When my daughter turned about two years old, I started to look for local activities for young children to put her in. I wanted her to have socialization with other kids and get some playtime outside of our house!
It didn’t take long before I found a few favorites! Here are five local places I’ve enjoyed taking both of my kids to from about the age of two to five.
Goldfish Swim School – This was one of the first activities I put my daughter in! At two years old kids can have lessons without parents getting in the water and I was sold! Both of my children have now taken lessons here, on and off for the past six years.
I love that they have small class sizes, with a max of 4 kids per class. This means your child will get lots of 1:1 time with the instructor. My kids love the warm water (set to 90 degrees!), the fun tropical theme and of course, the 25 cent lollipops we often get after lessons, haha!
Learn, Sing and Grow – Formally known as Kindermusik, this was one of my kids favorite activities when they were younger. Class start from newborn and go up to 5 years old.
The classes are small and kids and parents together have the opportunity to make music (think shaker eggs, wooden sticks, small drum, etc.), sing and dance during each 45-minute class. The owner, Emily, is super sweet and you can tell how much she loves kids and music. We took lessons out of the Dublin Toy Emporium and made a morning out of our lessons by adding a trip to the beautiful Dublin library.
Wendy’s Gymnastics – I wish I discovered this place when my daughter was younger! My son has taken lessons for the past two years and both of my kids love their open gyms!
All classes start with a short warm up (fun dance included!) and then a rotation to different stations in the gym, where kids get to have fun swinging on the bars, bouncing on the trampoline and playing on the other gymnastics equipment. It has a fun, low-key environment, where kids get to have lots of fun and get some wiggles out!
i9 Sports – Soccer with i9 Sports was one of our first forays into sports with our young children. We started soccer when our daughter was 3 years old and both her and my son did several seasons of soccer with them.
They have lots of sports, besides soccer, to choose from and many different locations around town. I really liked how they focused on a character trait each week, not just the athletics of it.
Local Recreation Center – Columbus and most of the suburbs have great recreation centers with lots of activities for little kids. We started our daughter with swim lessons at our rec center when she was only 6 months old!
I love the variety of classes they have and how many for younger kids involve the parents too. This was a great way for us to get out of the house with littles! The classes were often inexpensive and close to home, which were two added bonuses.
What are some of your favorite local activities to do with little kids?? Please share your favorites in the comments below!
