Category: Child Development

Child Development, Play & Learn Classes

Top 5 Reasons to Attend in the Summer!

Summer, summer, summer, summertime!

It’s tempting to just cancel everything and enjoy unstructured days. But that may not be the best decision for you and your little one.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons to attend our programs in the summer:

  • We’re safer than a playground: our proprietary equipment is specially designed for children up to 5 years old, and there are no “bigger kids” running them over or slamming into them as they come down a slide.
  • We are temperature controlled: you don’t have to worry about rain or excessive sun and heat. You don’t have apply sunscreen to a squirmy toddler, or douse your child with bug spray.
  • We are a safe environment for them to explore: no chasing a toddler around an unconfined area, having your new walker fall on the pavement, or having your baby eat sand.
  • It keeps your the routine your child is used to: as tempting as unstructured days may sound, little ones find a reliable routine to be comforting.
  • Siblings can attend together: we offer classes specially designed to engage multiple age groups, so you can enjoy class as a family!

No matter the reason or season, Gymboree Play & Music is here for you!

Child Development, Music Classes

Add Music to Your May!

M-usic
U-nlocks
S-elf expression
I-ntelligence
C-reativity

Children react to music from birth. or even before. It gives them a way to express their feelings and connect with others. Singing and dancing can make a bad day good, and a good day better.

At Gymboree Play & Music, our music classes give you a chance to experience the joys of song and movement together, building core memories that will last well beyond the end of the class. Come sing with us!

Child Development, Play & Learn Classes

Check Out the Handleball!

I’m just one of the many pieces of equipment that your child will use during their class at Gymboree Play & Music, from our youngest members in the Babies class all the way up to our “big kids” in our preschool classes!

I look really big to your little one but – SURPRISE – I’m full of air, so I’m not heavy at all! And whether they are sitting on top, rocking, bouncing, rolling or pushing me, there’s a whole lotta learning going on:

  • Being up high when they sit or lie on top helps build confidence
  • Rocking helps build core strength, and bouncing helps promote coordination
  • Rolling or pushing me across the floor promotes motor planning, problem solving and coordination; plus teamwork, cooperation and turn-taking are all supported
  • Talk about imagination: I can be a boulder they push up a hill, or a tree to pick apples from!

All of my equipment friends and I are specially designed to challenge and support the development of children from newborns to preschoolers. Best of all, we make learning fun! Find a Gymboree Play & Music location near you.

Child Development, Community

Build Sweet Memories

Let’s face it: raising a young child can be overwhelming and exhausting at times. Maybe even a bit lonely. But, as the saying goes “the days are long, but the years are short”.

That’s why it’s so important to carve out time each week to share special times together, and create memories that you can look back on with a smile when they are older.

At Gymboree Play & Music, we can help!

We offer a bright, colorful space where you can unplug, laugh and sing with your little one, with a variety of fun classes that support their physical, cognitive and social-emotional development. You’ll both be having so much fun together, you’ll be amazed at how much they are learning.

Join our community and build sweet memories together!

Child Development, Community, Play & Learn Classes

First Friends

There’s something about watching your little one recognize and connect with another one that just makes you feel all warm and gooey inside.

Those first “friends” are so important. While babies don’t “play” with each other, they may stare, babble, or scream excitedly back and forth. They may also ignore each other at times, which is ok too!

At Gymboree Play & Music, we give you and your little one ample opportunities to connect with other children, adults and families in a warm, inviting space.

It’s never too early, or too late, for your family to join our family at Gymboree Play & Music.

Child Development, Music Classes, Play & Learn Classes

Growing Young Minds: Music

“Music is life. That’s why our hearts have beats.”

Cecily Morgan

From the youngest age, children are inspired by music. A baby will turn their head in the direction of the sound. Young toddlers will wiggle, bounce and shimmy along to the beat. And preschoolers will move with defined purpose, even following simple choreography!

The importance of music in early education is clearly documented:

  • Music supports sensory development: exposing your child to different types of music can help create more pathways between the cells in their brains.
  • Music can improve literacy and numeracy: from an early age, babies can hear the difference between different types of sounds. Exposure to music enhances a child’s natural ability to decode sounds and words, and helps them anticipate what is coming next in a song and how to put these sounds in a sequence.
  • Music helps build coordination: music encourages your child to move, developing their fine and gross motor skills.
  • Music helps develop vocabulary: even if your child doesn’t understand the words to a song at first, they develop their understanding by identifying the storytelling within it.
  • Music supports social-emotional development: nothing sparks more joy that a group of little ones all moving to the beat together!

That’s why music is an important part of all our classes at Gymboree Play & Music. Find a location near you.

Child Development, Play, Play & Learn Classes

Learning Through Play

Children of every culture use play to communicate, create and express their thoughts and feelings.

Entering your child’s world and “speaking their language” is what makes learning-through-play so powerful.

Play-based learning has been the foundation of Gymboree Play & Music‘s programs for over 45 years, supporting the physical, cognitive and social-emotional development of children from birth to kindergarten. Children are given the physical and emotional space to explore and learn at their own pace, with a variety of programs that grow with your child.

Find a Gymboree Play & Music location near you, and immerse yourself in your child’s world of play today!

Child Development, Preschool

Get Ready for Preschool!

There comes a time in every little one’s life when they have to transition from having their grownup by their side to facing the world on their own. Some move on with a smile on their face, never looking back. Others have a hard time, with lots of tears. Meanwhile, the grownup is dealing with all of the emotion around their “baby” no longer being one.

We understand how difficult that transition can sometimes be. That’s why, at Gymboree Play & Music, our programs grow with your child – from adult/child for our younger ones, to classes that include a parent-separation time, to our fully-independent School Skills preschool program – supporting their development from birth to kindergarten.

Our programs help foster the self-reliance your little one needs to brave their new world of independent learning with minimal tears and lots of smiles.

Find a Gymboree Play & Music location near you.

Child Development

Growing Young Minds

As a parent, you know what your child’s body needs to grow up strong and healthy: nutritious food (when they’ll eat it), plenty of rest (when they don’t fight it), and fresh air and sunshine (weather permitting).

But your little one’s brain also needs nourishment. While they are young, they need to be exposed to a variety of experiences, and allowed to experiment, investigate, make mistakes and try again. Play-based learning, music and art all support your child’s cognitive development, with their physical and social-emotional development as an added bonus!

It’s why we do what we do. Gymboree Play & Music has been supporting the development of young children for over 45 years, with a variety of engaging programs that grow with your child from birth to kindergarten.

Child Development

The Importance of Social-Emotional Learning

Imagine that for at least half of your life, you rarely – if ever – left your house. And you only saw your closest family members.

Then imagine that you were suddenly out and about in the world, processing new experiences and interacting with lots of new people. Would you know how to act?

That’s exactly what our little ones faced after Covid. Many of them had missed out on the everyday interactions that help develop the social skills needed for effective problem-solving, self-discipline, impulse control and emotion management.

Social-emotional learning is as important (if not more so for little ones) as academic learning. People with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges. They develop self-awareness, self-control and the interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work and life success.

That’s one of the many reasons why Gymboree Play.& Music has been supporting the development of young children – physical, cognitive AND social-emotional for over 45 years.