Parents open gym? / just fooling around

[mayestra12]

So DD (she's starting team on Levels 3 next week) has been trying hard all summer for 2 skills -bridge kick over and back hip circle

She did her first bridge kick over off the floor yesterday in my living room. She said, "Hey Mom, I think I can do it now" and she did! Then today we went to check out some new gym equipment at our YMCA (for my son) and up she went on bars and did her first back hip circle. She shocked herself!

I'm wondering if going to open gym is a good idea. Do your kids often get skills when they seem to be fooling around? We have to pay extra for open gym and it's late on Friday nights so we haven't gone. She loves to do gymnastics in the yard but I'm always telling her no because I don't want her to get hurt. I don't want to kill her love for the sport by telling her no all the time or reminding her about injuries (I'm afraid the fear factor will set in and right now she's not fearful). We do have a mat but it still makes me nervous!

 

[lilgymmie7]

My DD is a level 5 and since being moved to team as a 4 yo, I have taken her to open gyms for similar reasons as you mentioned. This is her first year to compete USA gymnastics because of her age, and therefore she has been training skills and routines and going the same hours as her older teammates. I take her to open gyms because I want her to do the gymnastics in safer surroundings, plus I want her to view gymnastics as also being fun. Her coaches do their best at making it fun, but they are also quite serious and as a 6 yo my DD sometimes feels pressure that I find is relieved at open gyms.
She practices what she learns at gym and also just has fun. She would love to go every week, but we compromise and take her at least once a month. She knows that at open gyms she can do ALMOST anything she wants to, as long as I know she will not kill herself. She is a bit of a dare devil!

 

[Azgymmiemom]

When my dd went to her first open gym, she asked one of her coaches, "DO we get to play a little bit?" and her coach replied, "You get to play a LOT a bit!" My kids LOVE open gym, and it is way preferable to them goofing around at home...at open gym they have the proper equipment and are supervised.
My dd will practice skills, but they play a lot of active games and get to do things they normally wouldn't get to do at gym...like spin on the rings, etc. (I just posted some pics of my dd doing "Cheer" lifts/stunts at open gym in another thread)

Our gym only has open gym 2 times a month, and it is a huge success...always tons of kids come to it.

 

[mayestra12]

Our opens gyms are most Friday nights from 7-9. Cost is $10.00. I'm thinking of letting her do two a month (one with me / one with dad) if she's not too tired at the end of the week. Since we will never get to see her practice I think she will love that she can show us her stuff.

 

[emorymom]

We do open gym about 2x a month! I have to drive 50 minutes to a gym that is less risk averse.

 

[Shelovesthebars]

My daughter is a 5 year old level 3. She has all of her level 4 skills but is too young to do level 4. We go to open gym occassioally. Two weeks ago we went to open gym and they put my 5 year old in with the girls training level 5 and above. The coaches worked on the level 5 vault with my daughter for the first time and by the end of the open gym, she was able to vault over the table by herself into the pit. (The vault table was set way over her head!) I thought it was crazy but she had a blast. Open gym tends to be less stressful and a lot of fun. We have had experience with girls bullying her because of her size and skill level but we have addressed that issue! I would say to let her try it. How old is she?

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

My daughter likes open gym it is usually the younger kids so I am thinking she is 10 she probally will not do it to much longer. It is after her Friday work out so if she stays spends 5 hours there and then they have practice the next day. She has gotten some skills but she has also had some minor injuries. I do not mind paying the extra money but I feel bad for a lot of the families who are struggling with costs to keep their daughters on the team and then they see their friends staying for open gym and they do not have the extra 10 dollars for their daughters to stay. A lot of the parents do not want to come back at 9 so I usually offer to take others home. Our gym is not far from shopping so I can always find something to do to kill the extra time.

 

[mayestra12]

She is 6 and I think all kids under 10 have to have a parent stay. They don't charge for the parents.

 

[Gymnasticsgirl521]

We do an open gym session just about weekly when our schedule allows it. We make a game plan so to speak and if she achieves all of her goals for the open gym then she gets play time. For example she needed to clean up her squat on for her level 5 routine. Once it was fixed consistently she had to fix one thing on beam leaps and getting them higher. Then it was play time. It all depends on her and how she is working as to how much play time she has. Her squat on was fixed in 15 mintues and her leap in 20. We were at the gym for 2 hours so it was a win win situation. DD has been going open gym since she was about 3 and this is how we have worked it every time.

 

[clrmom]

My daughter loves going to open gym also. She does work on skills sometimes but she also plays a lot. Since my daughter is shy, open gym is a place where she has started to make some friends with other girls on the team. At our open gym there are kids of all ages including teenagers. Once a month they also do a parent's night out which costs a little more and lasts longer.