Gymboree Play & Music

Gretchen Tefs had already completed the requirements to be a certified k-8 teacher and had gotten her pre-school certification. She even taught locally for eight years and was planning to teach another year. That, my friends, is when this teacher decided not to come back from recess!

While Gretchen and her husband were visiting relatives, they learned that their nephew was enrolled in a Gymboree class. Gretchen thought it might be nice if she took him to one of his classes and when she did, the two of them simply had a ball! It was such a good time that when Gretchen's daughter was born, they decided to look for local Gymboree classes. The closest was in Strongsville and once again, a great time was had by all! That's when Gretchen decided that recess was more fun than school and she and her husband would open their own Gymboree Play & Music right here in Medina.

Gymboree Play & Music offers a large selection of classes for parent/child teams that focus on the physical, emotional, and social development of the children. These classes are a time when the parent and the child get a chance to actually play and learn together. The entire concept is based on building trust between the parent and the child and helping the child to feel confident while exploring and learning. Gretchen offers a wide assortment of classes that are geared to different age groups. There are the GymBabies (0-6 months of age), the GymCrawlers (6-12 months of age), the GymWalkers (10-18 months of age), the GymRunners (14-28 months of age), the GymExplorers (2 yrs. old), and the GymKids (3-4 years old). At these classes, every child must have an adult with them and the parent must always stay within reach of their child's torso. This means, as I'm sure you can imagine, that the parents are getting as much exercise as the children. There are play times, discussion times, and music classes for children as young as sixteen months old. The music classes feature classical, rhythm and blues, polka, jazz, country, reggae, rock and roll, oldies, and more. The children do a lot of moving and jumping to the music so they can feel like part of the music. Some classes contain story time, some encourage a lot of imagination, some teach sensory skills, and others focus on muscle development. Every two weeks, all of the play equipment is torn down, cleaned, and put up in a totally different configuration. Gretchen says that after it's rebuilt, you wouldn't even recognize it.

Gymboree provides the opportunity to form a friendship with your child and spend some quality time together. If you have a pre-schooler and you're looking for an activity that will not only help them develop but is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, check out Gymboree Play & Music and don't forget to tell them that The Advocate sent you!

Republication or redistribution of any content from this web site by any and all methods is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of CX Publishing. Business listings contained herein have been pre-approved for publication by the individual business' legal representatives as advertisements, and CX Publishing encourages readers to perform their due diligence before entering into an agreement with any company or individual. Furthermore, CX Publishing shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the published content, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon.