 3 years).

The pricing for The Little Gym is a little confusing to me. Or maybe I'm just easily confused! Anyway, you pay $40 membership fee per year and then pay for each "semester." A semester is 20 weeks (though summer semester is only 10 weeks). You can join at anytime and the remainder of the semester you're joining is then prorated. For example, if we had joined today, we would've paid the $40 membership fee + $67 which is the prorated amount for the remainder of this semester (through June 4th). One good deal though is that if we sign Tate up for a class, Coco can go to the 4 - 9 month old class ("Bugs") for free. Free is good! :)


For the summer semester (10 weeks of classes; June 9th - August 17th) it's $159 plus the $40 annual fee.

Tate seemed to enjoy himself today and it would great to get him into a more structured class of following directions and taking turns but this one may be out of our price range for right now. Still, a great adventure!

Tomorrow we're off to The North Carolina Arboretum!