Gymboree Play & Music of Raleigh

My daughter Alyssa celebrated her 1^st Birthday party here on yesterday. We had a blast! Joy is fabulous! She and Rachel were very attentive to the children and parents. The games and songs were a huge hit! My daughter especially loved the bubbles and surfing!!! We’ll definitely be returning soon!

Happy Birthday, Gus!!! My kids are much older, but I was invited to join in on the celebration for my friend’s son who turned 3yo. I have to commend the two staffers who had EVERY KID under control. Can you imagine 12 – 15 three year olds running amok? It was hilarious, but the staffers had the 1.5 hours well planned to keep those cuties entertained. There was the right balance of free play and organized play which included the parachute game. Who doesn’t remember playing that themselves as a kid?! If I had a little one again, I’d definitely book a birthday party here.

Looking to keep my 1 year old busy, this place is a great choice. For a low monthly fee, I (or more likely my wife) can bring our little girl here for fun and some socialization with other kids.
The layout is simple. You take your shoes off at the front of the place, and then there are a variety of padded mats, steps, slides, tubes, and other stuff to crawl, climb, and push through. In other words, my little girl has fun.
Typically the parents wonder around following their little ones, but occasionally stop to chat. Everyone I’ve bumped into is friendly. Overall, I love this place for giving my daughter a place to see other little ones like here until she makes it to preschool. On Saturday morning, this is where you’ll find me.

So what’s a stay at home mom to do when winter arrives and her kid is wound up with tons of energy?
Gymboree Play and Music that’s what!
Sure, this is a franchise but not all Gymboree centers are created equal. This particular location allows something most of the Gymborees I know of don’t do. That is, they allow you to come to as many age appropriate classes for your child for the membership price. Most Gymborees I know of only let you come in once a week for the monthly membership fee.
Here are the cliff notes :
–It’s a kid indoor play gym with rainbow tunnels, slides and the like
–You can sign up for a ‘free class’ by visiting their website and choosing your desired location.
–They accept infants — 5 years old
–The classes are 40 – 45 mins long each
–Teachers are very friendly and are good at remembering all the children’s names
–Adults are required to wear socks and only the tykes can go barefoot
–They start each class with a song, followed up by free play, more songs, free play, and the class ends with a song
–The membership fee is a one time $ 40+ and $ 69 each month. I signed up after my free class so the membership fee was waived and the first month would be $ 59. You will need a credit card to sign up
My first class really impressed me. The teacher already knew I was a guest and she greeted my munchkin by her first name. This is when I realized that the staff really tries to remember names and faces. Soon after, the class started with a song «Calling all the Children» or something like that. Shortly thereafter, they let the children free play. Free play is where they get to explore and socialize with each other. The kids can run around anywhere they want. It was during this time that I realized that my kid doesn’t like to share :-/​.
She’s always at home with me so it was interesting to see how she interacted with other children. We worked on the ‘sharing’ and ‘playing nice’ when we got home. After the free play, they round up all the kids again with a song. My favorite is the bubble song. They’ll sing to each kid using their names in the song «Bubbles for Maddie. Bubbles for Michael» and then blow bubbles in their face. My kid loves this part of the class the most. After that, they bring out a huuuuge rainbow parachute thing. We all place our kids in the middle, then pull the parachute in the same direction and give the kids a ride. My kid loses her mind during this activity too.
If you read my reviews you’ll know I’m cheap. $ 69 is a lot of money but I got desperate. The warm summer weather left us and I started running out of games to play indoors. I didn’t have time to research playgroups and since the first Gymboree class was free, I said what the heck, let me check it out. Again, $ 69 is waaaaay too much money for a kiddie gym you can only visit once a week. However, this Gymboree location allows you to come to as many age appropriate classes as you want AND it also includes the Music class (which unfortunately was full by the time I registered). In total, I’m allowed to visit this Gymboree about 4 times a week for the basic membership price. In my humble opinion, all in Gymborees should follow this format. Can we say recession? hello!