By Jessica Matthews, Ryde District Mums Founder
GymbaROO offers research-based, neuro-developmental classes but best of all FUN learning environments for children across a range of activities. Let me tell you all about GymbaROO and why I think it’s a must-do activity with your child or grandchild!
I first went to GymbaROO Ryde about 10 years ago when my daughter was 1 and we LOVED it. I am back again with my new baby, with the class still run by the wonderful Heidi, and we are loving it just as much this time around! It feels like a warm hug! The program is fun but also structured to ensure learning opportunities and development in your child. We love GymbaROO, so much so that we have signed up to continue the classes.
What happens in a GymbaROO class?
GymbaROO Ryde classes are well known for being great fun! Babies love them, children love them, and parents and carers love them. Each activity that you and your child do at Gymbaroo isn’t just fun but is also about learning together as they develop.
Gymbaroo classes are approximately 45 minutes and in each class you can expect a mix of games, music, songs, dancing, climbing, hanging, swinging, jumping and tumbling.
When you first arrive you will do “mat-time” consisting of the welcome song, nursery rhymes, word of the week (both through touch and sight) and some movement games that allow interaction not just with you and your child but also with other children to encourage socialisation.
Then you head downstairs to the ‘gym’ which can be likened to a Wonderland for children. Each week a new set-up is created using the equipment to foster a variety of physical and sensory activities for your child. Each station brings different opportunities depending on where your child is at. As they grow and develop, the different activities can grow with them. Our personal faves are the tunnels and music stations! After the free play Wonderland floor you’ll go back upstairs for some music and parachute time and of course the goodbye song!
GymbaROO Class Levels
GymbaROO Ryde has 7 different classes based on your child’s age. These are:
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Level 1: Platypus (birth/8 weeks to crawling)
Here you will learn how to provide activities that help your baby to learn about themselves and the world around them, stimulating their brain to create the foundations for learning. Gentle movement, music, massage, tummy time, baby games, and dance all help you put the ‘natural’ back into your baby’s development.
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Level 2: Wombats (crawling to walking – approx 7 to 13 months)
In this class, GymbaROO provides activities that help your now active baby learn how to control their bodies in different ways as they stimulate their brains and create the foundations for learning. This class is faster and more challenging than the Platypus class and more emphasis is placed on body awareness, movement, and participation, as well as new fun skills like climbing and exploring.
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Level 3: Penguins (Approx 12 months to 18 months – suitable from walking)
Level 3 classes provide an exciting environment to experiment and explore. Safe with you close by, all the toddlers will try out fun new activities and construct essential skills for learning. You will have the opportunity to guide your little one to run, jump and climb, learn about space, dance and refine movement with dance, games and musical instruments.
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Level 4: Koalas (18 months to 2 years)
Koala classes provide an exciting environment to experiment and explore. During this class your little one can climb, dance, exercise, play games, and do rhythm activities that strengthen and speed up the messages the brain sends to the body. This enables your child to learn new skills like jumping, walking up stairs and starting to do actions to rhymes
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Level 5: Wallabies (2 to 2 1/2 years)
This is the age of jumping and climbing! Lots of active dances and rhymes to help improve balance and postural control. In this class, GymbaROO builds on their curiosity to explore and learn, it’s a busy age! There are many different components in the class and they encourage independence and focus on their teacher.
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Level 6: Kangaroos (2 1/2 to 3 years)
This is the age when midline crossing skills begin and each side of the body can do a different task at the same time. There is ball play to develop and refine balance and control of movement. There are hand rhymes and action songs to encourage imagination, body awareness and spatial awareness. The gym setups encourage whole-body strengthening.
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Level 7: Possums / School Readiness Stage 1 (3 to 4 years)
This age group’s program is done in 4 stages. The 4 stages are games, exercises, dance and equipment time – these increase in complexity as the two sides of the brain learn to work efficiently together. Being a Possum is fun as children delight in their increasing independence and skill acquisition!
My top 3 reasons that I love GymbaROO and have signed on for the next term:
- It offers a great range of sensory and movement-based activities in the free gym and gives you ideas for interacting and playing with your baby through the musical games and nursery rhymes you do in the class.
- Each class is different and Heidi always gives little tips and tricks on how to adapt a GymbaROO activity or theme to continue the fun at home and extend the learning opportunity for your child.
- It makes my mum-life easier knowing each week I am dedicating some specific time to my baby’s growth and development. I love watching him learn or master new stations and activities at GymbaROO. He gets SO excited when we do new songs and group activities at GymbaROO! I love bringing these elements home and touching on them during the week. It’s a great way to introduce a young child to new people, environments and opportunities.
3 week Trial
You want to make sure both you and your child are enjoying any activity you do without signing up for a full term. That’s why GymbaROO Ryde allows you to do a 3-week trial. After the 3-week term, you can sign up for the rest of the term (prorated). And did you know Mother’s group sessions are welcome at GymbaROO? Contact them for more info or group bookings.
Location
GymbaROO Ryde is conveniently located inside the Ryde Masonic Hall, 142 Blaxland Rd. Ryde, on the corner of Blaxland Rd and Parkes Street – it’s the building on the diagonal corner opposite Top Ryde Shopping Centre.
There is 3 hours free parking in the council car park which is a one minute walk away.
To book your child into a class with GymbaROO click here or visit their website here.
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