The Little Gym

My 6 year old son loves Little Gym. He takes gymnastics and it is a great outlet for him. He loves his teacher. Overall, I am very happy with it too. I wish they did a little more coaching to help him learn new skills. Sometimes it seems like they give the kids direction to do a series of activities and then let them do them without a lot of guidance. But he’ll be going into a new class for older kids soon, so maybe it will get more structured. They also have parent survival night on Fridays to give parents a break. And camps during school breaks.

I love the staff here– they recognize and call my daughter by name, seem genuinely excited to see her and always make us feel welcome (even when we’re late!). The teachers are patient, kind and funny. I also like that the programs teach a positive message and are not simply skill based. The weekly themes keep it interesting and the Parent Survival Night on Fri. nights are awesome –fun and sure to make the kiddos fall asleep in the car on the way home! Not to mention, my daughter’s cartwheel skills improve every single week!

I love this place! Such a wonderful spot for my daughter to learn and grow. All the staff members are awesome and the class is perfect. They also did her birthday party back in June and they ran the whole thing! We didn’t have to do anything except show up! Highly recommend trying out a class. I guess my only complaint is it is a bit pricey

Repetition makes the program feel comfortable to small people, and the enthusiasm, support, and professionalism of the staff make it a fun and learning experience.

My son (age 4) loves going to his class at the Little Gym. It has been very helpful for him as he develops body awareness and improves gross motor skills. Minor quibbles:
–he’s usually the only boy in class. Not their fault, of course, but means I think he will soon decide not to continue.
–I wish they sold special boy gymnastic outfits. The girls are all in sparkly pink suits and he’s in sweatpants and a t-​shirt. He doesn’t want pink sparkles, but he wants something. Would love it if they stocked something.
–The website is kind of clear, except missing crucial details — like nowhere on the site does it tell you how long a session is. You have to call to find out (hint: summer is 11 weeks. Fall is 22 weeks. Etc). I like to do all my planning online, and that’s hard, especially if you aren’t yet a member (in fact, I didn’t enroll for several sessions because the info wasn’t easily available when I needed it – on my phone at 2am while nursing a baby!)
–My kid always wants to know what next week’s theme will be, it would be amazing if that were on the website so we could check in advance (they usually tell him at the end of class, but… he’s 4).
–makeups are hard. The policy is great in theory, but the schedule… well, as with most places like this, if both parents work and your kids have age-​appropriate bedtimes and naps, you’re kind of screwed.
–It’s expensive. It’s worth it now that he’s 4 and actually learning something, but when he was younger it was twice the price of other classes for no real difference in skill development (though to be fair, we only did trial class — we didn’t enroll until he was 3).
But overall it’s great. The facility is clean, the instructors are excellent, and everyone is sympathetic when baby sister has to tag along (and there’s room).
Oh, and we’ve been to a few birthday parties here. The staff leads the kids through some gymnastics activities (age appropriate) and then pizza and cake. Fun for the kids, and I suspect very easy for the grownups to plan.

I like the variety of things that are taught to the kids — teamwork, patience, taking turns, various physical skills, etc. I also appreciate how patient the team is with my son, who can be a bit wild at times. He loves it there and that is what is most important.

We’re big fans of The Little Gym! And, most importantly, so is our child!
Our now 3.5-year old daughter has been going for more than year and we feel it has made a tangible difference in her motor skills, independence and confidence.
As a 2 year-​old, she started out pretty «clingy» in the parent-​child classes, but after getting a feel for things — and developing great relationships with her instructors — she has now grown into being totally confident in the kid’s-only class.
We LOVE the Parent’s Survival Night (thank you for doing these!). Our daughter calls these occasional Friday nights her «Little Gym Party» to distinguish from her weekly «Little Gym Class.» We also really appreciate the fact that they offer various camp options. She attended Winter Break Camp (3 hours in the AM or PM) and had a super fun time. Great option for full-​time working parents that don’t want to completely burn up precious vacation days just because school is out.
Kudos to The Little Gym!

