Workout for the younger crowd

This gym’s members are more interested in kickball than kickboxing.

Kids at the Tuesday Waddlers class at My Gym played on a variety of equipment, like swings, trampolines and a balance beam.

Throughout their time in the program at the gym, which opened about 7 years ago, the kids will work on tasks like balancing on one foot, walking up stairs and riding a tricycle.

Teachers sent kids from station to station throughout their class and ended with a game featuring flying, colorful scarves, songs and clapping.

“He’s an only child, so the socialization here is very important,” Marcia Artle said of her grandson Jax, 19 months.

Jax’s mother is a nurse and his father is a firefighter; both work long shifts, from 12 to 24 hours, so his grandparents get a chance to be with him at those times, she said.

“He’s learning to share right now. He watches the other kids, and he’s also learning to be competitive, which helps him to learn,” Artle said. “He loves to play on the equipment.”

“Every class has two gymnastics skills that they work on. Our format is noncompetitive, so no one gets left out or feels bad, but we do try to push our kids as far as they will go,” said My Gym Director Gabriel Robins.

Classes for younger kids also include a separation component, where parents leave the room for a portion of the session, so kids can become acclimated to the idea of going away to school and not being around them all the time.

“It kind of eases that transition a little bit,” Robins said.

For the oldest kids, there is much less playtime, and more of an emphasis on traditional physical fitness.

“It’s a pretty intense class,” Robins said. “We do pushups, squats and other activities.”

My Gym tries to keep kids from getting bored by moving and changing out equipment each week.

“The formula stays the same, but the ingredients are different,” Robins said.

One of the My Gym teachers, Sarah Morales, is a mother herself, so she appreciates being able to take her daughter to the gym when she’s not at work.

For Katie Nicholas, who is in school to be a teacher, the gym is a place to hone her skills.

Nicholas lives with another My Gym teacher.

She said the benefits for kids who attend the gym are tangible.

“They’ll start walking sooner, because they see other kids walking,” she said. “Our classes are small, so we know them all really well.”

My Gym Huntington Beach offers classes and free-play sessions for kids ages 6 weeks to 13 years.

Infants and younger kids have parent-participation classes; older kids have independent sessions.

The gym also holds special events throughout the year for members. Its next event is a Halloween party. Onsite birthday parties focus more on playtime and activities, rather than gifts and cake.

My Gym has opened franchises around the world, from Brazil to Singapore.

Tuition is paid for in automatic four-week billing cycles, with discounts for twins and additional siblings. Fees include one class and one free play for week; a special current Waddlers promotion for kids ages 14 to 22 months allows kids to take an extra class during the week.

The gym is at 6030 Warner Ave. For more information, call (714) 842-2486 or visit mygymhb.com.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at [email protected].