ABOUT FITTYKES

On a cold rainy day, I was at one of my best friend's apartment playing with her 2 year old daughter, Ryo.  I refer to Ryo as “my little friend," well, because she is.  In such a short time, Ryo and I have developed a fun, fantastical, whimsical friendship.   I had just passed my Primal Move Certification and was showing both Ryo and her mom what I had learned.  Lots of crawling, rolling around on the floor, hopping around like a frog, jumping, head stands, forward and backward rolls, everything you did as a baby when you first learned to move.   Even though Ryo had long been walking, these movements were still fun for her.  By the end of the hour, we were both exhausted.   Ryo’s parents are both physically active and healthy.  They want the same for their daughter.  It was Ryo’s mom, Passa who said, “I wish there was a class at the gym for Ryo’s age.” I agreed and said “yeah, but who would teach it?”  And like many of the “sweetest things” in life, it just happened. 

I asked Passa to bring Ryo to the gym.  Secretly it was so I could play with her on one of my breaks.  Passa agreed, thinking it was “research” for my class.  I still really had no intention of following through with her idea!  There are no books on toddler fitness.  They don’t need a structured exercise program.  They need movement to be fun and slightly challenging, but within reach.  After playing around on the matted area, I started looking around for things Ryo could play with.  I wanted her to want to come back to the gym to play.  I had a very busy schedule at the time and wasn’t able to see her as much as I wanted.

Ryo came back the next week and we did it all again, trying some new stuff as well.  It was fun and games for Ryo.  It was also starting to have somewhat of a class structure.  Maybe Passa was right.  Maybe kids do need this type of movement and games in their schedule.  We invited some of Ryo’s friends to come and check it out.  They were all just turning 2 so it was a good age to get them started.  The first trial class went off without a hitch!  We did some stretching and basic movements, "follow the leader", and set up an obstacle course to incorporate swinging, jumping, running, bouncing, and crawling.  Each kid had his/her favorite, and they all had their strengths and weaknesses. 

Over the next few weeks we added in different games and ideas.  It was fun to see the kids grow so fast and learn what was being asked of them.  Some had difficulty with one or two obstacles in the beginning but quickly picked them up if they came to class consistently.  Some could even eventually do the obstacles on their own without prompting.  

I began to read about the connection between motor and cognitive centers of the brain.   The two centers work hand in hand.  Research has demonstrated a clear connection between the development of fine motor skills in early life and later successes in math, science, and reading.    Now, I really wanted to make this class happen!     

With the encouragement of the kids’ parents and several friends who witnessed these classes, I decided to make a go at FitTykes.  We keep a lot of the games and obstacles the same each week so the kids can improve at them while adding in new activities to keep them excited and engaged!