The Little Gym - Birds

John moved up to the "birds" class at The Little Gym (10 months to 18 months) - and he loves it even more than the "bugs" class. We changed locations to be closer to home and our new teacher, Mr. Forest is great. John really likes him, but he LOVES his guitar!

In this class all of the kids are walking and very curious. Our intro activity normally consists of sitting in a circle, the hello song and playing with bells. Then the kids help put the bells away - John has this down pat - in fact, he puts the bells up before he is has to - I think he thinks it is a game (I am not complaining). Then we do various walking, running, jumping activities. This is the time where the kids normally watch us parents run around and wonder why we are all being so silly.

Then there is exploration time, which is just another word for free time. John likes the balance beams and then really just walking around and rolling on the various mats. But most every time I have to direct his attention somewhere other than the water fountains and the door stops?!?!?

We also have a "skill of the week" where the teacher will demonstrate some sort of bar, mat or beam activity and then the rest of the kid in class take turn doing it. As John is always in every one's business, he is typically right next to Mr. Forest, so John is almost always the demonstrator. He is such a teachers pet!

At the end of every session there is a big trash can of balls that is thrown all over the floor, the kids LOVE this time. Again, John is very helpful when it is time to put the balls away. The bubble machine is then turned on for a few minutes, followed by another circle good-bye song. During the hello and good-bye song the teacher has his guitar and John is standing right next to him touching the guitar and sometimes even plucking the strings. Mr. Forest has to stand up sometimes to finish the song.

We both love it and have a great time!

Nana and Grandpa came to watch a class last week and took some pictures for us.