GrowBabyGrow Playgroup
Age 3 months – 3 years with parent/caregiver
Enjoy this unique 1-hour playgroup designed to delight babies and children ages 3 months through 3 years!
Parents, caregivers and their little ones are encouraged to participate at their own pace while experiencing the benefits of social playtime with others.
The class format is structured yet flexible, balancing plenty of big body play and exploration with restful activities to bond and reconnect with each other.
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Enrich your child's development with fun and creative dance and movement experiences
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Foster your child’s creativity exploring dance concepts with sensory-rich props
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Delight in sing-song rhymes while practicing important movement patterns that stimulate language and learning
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Explore the beat and move your feet while playing a variety of musical instruments
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Travel through obstacle courses
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Sail away on a soothing sheet ride to rest and integrate the learning and love!
GrowBabyGrow Creative Dance for Happy Families uses the Nurturing Pathways® curriculum. Nurturing Pathways®, Inc. promotes healthy development, strong bonds and parent education through creative dance derived from the scientific research on the brain-body connection.
What to Expect?
Making the Most of Your Experience Together
You are your child's favorite play pal!
While your instructor plans and guides the dancing fun, it is your loving interactions with your little one that will make this the best hour of your week! Come prepared and dressed in comfortable clothing (for you and your child) and ready to move. We will march, roll, gallop, stretch and more in every class!
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You are also your child's safe person in a new environment...
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Feel free to offer comfort when your little one needs it and enjoy the time together. Watching is learning. There are many "right ways" to participate!
Jump right in or tip-toe
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Children often take time to warm up to a new activity and approach playgroups in a large space in different ways. Some will jump right in while others prefer to hold you close and watch a while. Still others will explore the room.
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These are all developmentally appropriate and to be expected. Ms. Elena will support you and your child while warmly guiding the learning and fun.
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Take the Learning Home
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The one-time purchase of your Nurturing PathwaysⓇ Parent Pack gives you a valuable resource that enriches your overall experience.
Sips and snacks
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Tiny tummies get hungry! Nursing during class is welcome and at your comfort level. Feel free to stay inside the studio or briefly step out. Snacks for waddlers and toddlers can be eaten after playgroup has ended. Spill proof water bottles are encouraged.
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Everyone poops!
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Playgroup activities move rather quickly and without breaks so please come to class with a clean diaper and make a potty stop before entering the community room. Of course, things happen! Changing tables are available in restrooms right around the corner. Just return to the fun when finished.
Why Dance?
During the early years, your child's brain is growing at an astonishing rate! Babies and young children reach developmental milestones in a predictable order at their own pace, literally from the ground up. Dancing together with your child to a wide variety of music enhances neurological, emotional, social, and physical development.
Dancing with your baby in your arms; swaying and moving together as one, as well as floor time for your baby to move spontaneously aids in the integration of your baby's reflexes (priming for voluntary movement). Young waddling walkers are explorers! They seek out challenges to expand their bodies' movement potential as they interact with this big world. Toddlers begin to refine their motor skills as expressive capabilities, social awareness, listening, focus, and musicality begin to thrive. Dancing together during these early years forms strong bonds, healthy bodies, emotional intelligence, social awareness, and cognitive thought, which are the foundation for school readiness!
With a special focus on fun and developmentally appropriate movement activities, you can feel confident you are investing in your child's healthy development. In each GrowBabyGrow Family Playgroup:
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Babies will have plenty of tummy and floor time so they can move through the early developmental patterns that wire the central nervous system and brain and help your baby reach developmental milestones.
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Waddlers will delight in learning new ways to use their body, enjoy balancing activities, and gain confidence while exploring the dance concepts.
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Toddlers confidence and budding independence will be nurtured through challenging movement experiences that cultivate creativity, develop expressive capabilities, improve listening skills, foster social skills, and develop musicality.
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What are you waiting for? Dance and Play with your little one Today!
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Join GrowBabyGrow to connect with other babies, waddlers, toddlers, parents, and caregivers for an hour of movement-rich creative play, bonding and fun!
Frequently Asked Questions
Illness​
Please stay at home if there is any chance you or your little one could be spreading contagious illness, especially if there is coughing, sneezing, very runny nose, etc. Playgroups are ongoing so you can jump back in when you are well again.
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Participation
New experiences, and even developmentally appropriate activities, can be challenging or overwhelming (for grownups, too!). Playgroups are ongoing so attending regularly helps build your little one's resilience to the pace of our activities. Since we are just starting back up after a long time away from in-person playgroups, we will begin slowly to allow time for lots of encouragement and smooth transitions. After a few weeks, the playgroup activities will be faster paced. Children may occasionally feel frustrated with the physical and mental challenges. Your loving tone, reassuring hugs, and gentle encouragement are key to your child's experience. But sometimes there are tears! If your child is crying, you may choose to step aside or into the hallway for a few minutes to help your child calm down. Feel free to use your own discretion in deciding how to help your crying child and trust that we've all been there!
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Props and Instruments
It's normal and developmentally appropriate for young children to explore and learn about their world by putting things in their mouths. This exploration is important and to be expected. We all work together to ensure our play materials are sanitary and safe for exploratory play.
We encourage you to allow your child to explore the props and instruments in any way that's safe. If it goes in a mouth, just put it in the "mouth bucket" after the activity. These items will be cleaned immediately after our playgroup.
You can help support sanitation in class by being aware of oral exploration, even if it’s not your child engaging in it, and taking steps if necessary to prevent mouthed items from going into another child‘s hands. We all share responsibility for our children's health.
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Visitors and New Friends
We love when you invite friends to join you at our weekly playgroups. That's how we grow our community!
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Extra caregivers are always welcome! When grandparents or relatives are visiting, or you have other family members who want to participate, we are happy for them to experience the joy of dancing together! We encourage adults to participate at their comfort level. Getting up and down from the floor can be too much for some and we are happy to make accommodations so that everyone can participate.
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Although we all love photos and videos of our favorite little people doing amazing things, cameras and phones are a distraction during playgroups. We also respect the privacy of all participants and only allow photographs to be taken during playgroups by professionally contracted photographers. All participants will be able to sign a waiver if they prefer to be excluded from being photographed. Photos before or after class with your special family members and friends are welcomed.
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Schedule Changes
We recognize that your little one's sleep schedule may change, making it challenging to fully enjoy playgroups. If it becomes difficult to attend playgroup around changing nap times, please take a break. Sleep is important! You will always be welcomed back when our playgroup timing fits your little one's schedule again.
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Cancellations for Weather or Unforseen Circumstances
Occasionally, we have to cancel playgroup. We don't do it often but when it is necessary, we will post the cancellation on our social media platforms and send an email to everyone who is on our information list.