LOVE this kids’ gym. I’ve been taking my son here now for over a year and he loves it! We’ve tried a couple different kids’ activity/​gym centers (Gymboree, My Gym) and The Little Gym was SO much more engaging, creative and interactive. This is also a great place to begin the transition of separation classes. My son had never been to a class without me, and the instructors were fantastic at getting him engaged and involved in his own timeframe (not pushy or pressuring), which I really appreciated. The instructors there are fantastic with kids… very encouraging, and it felt like they all really LIKE working there and really enjoy interacting with the kids, which is huge! In each of the different classes, there is very little «down» time where kids are standing/​sitting around waiting for their turn at an activity (like I noticed at another place). The facilities are bright, cheery and clean… and there’s a huge wall of windows so you can watch what they are doing in class!

fun, clean, convenient…
i wished we had joined little gym months before! our 10-​month old just graduated from a bug into a bird and could not be happier! he loves the activities, the equipment and all the toys that appear from the corner closet :) he took to all of the fabulous and energetic instructors so easily. what i didn’t know about joining these gyms is their flexibility — with my going back to work, our schedule has changed so often in the course of a session. you can very easily switch classes for the week (or even change days/​times completely in the middle of session, provided there are openings). you do not need to be concerned about wasting money because of missing too many classes. tammy and the rest of the staff are so sweet and accommodating and not to mention patient! also to add — the waiting area and gym itself are kept really clean.

Been taking my daughter to the Little Gym (Lincoln & Belmont) for months now and could not be happier. She loves going and I love taking her. The facility is nice, clean, and well organized. Having a good instructor means a lot and we happen to have Kat who is beyond amazing.
Instructors are assigned to specific classes and groups of students, and for the most part they are always the ones teaching the classes. Kat is our assigned instructor and she brings an incredible attitude and enthusiasm that everyone picks up on. Having experience with terrific daycare educators, I would imagine Kat could have a future in childhood development or physical education if she wanted to (or already does). We are very thankful to have her as our instructor.
In the small amount of time going to the little gym, we have seen our daughter’s motor skills and confidence develop rapidly. I would highly recommend the Little Gym.

This franchise is not only clever but delivers a very good service. Our little one has been going there since Winter 2013. She LOVES it! I have to say that I am very impressed with the whole set up from the initial customer contact through the actual classes.
Our kiddo is in the Super Beast group. From my first contact to set up our intro session, they were aggressive but not obnoxious from then on to get us «on board.» It was just the right amount of email and phone follow-​up to not be harassing but showing great interest in having you join.
While the sessions are a bit short and the cost somewhat high (come on, this is Chicago), you still get a good return. The staff is great, even the newbie staff. They all keep to the format which is a great mix of guided/​instructional activity and free exploration. I like that they don’t force a child into a set agenda and just let each child go at their own pace. I also like that the parents can participate at times and are asked to sit back at others. It’s really quite a balanced approach.
We see our family coming for the foreseeable future and see the kid go through the next classes up.

Our son has gone here weekly for nearly two years and we love it. But, more importantly, he does! For the second year in a row we had his birthday party here and the staff does IT ALL. This year, they really talked to him about which activities he wanted to include in the party. They make every family feel special and teach the kids great tools. Two thumbs up.

This is the second session my 4-​yr old is attending at the Little Gym and I must say she looks forward to it every week. The gymnastics, and now the karate class is a good introduction to fitness training for the little ones. And they always seem to have lots of fun! Very attentive staff and well-​managed class sizes. Going by the disappointment on my child’s face when she figured next week will be the last class of this session, we’re quite certainly going back :)

My daughter (2 years old) and I love this place. We have been to a couple different places. And we keep coming back to the Little Gym on Lincoln. The thing I love most, that I noticed is not everywhere, is the cleanliness and safety of the environment. I’ve actually watched them on several different occasions wipe down the equipment in between classes and wipe down the little handheld toys/​instruments the kids use after class. There’s anti bacterial placed by both doors. The equipment is all COMPLETELY covered by appropriate padding. It is not too cluttered and unorganized where I have to worry about her running around and really hurting herself if she falls or trips. I really like the instructors as well. We have attended only one specific class, and have one instructor over the past year, with the exception of one day. And she remembered my daughter’s name my fiancé’s name and my name and face by day one. I don’t believe they are overly cheesy– they are child appropriate. I’m not annoyed by the tone of the instructor or program design like I have been a other places. I’m not afraid of dangerous obstructions like have been at many other places. They encourage kids to do their best. There is a good amount of structure and free time. My daughter loves this place and cannot understand why we cannot be there at all hours every day. It can be pricey for some people, breaks down to about $ 20 per session. But we have worked it into our budget, because it makes my daughter so happy and it is the best all around place I’ve seen. They also now offer payment plans for sessions, but I believe the price goes up depending on how broken down you need the payment to be. My only wish is that I could select the range of weeks I want my daughter to attend/​pay for in each session if the entire session isn’t affordable. But I would recommend this place to everyone. I lied I have one more wish from this place. That is I need more late afternoon/​evening or weekend hours for my daughters age group. Not everyone is a stay at home mom.

