When Baby Charley won a free annual membership at Gymboree from the Manila Polo Club, our whole family was thrilled to try it out. However, Manila Polo Club, although near and ang lakas maka-sosyal, is not quite accessible, especially if one relies on a public transpo. Thankfully, there's one in Greenbelt 5!
What is Gymboree?
Gymboree is an international company, which thankfully is available here in the Philippines, that offers gym plays and structured programs to children aged 0 - 4 years old. The institution promises helping kids build confidence, creativity, and life-long friendships through play and learning.
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| indoor playground |
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| Class schedules at the reception desk |
What we love about Gymboree
1) Safe and Fun!
Have you seen Gymboree's colour trademark of orange, blue, green, purple, and red? They scream fun! And it was fun indeed to be at Gymboree. Baby Charley gets excited whenever we pass by Gymboree because she knows it's fun, play time for her. She just loves everything about Gymboree, and she particularly likes the slides and the giant ball!
We also love how the equipment's arrangements are changed regularly, so if you're a regular patron like us, you can expect something new every time you visit.
At first, we were afraid that Baby Charley might get hurt playing in this indoor playground, but we were surprised that almost everything is cushioned; plus, it's a requirement that parents should always be at a child's hug reach.
Baby Charley, though already a walker at 10 months, still needs to stabilise and balance herself whenever she walks (and runs, all the time). She has tripped several times while playing at Gymboree but we're never worried because the whole play area has cushions.
2) Venue to interact with other kids
Baby Charley is an only child, and it's just her, her daddy, and me in the house, so you can say life could be a little boring for her. Even though we play with her all the time, she still wants to play with kids her age - or any kids na lang period.
We do bring her outside often, and we travel to the province so she can meet her cousins from time to time; however, it still feels different to see her with other kids often. This is another reason why we're very thankful for Gymboree - Baby Charley can play and interact with kids - younger and older kids.
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| Extreme games! |
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| Sharing the toys |
Gym Plays could be a mommy's worst place ever - especially if she has a toddler. I was really worried that Baby Charley would get hurt in the area, so I would choose which equipment in Gymboree would be best for her. At first I was also thinking how I could teach Baby Charley how to play on the slide, the tunnel, the basketball, etc.
But Baby Charley surprised me when I saw her go through the tunnel on her own, unafraid of what's gonna happen to her. I also saw her observed how the other kids jumped around and push the toys around. Before I knew it, Baby Charley would like to try everything in Gymboree! Gasp!
So yes, she went through every tunnel, pushed everything, shot all basketballs, climbed all, took the most breath-taking slides, jumped, ran, tumbled, and laughed her heart out.
You could see how proud she is of herself for doing all of those on her own!
4) Playtime for the whole family
Gymboree does not only offer playtime for Baby Charley, but playtime for the whole family as well! This is not like those play areas where you leave your kids while you go shopping somewhere else; Gymboree requires parents or any adult to stay and play with the kids in the play area.
This works well for us because we really enjoyed playing with Baby Charley or at least watching her play with the other kids.
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| Daddy and Baby goofing around! |
5) It was accessible.
There are over 16++ Gymobrees in the Philippines, with 10 here in Metro Manila. Since Gymboree is an international company, you can also use your Gymboree Membership abroad. There are also 2 Gymborees in SG, one in Harbour Front and the other in Tanglin Mall, so Baby Charley can use them, too, when we visit my brother in Hougang again.
There are also more perks being a member of Gymboree like discounts and free gym plays, and seeing how much our family loves Gymboree now, we're sure to renew Baby Charley's annual membership this year.
We are in no way connected to Gymboree, and we just wanna share how much we love Gymboree, and you can check their website for more info on the locations near you. We're a patron of Gymboree in Greenbelt 5 and we're there almost every weekend. If you see us there, don't hesitate to say hi! :)
