Tumbling Lessons

Last week we took Abby to her first tumbling class.  The class is set up for 18 months to 3 years old and Abby was by far the youngest kid in the group.  The class started a few weeks ago but they let us sign up mid session so on top of being the youngest kid in the group she'd also missed a few of the beginning class.

The little gym was great.  The instructor would demo each of the activities and then the kids would take turns doing them.  It was set up in little activity areas so the kids weren't just standing around in a line the whole time.  It started out with them sitting on the mats and doing a song and dance.  Abby did NOT get it.  This is the very first time we've tried to do an organized activity with Abby so sitting still and listening or sitting in a group didn't really make any sense to her.  We've got rules at home and at the sitter of course, but sitting down and listening classroom style has never been introduced to her so she's got some learning to do.

Of all the activities, "jumping" (read: RUNNING) on the trampoline was her favorite.  They've got a long trampoline that runs the length of the building.  Abby didn't understand the bounce part of it...but man did she love the running part.  As soon as it was her turn she'd run full throttle down to the end with her little knees high-stepping the whole way down.  Ryan could hardly keep up to grab her at the other end.

Her other favorite part was the balance beam.  Her little tiny feet fit on it perfectly so it was almost like she was just walking....ah to be young again.  She didn't really understand the activities where you were supposed to jump in the rings or over a string.  She just picked up the rings from the floor and tossed them around.  She was a little bit afraid of the rings and had no idea what to do with the bars, but you gotta start somewhere right?

The class is 4 more weeks long.  I'm not sure if Abby's just not old enough to "get it" or if she just needs to watch the other kids and practice sitting, listening, and using all the stuff in there.  Last week it seemed more like Ryan was chasing around a wet cat instead of her actually "getting it" but we're going to keep going for the next few weeks and then decide if we'll sign up again.  At least she's getting some of her energy out!