Extra-Curricular Activities: Fly Kidz Gymnastics

Since Gavin will be on extended holidays before starting at his new school, I decided to take the opportunity to send him for a variety of trial classes to give him some exposure to new experiences. The purpose is three-fold:

• broaden his experiences
• add some variety in his daily routine
• help him discover his passion

Fly Kidz

If you have never heard of them, Fly Kidz is a gym offering gymnastics for young children. They have two branches – one in Solaris, Mont Kiara and the other in Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara (click the link for full addresses and contact numbers). I went to the one in Mont Kiara. It is located in the block of shops near Cold Storage. Fly Kidz is on the 3rd floor above Coffee Bean (which is on the corner).

Fly Kidz offers four programs to the general public (there is a fifth program but it is only by selection):

• Gymtots (1 – 3 1/2 yrs old)
• Kindergym (3 – 6 yrs old)
• Recreational (5 yrs old & up)
• Trampolining (5 yrs old & up)

Since Gareth loves movement, I signed him up for the Gymtots trial class while Gavin attended the Kindergym trial class. I liked the idea of sending Gavin to Fly Kidz because I wanted him to get more exercise. Between him and Gareth, he has always been less inclined to do physical activities, preferring to read, watch TV and stay indoors rather than go out. I figured that if I could get him interested to do something physical, it would be half the battle won.

So here’s how the classes went for both boys…

Kindergym

These are solo classes so the children go without their parents. I watched Gareth from outside for a bit and these were some of the activities that they did:

• throwing and catching a frisbee
• balancing on the beam
• movement activities on the spot
• hand stands against a wall

I’m sure there were a lot more, since the class runs for an hour, but I didn’t watch the rest because Gareth was getting restless, so I took him downstairs for a walk where he terrorised the patrons of Coffee Bean.

When I came back, Gavin told me he had a lot of fun and he wanted to come back. Why didn’t I sign him up on the spot? Well, for several reasons. The first is because there are several other trial classes I have already scheduled for him to try so I don’t know if he will still choose Fly Kidz after he’s had a chance to try those out. The second reason is because he saw the other children wearing the Fly Kidz uniform and he wanted one. I told him I would only get it for him if he liked the class and was planning to come back again. The first thing he said after I saw him was, “Mummy, I like the class. Can you buy me a uniform now?” Instead of, “Mummy, I like the class. Can I come again?” And if you know anything about Gavin, there is a big difference between the two statements.

That said, there was probably no reason why I couldn’t have bought him the Fly Kidz t-shirt as a souvenir since it was only RM20, but my mother was with me and she’s really against such frivolous spending.

Gymtots

The first half hour is dedicated to “free play” so the children can run around and do whatever they want. The equipment is set out so it is a little like a romp in Gymboree. Gareth, unfortunately, was more interested in the foam alphabets that were stuck on the wall and spend a large proportion of his time trying to pull the letters off. He spent a bit of time balancing on the balance beam, trying the trampoline (which he really didn’t like), and climbing over the gymnastics “horse”. The rest of his time was spent on the slide and exploring the edge of the mat near the wall where it wasn’t padded.

When class started, he didn’t want to have anything to do with circle time. He kept running back to his little bit of unpadded floor space. He wouldn’t sit with the rest of the class. We did manage to get him to do the ladder climbing activity, but he was very unhappy about the trampoline part. He didn’t want to play with the frisbees except to collect the orange-coloured ones (and fight with the kids who had them). All in all, he could have had a similar experience at the Jungle Gym in BSC for free so I felt classes for him were a waste of time.

Fee Structure

You can opt to send your child once a week or twice a week. Payment is made by term and there are 12 weeks in a term. If you have more than one child attending, it is 10% off for siblings.

Registration: RM50 (one time only)
Gymtots: RM500 for once a week; RM700 for twice a week.
Kindergym (and recreation and trampoline): RM600 for once  week; RM850 for twice a week.

For new members and early payments:

Gymtots: RM400 for once a week; RM600 for twice a week.
Kindergym (and recreation and trampoline): RM500 for once a week; RM750 for twice a week.

Trial classes cost RM35 for Gymtots and RM45 for Kindergym. They waive the trial class fees if you sign up on the same day.

Here is what the equipment looks like (picture from TimeOutKL – I was too busy on the day to take my own photo).

Related:

• Gymnastics (alternative Gym class with Adventure Maze)
• Cooking
• Art
• Tennis
• Taekwondo
• Golf
• Fencing
• Rock Climbing
• Music
• Metalwork – Royal Selangor Pewter School of Hard Knocks
• CT Workshop
• Speech and Drama