Unlike Gymboree and some of the other places I’ve frequented with my little one this has «real» gymnastics equipment including rings, bars, balance beans, etc. We were there for a 3 year old’s bday party, which was a nice combo of structure and open play. The kids had a blast and the instructors had nice control over them (well besides my own 2 year old).
After an hour or so of running around it was time for pizza and cake. The staff did a nice job of getting the dozens of kids fed… and then it was time to take our «high on sugar» kids home for bedtime.
Based on our experience I’d recommend for a bday party and I’d be interested in checking out their classes in the future. It’s not in the most convenient location for me and I could see parking being difficult in this area, although I did score an awesome spot right outside for the bday party.

After noticing that my 3 year-old’s favorite activity was to do belly flops on our hardwood floor – it makes her squeal with delight – I decided to put her in an arena where she could do such stunts surrounded by soft padding. So, I signed her up for gymnastics at the Little Gym. We have only been to one class so far, but I am already a fan. Watching her body slam and somersaults (on giant, squishy mats) as well as tackle the balance beam and the parallel bars, through the big glass window, was one of the most entertaining shows I have ever seen. And she was all smiles and giggles, despite some initial trepidation at leaving Mommy.
The staff emphasize that they are also teaching cognitive and social skills, but I am most looking forward to the day she masters a cartwheel, as her klutzy old mom never has. The joy of motherhood is living vicariously.
So far, my impression of this place is that the kids actually learn skills and that the instructors have a background in gymnastics. Therefore, even though it is approximately four-​hundred dollars for twelve weeks, I feel it is money well spent. It is not like I could teach my kid a cartwheel or the uneven bars, I don’t have the skills. And even if she does not pursue gymnastics as she gets older, I believe that learning these skills will give her self confidence and a solid foundation for other physical activity.
My only complaint about this establishment is that it does not smell too great when you walk in. Even my 3 year-​old said, «icky». But, it looked clean. I think it was just inevitable gym shoe odor from the cubbies – class is done barefoot.

This place is great from about 18 months on. Our child has been attending for about 2.5 years. The gymnastics class is great for movement. We watched our child go from being terrified of walking across the balance beam to running across it. We watched our child go from just learning how to do a forward roll to running and leaping into a forward roll. We watched our child learn how to hang on the bars to doing dropdown (high to low bar) moves typical of any gymnast. We will soon move our child to a more serious gymnastics program, but this place has done well so far. The teachers here are wonderful.
The monthly parents night out is awesome and extremely affordable!
My only issue are makeups. If we miss a class, we are pretty much screwed as they don’t offer enough classes for us to make up. Since we work, we can’t be coming during the week and so we only have night or weekend availability. I run into this issue at most places.

Perfect place, ideal, and provides longevity in skill learning for children. I recommend this as a way for parents to enjoy another side of their precious gems. The staff is excellent, friendly, and personable.

I was so hoping baby girl would love the Little Gym. I took her there for a trial class because she loves to run, jump and do death-​defying flips and spins, so I figured it would be a bit safer for her to do them on soft mats instead of hardwood floors. As the place started filling up with toddlers, I could see her anxiety growing. She ran over to the sparkly gymnastic suits on display and demanded I get her one before she went in the class. I didn’t and after much coaxing and cajoling I got her to join the class. That lasted about 2 minutes.
I have to give it to the staff though. They were so friendly and tried very hard to get my little one to feel comfortable and take part in the activities. One of the staffers even let her take one of the suits into the class with her and walked her through some of the exercises… but lil mama wasn’t having it. After a meltdown for the record books, I gathered our belongings and fled the Little Gym into the cold, wintry night.
The kids seemed to be having a ball doing lots of fun and simple activities and the instructors were extremely patient and friendly. I’ll give it another try.

Little Gym is both physically small and for people who are, tots.
The facility is well-​designed and perfect for a birthday crowd. (I was there for a party) There’s a cloak room remenscent of kindergarten, playroom filled with mats and sponges to reenact «Survivor» in Nerf-​style safety. A room for pizza, cake, punch, prizes and presents — it’ self-​cleaning that’s better than an easy-​bake oven any day!
Little Gym staff orchestrate the party from start to finish, all you have to do is remind your kids when they’re grown you paid.