Gymnastics improve your child's stamina and self-esteem

Canadian Sport for Life magazine endorses gymnastics as an activity all children should learn because it provides a solid foundation for all other sports. Gymnastics promotes the ABCs of athleticism - agility, balance, coordination and speed and without these basic movement skills a child will have difficulty participating in any sport.

With that said, it is no wonder that co-owners Shawn and Denise Campbell enjoy such great success with Planet Gymnastics at their Whitby and Pickering locations. They admit willingly that once your kids arrive at Planet Gymnastics they won't want to leave.

Now in its seventh year in Pickering and third year in Whitby, Planet Gymnastics is a recreational facility that offers gymnastic classes where kids can have fun, get active and workout their minds. And now is the time to register for fall classes.

Shawn, who runs the facilities with his wife Denise, graduated from Seneca College's Professional Coaching program, with a concentration on beginner and advanced gymnastics. He has been a professional gymnastics coach for over 18 years and has trained many champion athletes. Through his studies he discovered the benefits of gymnastics training for kids.

Planet Gymnastics offers a variety of classes, seven days a week, with something for kids as young as 18 months and programs for teens and adults.

The 'Parent and Tot Program', for example, is for kids between the ages of 18 months to 35 months and is a great opportunity for you to have fun and engage in gymnastics with your child in a unique environment. This class is a great way to improve your child's physical ability as well as their social skills and runs seven times daily during the week and four times daily on weekends.

'Kindergymnastics' offers a one-hour, weekly class full of fun activities, games and circuits that require preliminary gymnastic skills for children aged three to four years. In this program they will improve their balance, strength and flexibility and will gain their self-confidence.

The 'Recreational Program' is for kids age five right through to teenagers. It progresses through the CANGYM recreational system, which includes all of the gymnastic events. Fully qualified instructors ensure that the skills are learned properly before your child advances to the next level.

New to Planet Gymnastics this year is the Teen Gym program and Adult program. These two hour classes are available once a week for students to focus on specific areas that they would like to improve.

For dancers, cheerleaders, and for kids who are just full of energy, Planet Gymnastics offers 'Tumble and Bounce' trampoline classes. This two-hour class is filled with lots of energy, bouncing and fun in which they learn basic tumbling skills such as front and back handsprings, somersaults, twisting and many other interesting skills.

Planet Gymnastics features a three-storey play centre with a separate ball pit and specialty training equipment for toddlers. They also have a 40-foot tumbling trampoline, plus equipment that is made especially for kids as well as all the traditional gymnastics equipment such as uneven bars, rings, single bars and balance beams.

Children should enroll in September but can be enrolled at any time throughout the season (pending availability), our classes run throughout the school year and we finish up the season with a special gold medal presentation to all children held each June. It's a great way to keep the kids active in a secure air-conditioned environment.

To learn more about Planet Gymnastics visit www.planetgymnastics.ca, call (Pickering) 905-839-7669 email planetgymnasticshs@rogers.com or (Whitby) 905-665-1990 or email planetgymnastics@bellnet.ca