The Little Gym York marks their 1st Birthday with a giveaway to help 2 local families.

Raising York’s children back onto their feet after a rollercoaster of lockdowns

The Little Gym, a global leader in children’s physical, social and emotional development, celebrates a successful 1^st year today, on 12^th April, after having opened mid-pandemic. Offering a world-leading programme of developmental gymnastics classes designed to build the bodies, brains, and life skills of children of all ages from 4 months to 12 years. The sophisticated programme is based on nearly 50-years of research into child development and physical literacy.

After a fantastic first year of classes, parties and holiday camps, our team have loved becoming a part of a wonderful community of families in York, welcoming over 450 members each week. We’ve felt that parents really understand how crucial movement, social development and interaction are for their children now more than ever, following the pandemic.

Not only did the pandemic delay our opening, unsurprisingly the pandemic has also caused delays in social development (particularly with language and also non-verbal communication) amongst young children, as well as “delays in learning to walk and crawl” as noted in this Guardian:

Pandemic has delayed social skills of young children, says Ofsted chief | Children | The Guardian

The Little Gym York is a safe space in which children can experience a sense of freedom to play and learn.  A place where they can interact with other children, explore at their own pace, learn, take risks, be challenged and be allowed to fail.

‘We are passionate at The Little Gym about the importance of quality movement in the early years so we’re not shocked to read how the pandemic has delayed the development of younger children in this way. We know that our classes are excellent at helping babies and toddlers meet important physical, social and emotional milestones whilst also allowing new parents to establish those important friendships. So, we wanted to use our 1^st Birthday Celebration to give the gift of movement to 2 local families who will benefit from it the most’ said Kate Henebury, Owner of The Little Gym Harrogate, Leeds and York.

One of our members, Rach Marie has commented:

“My little girl started coming in June 2021 at 14 months and by August she took her first steps in The Little Gym’s Birds class. Lockdown was so depressing as my little girl had minimal contact with other children. She was born in 2020 so this was her first class ever. Her health visitor was concerned about her gross motor skills. Taking her to The Little Gym has made a massive difference in her gross motor skills and she is now so confident. I would not take her anywhere else”

Giveaway

To mark our 1st Birthday on April 12th, we are giving away a block of 10 classes to 2 local families with a child under 3. To enter, simply comment on our First Birthday Facebook post letting us know why you’d like to win classes for your child, you can even tag a friend as there are 2 prizes available!

Further information and class schedules can be found at https://york.thelittlegym.co.uk.