GymbaROO/ Kindergym: I am an unco, will Misaki be one too?

Read to see how many benefits can be gained for your baby at GymbaROO or Kindergym.

Mum apparently used to take me to GymbarROO or something similar when I was a child. Mum said it was recommended that I was taken by the Kindergym teachers because in this unstructured environment I would just play with the babies rather than on the play equipment. It also looked like I had some ‘issues’. I was unco.

Before political correctness I was chucked out of classical ballet classes because I was pigeon toed, I hated going to Basketball training because I was shouted at for my failings at jumping to get the ball. I was put in the A grade because of my height, definitely not for my skill. It was traumatic. I had these knees that would dislocate on school ski trips, not doing some heroic black run but going up the t-bar ski lift. They ended up putting me in a row boat and out of sheer sweat and determination I became quite good at it because I just had to sit and work bloody hard.

Some people are unco and some people are Olympic athletes. There is no amount of GymbaROO or Kindergym that is going to help make you a professional athlete if you are like me but it will help you be a lot less unco and develop many great skills that will help you not only in the playground but in the classroom and beyond too.

“develop many great skills that will help you in the playground, classroom and beyond...”

A couple of my Mummy group friends are taking their babies to GymbaROO so I wanted to investigate what this was all about. GymbaROO is a class that has been developed by Australian Margaret Sasse 30 plus years ago and she continues to teach it today. It is taught widely across the country. It is a class that is taught from birth to 5 years of age. Different classes are adapted for the different age groups working on a wide variety of developmental skills. They tend to include developing:

• movement milestones,

• strength in the different parts of the body,

• muscle tone (different to strength),

• massage,

• vestibular training,

• listening, dancing and singing to music which helps with learning and vestibular development, and

• vision which is important along with vestibular training for balance.

“recommend checking it out if you are not doing similar exercises...”

In infancy these exercises are performed with the parent which allows great opportunity for bonding and shared learning. Many of the exercises are designed to override the primitive reflexes (see Primitive Reflexes blog) which is important. I think the classes are fantastic offering many opportunities to develop these wide array of skills.

It is also great for the parent (and later the children when they are interacting outside of their own consciousness) for social interaction which many parents crave in maternity leave. Maybe because I am a physiotherapist I am doing the majority of these exercises instinctively. However, this may not be the case for the majority so I recommend checking it out if you are not doing similar exercises.

See my blog on Vestibular exercises for some ideas on this, see Encouraging milestones in your baby on how a physiotherapist techniques encourage similar development of these skills and my blog on I finally got a role on Play School! for how I was instinctively helping her learning, emotional and vestibular development through song and dance. Lastly see my blog on Baby Massage to see its many benefits and applications.

Since writing this post last year (2016) my mother’s group have moved on to Kindergym. It allows much more freedom and more equipment to play on. I am now taking Misaki to Kindergym and she LOVES it. She is such a social and active creature so it is right up her alley. Before they have finished the intro song session she is crawling off to the equipment. There are trampolines, slides, ramps, ladders, tunnels and more to traverse.

Misaki is still not at childcare so it is also great place to allow interaction with other babies and learn some social skills. It works on the same things as GymbaROO but in a less structured environment which is definitely the better option for Misaki. Before going to Kindergym, as a physiotherapist, I had already created most of these opportunities for her at home. It can be done at home but you need a lot of equipment and space and you don’t get that social interaction. The Burnside Kindergym we go to is a not for profit organisation so not too expensive. Apparently GymbaROO is more expensive. Go for a class and see which you prefer.

Summary

Kindergym or GymbaROO is fantastic at developing a whole range of skills including milestones, strength and tone, vestibular skills, vision and learning.

It is also great for social interaction and learning.

Kindergym is less structured and has more equipment than GymbaROO. GymbaROO has more formal learning.

Melli Tilbrook is a Physiotherapist based at Adelaide Physiotherapy and Pilates Studio, Beulah Park.