If you had to choose one of these two options to put your child into as an activity, which would you choose? Dance or gymnastics? Why would you choose what you did?
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We did dance because she wanted it. If she wants gymnastics at some point, we will switch. I think both are equally good for them at this age as far as movement and listening and socialization.
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We did gymnastics. It was cause that was offered for her age group at day care (18 months) and she loved to tumble around the house. Then we decided to put her in a program on the weekends (2.5). She has never been into dancing and even now no interest in taking ballet with all the girls in her class at day care. She LOVES gymnastics.
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Does your LO have an opinion either way? I would've said gymnastics before we enrolled LO, but she does both at school and prefers ballet (though she still likes gymnastics). Doesn't hurt that the ballet outfits are just so damn cute.
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@lawbee11: she talks about gymnastics (she learns from the kids at school) so I'm leaning that way. I am also as far from a dancer as you could possibly be so I'd be more comfortable taking her to gymnastics than dance, too.
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Dance! More because that's what I did for years growing up and I started her at 2 years old. She loves it now and would prefer that if she had to choose
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@mediagirl: I think dance is more expensive if you count the recital outfits. All my friends say they are so expensive. LO did the recital/showcase at gymnastics this past May and they don't require to buy the leotards till they are older.
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We did dance, because it was much closer to our house than either gym and at the gym we could still go to the open gym play times. She really loves dance, but I'm pretty sure that she would also love gymnastics.
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I want to put DD in dance but she would/does prefer gymnastics
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Tough choice for me. I did gymnastics as a kid (age 2 to 18) and was very competitive but suffered tons of injuries that eventually led to multiple surgeries and my joints are going to be terrible for the rest of my life. That said, toddler tumbling classes are great and I think my LO would like them more than dance. I dislike the crazy outfits/makeup that even the littlest girls wear for their dance recitals. So I guess gymnastics, although reluctantly.
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We are doing dance because she loves wearing the dance clothes and shoes!
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I think it's good to try both and see what sticks. My DD has done both, but she ended up being much better suited for ballet/dance. She is still really interested in tumbling and she goes to clinics when they are offered. We just don't have time to do both.
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So last year (DD1 was 3.5ish), we started with gymnastics. Mostly because there was a convenient gym with a lot of good options for classes and because we could easily just enroll for an 8-week session at a time (it would continue to roll-over if you wanted). She loved it and we ended up doing it for the whole school year and then took the summer off.
At that age, it's really just about listening and learning coordinated skills which either would get you. Gymnastics is a little more active in our experience (trampolines, upper body strength), and DD1 can be shy so I wasn't sure how she'd feel about a recital.
This summer, she talked about dance ALL THE TIME. Most of the dance studios don't have a ton of class day/time options for the preschool kids, they aren't as convenient to our house, and it's a year-long commitment. I did manage to find a low-key dance program through our parks & rec that is only 10w long and has a "recital" that is just her class on the last day, with at-home costumes, etc. So we are trying that (it's on Saturdays for 45m around lunchtime).
Eventually I'll make her choose between the two, but figured this way she gets a small taste of each...and they are low-stress and low-commitment.
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My oldest DD is in gymnastics and loves it! She originally wanted to do ballet as well, but once she started gymnastics, she declined ballet class.
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I have put my daughter (almost 3) in both at some point and she definitely responded better to gymnastics. She is constantly tumbling around the house and using anything she can find as gymnastics equipment. She seemed to be kind of confused and bored in the dance class. If she liked the dance class I would have kept going with them but since DD has a clear preference for gymnastics we will stick with it.
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At this point I would do gymnastics because I don't think he would have the patience or interest in a dance class. Gymnastics I think would suit him better and be better suited for his energy level and attention span.
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I would check out the particular schools/classes. I thought about doing gymnastics, but found out that the most popular gymnastics gym in town requires a lot of waiting, and is hard for younger kids. Like every activity is 1-kid-at-a-time. So the whole class lines up and does the balance beam, one at a time...and the other kids wait. Then they all line up and do the bar thing, one at a time. Then they all line up and go the the floor and are spotted one at a time.
So we signed up for Ballet instead. We might do hip hop next cycle.
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Gymnastics, because I think it's structured better for a toddler with a short attention span. Our gym has lots of different stations so they're only doing something for 7 or 8 minutes. Plus it gets a lot of energy out
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I did dance for 15 years so I would out my DD in dance. I loved the experience and everything it gave me.
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We do dance b/c that's what I did and wanted her to try it. Turns out she loves it, but if she didn't we would have tried a different activity. And the recital is just too cute
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LO was interested in dance so that's what we signed her up for.
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Any chance of a combo class? DD2 is taking a "Little Movers" class at a local ballet studio, and it is fabulous - for the first 20 mins or so, they are in one ballet studio and do more dance-like activities. For the second, they move into another studio that has been set up with mats, a balance beam, etc. and they do more tumbling/general "movement" (i.e., act like a butterfly! act like an elephant!) activities in there.
To be honest, I think it is more about finding the right program than it is about which activity you choose. At the preschool age, both are going to be mostly about body control/fun movement and will just incorporate a few ballet or gymnastics terms and some appropriate equipment. DD1 has done a ballet class and gymnastics class that were pretty much the same in terms of what they did on the floor - the difference was the 10 mins or so they spent at the barre or on the beam/bars. The ballet teacher, fwiw, was never able to engage her fully. The gymnastics coach was a gem.
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Dance- just because we have a studio four blocks away and I know the owner
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Gymnastics. I gave DD the choice, but I'm glad she chose it. I did competitive gymnastics for years and loved it. I think the Olympics and local gal Simone Biles had something to do with her wanting to try it.
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I did gymnastics growing up, I coached gymnastics for 15 years, I just all around love gymnastics. BUT having coached it I am very very picky about what program my kids are in. So my daughter just started mommy and me gymnastics and will do it until 3.5 years old when they transition to independent classes. Because I had my son in the preschool classes and they did a total of 25 min of movement in a 55 min long class. Preschoolers should be moving as much as possible. And they shouldn't necessarily do trampoline every class. So I couldn't justify paying for a bad program and pulled him out.
My sister did ballet and I was her stage mom so I have some experience there as well. So I'm not opposed to that. And my chunka monka is not exactly built to be a competitive gymnast but may have more luck with dance.
Saying all that, my 5 year old son is absolutely loving swimming lessons and is likely joining swim team this next summer.
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@rattles: are you at world champions? I love Simone such an amazing gymnast and real person.
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We love our gymnastics because it has real equipment like rings for the kids balance beams trampolines etc. I would not do a tumbling classs that just had mats.
I felt like dance was more creative but gymnastics was more physical
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we did dance because DD chose it!
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DD wanted to do dance, and I was glad because there aren't many good gymnastics places around here and they're crazy hard to get a spot at if you don't have priority (i.e. your family already has a kid taking classes there). If she really wanted to do gymnastics, we'd try our best, but dance is just so much easier to manage here.
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Depends on my child's age and if she showed a preference but when she was younger I loved her gymnastics class more because it was less structured and she could do more of the activities like somersaults, jumping on one foot and she wasn't able to do most of the dance moves at 1.5.
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