Little Miss Zeeka Goes to The Little Gym

I really feel guilty for not having sent Zeeka to classes like Kindermusik or Gymboree or the Little Gym when she was younger. I have had a lot of friends who enrolled their little ones back when they were 4-6 months old. What we would do at home is to teach her things through our ‘playtime’. I am proud to say that she knows a lot of things now (even if I didn’t get to send her) and she’s only 1 year and 4 months. But of course, a part of me still wants to send her.

For the average mom, sending our kids to these classes may be a bit heavy on the budget. Imagine spending around Php 15K just to have them attend 13 sessions of playtime at these ‘schools’. Obviously, before spending that much, I wanted to check out these different institutions. I know that educating a child through play is very important that is why I really wanted to look for other avenues where I could teach Zeeka skills. I noticed that staying in the house was getting a little bit too boring already for her.

I started with checking out The Little Gym. They had a branch at the Bonifacio Technology Center that was close to our home. They offer a one-time introductory class worth Php 650 that they deduct from the fee when you enroll with them. So Zeeka and I tried the class. I took a tour of their facility and it was really well maintained. After every class, a lady would come out to mop the floors. All yaya’s and parents were required to wear socks in the play area. No other people are allowed inside the play area except the students and parents of the particular ‘on-going’ class.

The lady who I talked to at the reception area told me that The Little Gym offers various classes depending on your child’s age. The Little Gym is a US-franchised fitness and development center that offers classes to enhance and develop strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm, motor skills, and muscle tone, as well as good listening, cognitive, and socialization skills.

Okay, since Zeeka is now 1 year and 4 months old, we attended the Birds Class. The Birds Class is part of the Parent/Child Curriculum for those with children who are 4 months – 3 years old. This curriculum is divided into 4 classes: The Bugs Class for Infants from 4-10 months, the Birds Class for Infant/Toddler from 10-19 months, the Beasts Class for Toddlers 19 months to 2.5 years old and the Super Beasts Class for Toddlers 2.5 to 3 years old.

The teacher who taught the Birds class is teacher Rissa and she is really very good! She had perfect grammar and tone (and I’m very particular with that for teachers, especially). She was also very engaging and nice. She reminds me of theater actors and actresses who really know how to grab your attention and are very animated when they speak. She was like that!

The class ran from 11:15 am to 12:00 nn. The Little Gym class that we attended that day focused on teaching the children how to count. I noticed that a lot of the activities were very physical. We ran a lot around the mat area. We also had the “skill of the day” where the teacher would teach the kids a gymnastics skill. We would have the children count swings on the uneven bars. The children would tumble and roll on the mat.

Zeeka loved the class. When we were on our way home, she was signing “more play” over and over again (she know baby sign language for those who just read this post; I taught her starting when she was 8 months old). I told her that we would go back for another class (and yes, we actually did the next week where I had to pay the regular rate of Php 1000 +. I forgot how much exactly.

What I liked about the class is that it’s very physical so they teach the kids early on that physical fitness is important. I value health and fitness so this is really something that impressed me. I also saw that it was a good fit for Zeeka since she loves dancing. I have observed that she loves to dance whenever there is music, and I think gymnastics would be a good way to enhance this talent.

For the class, the students were a good mix of different nationalities. I love this, too, since I’d like Zeeka to be comfortable in interacting with different people from different races and religion. I think that being aware on what’s happening in different parts of the world and knowing about different cultures is important.

Aside from the Parent and Child Curriculum, The Little Gym offers Pre-School / Kindergarten Curriculum, too for children 3-6 years old. The curriculum is again divided into three classes: The Funny Bugs for 3-4 year olds, Giggle Worms for 4-5 year olds and Good Friends for 5-6 year olds. I inquired about this too and the tuition fee is at around Php 100+K per school year.

For those who really love gymnastics and want to continue doing these, the Little Gym offers the Grade School Curriculum as a supplementary for those who are already in big schools. They have the classes for those who are 6-12 years old which ranges from Beginner to intermediate to advanced classes.

There are now three The Little Gym locations in the Philippines: Makati, Pasig-Mandaluyong, and Alabang. So If you want to check out their classes, you can visit them at:

The Little Gym of Makati
Level 1, Bonifacio Technology Center
31st Street & 2nd Avenue,
Fort Bonifacio. Taguig
phone: +632 815 1735 or +632 815 1779

The Little Gym of Pasig-Mandaluyong
2/F The Exchange Regency
No. 2 Exchange Road corner Meralco Ave.
Ortigas Center, Pasig
phone: +632 310 9870 or +632 310 9878

The Little Gym of Alabang
Mezzanine, Autozentrum BMW Center
Commerce Avenue & Madrigal Avenue
Alabang, Muntinlupa
phone: +632 850 4060 or +632 850 4061

Let us know how your intro class went! Please leave a comment below!