The Children’s Gym

My son started with the Jets (Boys 7 – 14) in October 2014, and has now moved into the Twisters (Co-​Ed 10 – 14) since he will be turning 13 very soon and wanted to be in a class with kids closer to his age.
My son is learning real gymnastic skills that can be combined into routines later on. He really likes the hour long sessions, and has built up his strength quickly. Open Gym is convenient and fun during school breaks, and my son enjoys the freedom to work in favorite areas for longer periods of time than is possible during regular classes.
The coaches are professional and fun at the same time, and I feel The Children’s Gym is a good balance between competition training and non-​specific playtime.
The security is very good here, and policies are clearly spelled out on their forms and website. I really appreciate that Aurora (office) has been so efficiently helpful in working out scheduling via email.

My 2yo son has only attended the open gym sessions on a drop-​in basis, but he is always happy when we pull up to the gym and always eager to get inside and start playing. My son loves to swing, climb, jump, run, and bounce and this place is a relatively inexpensive way for him to burn off some of his excess energy without me having to sign up for a long-​term commitment of monthly payments. Since my son has not (yet?) attended any of the structured classes, I have not had much interaction with the staff/​instructors. However, what little interactions I have had have been without issues or concerns. Once my child is older and can attend the structured classes without my supervised attendance to all sessions, I will consider enrolling him in order to continue fostering his high level of physical activity. I have also noticed that they provide a date night service. Once he is of the appropriate age, I may look into that as well. I anticipate a follow-​up review in the near future.

My daughter has been taking classes at TCG since she could walk, and is now 7. I continue to LOVE this gym. They are positive and really focused on bringing out the best in each child as an individual. They seem to have the perfect mix of encouraging self control and discipline with letting kids be kids:) Staff are friendly with parents, but most importantly, focused on making the kids feel strong and accomplished.

My 3 children ages 6, 7 and 12 years old have been going to the Children’s Gym since October of 2013. We signed up for 5 days of after school care which comes with 1 gymnastics class per week. We were coming from an after school program at Roseway Heights. They picked up my kids after school and transported them back to the gym.
The first thing that made me smile was they fed our kids really well! At the other program my kids were getting saltines and milk. I noticed fresh fruit and vegetables being served and my son who is a little picky, worked with him gently to eat a little. The second reason I was impressed was how helpful the coaches were with homework. My children often came home with homework finished so that we could have a nice, relaxing dinner and I could talk to them about their day. The gymnastics classes are amazing! My 12 yo never knew he was athletic until the gym (he prefers video games).
THE BEST PART!!!
We have worked with several coaches here. Hannah, Gina, Brittney, Nathan, Skylar, Tammy, (2 other great male coaches (I forget their names), 2 other female coaches and the Irish dance team). Each one of them have gentle voices, enjoy their job and must have had fantastic training on how to work with children. When my son is acting out, they do a great job of discussing the behavior, using appropriate sit-​out times and positive rewards to keep him motivated to do his best. My oldest and my middle girl LOVE their gymnastics classes. My middle girl has moved up several classes already and cries if she misses class (because of my scattered brain). I watched several interactions with the coaches and now that I’m really thinking about it, they are really extraordinary. I can’t believe we found such a beautiful, positive place for my kids to be after school and for gymnastics classes.
We are in the summer camp program now which involves open gym time, gymnastics classes, crafts, outside time and the boulder gym. They get SO MUCH EXERCISE!!! All 3 have experienced muscle changes in their body and my oldest loves gymnastics (which was a little surprising to me). He even told me he is currently practicing cartwheels so he can move up. He moved from Jets to Dinamos. We just discussed this yesterday and I could see the excitement in his eyes.
I know this review seems over the top. I believe in reviewing businesses. I can’t tell you what a weight has been lifted off my shoulders to know my kids love this place and I approve of their reward and motivation behavioral programs.
In addition, they just added a grad student to organize, simplify and create consistency with all coaches regarding appropriate developmental behavioral programs and positive improvement of social skills when working with children They are already doing a phenomenal job so I know this will just create a well-​oiled machine (so to speak).
I’m at the gym every week (am and pm pick up times) currently for the summer and have been with them for the after school program from Oct 2013 to June 2014.

Fantastic gymnastics classes for kids. The teachers are very knowledgeable, patient, kind, and super fun! My daughter has been in the Tiny Tumbler 1 class since September and loves everything about Children’s gym. They have lots of different class times available, and are always putting together other programs like Parent’s Night Out, Summer Camp, Spring Break and other holiday camps, dance classes, preschool drop-​in, etc. The classes are reasonably priced compared to other various classes. The office is well organized and their policies are clear and straightforward.
It does get a little bit hectic in the afterschool classes when classes are getting ready to start, and it’s super busy, but that’s to be expected with a popular program. It’s best to dress before going or plan to get there a bit early if you have a 4:30 class. Otherwise it’s very chill. Even when busy, there are several areas to sit and watch, and lots and lots of hooks and different areas to stash belongings.
The gym is a professional gym with all of the expected equipment, vaults, rings, trampolines, mats, bars, etc.
You really cannot go wrong here. I think they may even have a free trial class so you can try it out. This is a noncompetitive gym as well if that is important to you.

From the beginning of the first phone call I got attitude from the front desk person. I enrolled my son in a trial class and paid their $ 14 fee (which was $ 20 on my debit card, included a transaction fee which she did not tell me about) only to find out when I called several hours later to reschedule because I remembered a schedule conflict that that entire fee is nonrefundable and if I want my son to try it out we have to pay another $ 20. I am a single mom who struggles to make ends meet and was shocked by this lame policy which is theft in my book. We will not go back.

We walked in with our toddler to inquire about their open gym hours and they treated us like kryptonite. They keep their doors locked to outsiders (how were we to know?) so when another parent let us in we immediately got interrogated by the front desk employee about how we got through the doors and how our child had better not be in the play area. After the employee hesitantly gave us an open gym schedule (just one hour per day) we left, vowing never to go back. Maybe it’s a good place for kids, we’ll never know.

This place is huge — probably about four times the size of Playground Gym. If your kid is super-​active, you will probably want to take him/​her here. A smaller place won’t cut it.
The daily open gyms are pretty sparsely attended, so your kid will have plenty of room to run around. The hour-​long open gyms are a bit pricey at $ 7, though, and staff does not always seem super-​friendly. Still, this is a great place for kids with a lot of different classes for the more advanced gymnast. Membership offers benefits like reduced prices in birthday parties, kids’ nite out, and open gym. Also there’s a drop-​in preschool (how cool is that).

My son started taking the boys only gymnastics class here about a year ago. He now goes 2 times per week and really enjoys it. His fitness level has improved as has his confidence. His instructor, Carlos, has made an effort each class to connect with the kids and make his class fun
We love this place!