My oldest son is three and a half. He doesn’t particularly like the swings. He is wary of ladders. He’s flat footed. He’s cautious and we love him for it, nonetheless. It was suggested to us to have him try gymnastics and we did reluctantly. Boy have we been surprised at how much he fully enjoys his classes at the Josephson Academy of Gymnastics (J.A.G.). The instructor-kid ratio is nice and low. They seem to keep the kids constantly engaged with good pacing and direction. Our son loves it. It’s located in the Hayden Tract of Culver City between Jefferson Boulevard and National, off Higuera.

The gym itself is an expansive space (over 24,000 square feet) with classes ranging from babies (Bears and Cubs, Frogs and Tadpoles) to toddlers (Camels, Elephants, Kangaroosand Joeys) through school-aged dance and gymnastics classes. For the younger kids they have parent/kid classes as well as classes with no-parent involvement. Of course they have a cafe style waiting area for the parents the tikes tumble around on the floor.

Parent Tip: If you do sign your kid up for a class and you stick around to watch, go upstairs to get a great bird’s eye view of the gym floor. Downstairs experiences heavy traffic and it gets kinda crazy.

Related Sites:
The Josephson Academy of Gymnastics
Meta-DAD Review @ Parentography