Gymboree @Bangsar Village

An update from the previous review I did on Gymboree @ Tropicana City Mall...

An ex-colleague told me that I should have brought Jada to the outlet in Bangsar Village because the facilitator there is much warmer to kids and they make the activities really fun. I wasn't sure how much different it can be but today, I had the opportunity to see it for myself as my best buddy, Nicole, decided to send her daughter there while we have our occasional Sunday date.

What I saw in the 10am play class for Level 7 children, was that the class was pretty crowded but the kids looked like they were really having fun. But I must agree to the statement made by my ex-colleague that the facilitator was really good with children. She was so into teaching the kids, wanting the kids to have fun and learn, and I could feel the atmosphere being so lively. She did have personal interactions with the children even when there were probably around 15 noisy children running everywhere.

everyone taking turns to crawl into the colourful 'tunnel'.

it looked quite chaotic but with so many kids, chaotic would

mean something positive, don't you think?

Nicole said she had enrolled her lovely Isabelle for the entire play and music package. I even saw an old classmate with her son.

So, I guess if you really want to check out Gymboree and believe that this is where your children should go to for their play and learn sessions, I would suggest that you make your way to the one in Bangsar Village, Level 1. I cannot promise you anything but at least you'd feel better to know that the teacher tries her very best to make the session fun and exciting.

But, I would still like to add that Nicole shared with me some tinge of disappointment that there weren't any interactions among the children or parents. I guess parents would always hope that play sessions like these would teach the kids to socialise. But with protective and cautious parents nowadays, there is no way of seeing kids making friends if there are no encouragement from parents. So with that, I still think that the environment is not really suitable for my Jada. Still, what may not work perfectly for our toddler doesn't necessarily mean that it is not good for yours. No two children are exactly alike.

If you'd like to know an overview of how much you'd need to invest in your children's early development in Gymboree, below is the fee indication (the fee schedule is correct at time of publication):

Annual Family Membership	RM150 per family
Play/Music Program Fees Level 1-6 (45 minutes) Level 7 (1 hour) ------------------------- Trial Class As & When Package (Level 1-6) Multiple Program A** Multiple Program B** Playgym (0 - 60 months) Playgym Package (10 playgym vouchers)	RM420 /12 weeks RM328 /8 weeks RM287 /6 weeks RM450 /12 weeks --------------------------- RM48 /per sesion RM495 /12 sessions (6 months) RM1,780 /48 weeks (one child only) RM1,980 /48 weeks (for 2 kids or 36 months above) RM12 member/per hour RM18 non-member/per hour RM100 (member) RM160 (non-member)
GymArts Arts I & Arts II (1 hour) Arts III (1 hour) Trial class	RM660 /12 weeks RM708 /12 weeks RM65 /per child/per sessions
Yoga Fun Yoga III Trial Class	RM450 /12 weeks RM48 /per child/per session

** entitled to 24 Play/12 music/12 GymArts or Play/Music/Yoga only, with many free benefits.