Toddler (12-14 mths)

Fun and Learning and Gymboree

Gymboree of Pasco County offers great programs for young children

They’ve been around for nearly thirty years and have over 500 locations worldwide. But one of the newest locations for Gymboree opened just last fall in Pasco County.  Gymboree is a child development program designed to help young children relate to their world and the people in it. Children develop brain, motor and language skills through play, sensory stimulation, music, and movement.

Carol Barrett and her husband, Mark, own and operate Gymboree of Pasco County, an attractive 3000+ square-foot center with all new facilities and equipment.  Both Carol and Mark believe firmly in the Gymboree philosophy that “children learn and develop through play.”  “We follow the Gymboree curriculum,” says Carol proudly, “It was developed by experts, and we believe in what they recommend.”  In addition, all Gymboree teachers undergo full training. They offer a dozen different types of classes in play, art, and music to closely match each stage of development.  They even offer the Baby Signs® program.

“Babies know more than we give them credit for,” observes Mark, who also notes that studies on babies who have gone through the Baby Signs® program as infants showed that they had larger vocabularies at twenty-four months, higher IQs at age eight and better sixth grade reading scores among other benefits.

Each play or music class is forty-five minutes in length and art classes and GymKids are sixty minutes. Parents can enroll their children for twelve or twenty-four weeks and can join at any time. They also have a new four week sampler session for the summer where parents and children can attend unlimited age-appropriate play, music and art classes. In addition, all members are invited to come to the center weekly for free PlayGym open gym sessions where children play on the equipment under parental supervision. Free class previews are also available.

Gymboree of Pasco County is open day, evening, and weekend hours. Please call them at 813-242-2588 for more information or stop in for a class schedule and to see their center at1912 Oak Grove Blvd., in Lutz, 33559. They are located behind the Physicians Walk-in Clinic less than two miles west of exit 275 on I-75 just off SR54. To learn more about Gymboree or to find a location near you, log onto www.Gymboree.com.