It's finally here!!! Babynastics is officially starting up at Polarettes!
Coach Kim is very excited to announce Babynastics! After recently returning from maternity leave, Coach Kim realized that community opportunities for little ones are very limited in town. For the past year, Polarettes has been trying out different Babynastics formats, we're finally ready to officially launch this new program. It's still a new program, so we encourage everyone to let us know if you find there's still some "quirks" to work out!
What is Babynastics?
Babynastics is a semi-structured parent and tot class for new movers, all the way to age 5. We recommend waiting until your little one is crawling to get the most out of our space, but you are welcome to come earlier if you want to immerse your little one in song, socialization and very colorful and stimulating environment. What a great space for tummy time!
Let me paint a picture for you: You arrive to class with your 3 year old, and your 6 month old baby. After putting your belongings away, you make your way with your children out onto the big purple gymnastics floor and meet your teacher. Your teacher will already have some baby toys out on the floor, and a circuit set up so the kids can start exploring right away. Once everyone arrives, your teacher will do a warm up with songs/dance - Sometimes we'll try crazy things like baby back flips - Yep, I said baby backflips. What we do each week will depend on the age of the children who show up that day, but we'll follow the same format: Song/Dance warm ups, a safety minute, gross motor activities, some activities & circuits to try out, a cool down song/activity (Like bubbles, parachute, etc..) followed by free play in the gym.
We want this to be a space where you can come play with your kid(s), meet some other parents, have fun, and just get out of the house. We are focused on fine motor, gross motor, cognitive development, social development, and play. We won't be teaching your child a cartwheel in this class, but instead focus on giving you the confidence to explore new motor patterns with your child, in a safe space.
What do I need to pay?
Babynastics is available free of charge to all members. This means the only price you pay, is the annual membership fee to the club and then you can come as much or as little as you like. If you're part of a baby play group, bring the whole group - as long as everyone is a Polarettes member, this program is for you. Your membership is the price we pay to Gymnastics BC & Gymnastics Canada for Insurance & our mandatory professional dues we pay per person, the gym has no mark up (So it's as close to free as we can make it).
You can purchase a membership online, here.
When is it?
Babynastics programs will be running starting on August 28th, 2023
Monday's with Coach Ewan from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Tuesday's with Coach Naomi from 10:15 AM to 11:45 AM
Thursday's with Coach Caitlyn from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
We will post all closures for holidays on our club calendar, here
What else should I know?
1. The gym is sometimes sensory overload for little ones at first. It's very colorful. It can sometimes be loud. It is a lot of different unique textures for our mats. It is very diverse in many ways for all of your little ones senses. Some children find this really overwhelming at first, but then learn to love the space. On your first day, your child might not "play" as much as you expect them too - That's OK. When they build comfort and confidence in the space, they will start to play more and more. Just being in the space is developing your little ones neural pathways in a positive way - colors, faces, textures, sounds, and movements. They will develop at their own pace
2. If you're late, still come. It's okay. Sticking to a schedule with a little one is almost impossible. Come when you can and arrive as you are.
3. We are a safe space to nurse, and if you prefer to use the office please ask for the space, we're more than happy to give you the room. We also have changing pads in the men's and female washrooms that are cleaned every night by our professional cleaners.