Gym a hot spot for tumbling tots
Selah Haglar, 5, of Whitefish, checks her balance as she tries to jump over obstacles on the balance beam on Tuesday at the Flying Fish Kids' Gym in Whitefish.
Ava Mendoza, 5, of Whitefish, makes her way across the balance beam on Tuesday at the Flying Fish Kids' Gym in Whitefish.
Delila Vine, 2, of Whitefish, crawls through one of the obstacles on Tuesday at the Flying Fish Kids' Gym in Whitefish.
Logan Heyne, 5, of Whitefish, leads a line of children across the balance beam at the Flying Fish Kids' Gym in Whitefish on Tuesday.
Val Trina opened Flying Fish Kids’ Gym to give some of the Flathead’s youngest residents a place to play.
The gymnastics gym, outfitted with a child-sized training bar, a balance beam right on the floor and — much to little kids’ delight — a big, bouncy trampoline, is a brightly colored haven for tumblers ranging from toddlers to first-graders.
The gym, located in Whitefish’s Mountain Mall, opened Oct. 1 and started a six-week session this week.
Trina, who was a high school gymnast and has extensive experience in pediatric physical therapy, said the gym is a combination of all her interests.
“They all sort of culminated into this,” she said.
Trina said she has long wanted a preschool gymnasium in the Flathead Valley. She had seen such gyms in larger cities and wanted a local facility.
“When my kids were little, I wished we had something like this,” she said.
Now 7 and 9, Trina’s daughters, Janie and Holly, are too old to take lessons at Flying Fish. The gym is geared toward preschool children from 18 months to 6 years old.
Classes for children younger than 3 are for parents, too. Moms and dads help 18- to 24-month-old toddlers in activities that are designed to enhance children’s gross motor skills, including strength, balance, coordination and flexibility.
Those skills, which Trina calls the foundation for basic gymnastics skills, are important for normal child development.
In her experience with pediatric physical therapy, she worked with several children whose development was abnormal because of challenges such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or low muscle tone.
Helping those children “gave me a lot of good ideas for this,” Trina said.
“Exercise has to be fun enough and engaging enough to keep kids interested,” she added. “As far as kids are concerned, the classes are fun and games, but they’re carefully designed to incorporate all their gross motor skills.”
Toddlers might enhance their balance by walking on the trampoline or the balance beam, which is padded in addition to sitting directly on the floor so kids don’t have far to fall. They might also begin working on coordination by attempting to throw bean bags into a basket or tossing bags from hand to hand, Trina said.
Classes help toddlers begin to learn social skills as well. They follow and imitate each other and learn to stand in line and follow instructions. Waiting isn’t always easy, particularly when an activity involves one popular apparatus.
“They love the trampoline. It’s definitely the main attraction,” Trina said.
Parents appreciate the classes that give them a chance to interact with their children, she said.
“They can really have focused, one-on-one time with their child. Classes are 45 minutes, so that’s 45 minutes of undivided attention on their child,” Trina said. “Sadly, it’s hard to get that at home for some parents.”
Those classes also include activities parents and toddlers can do at home, she said.
Older children operate more independently in class. They start to learn basic tumbling techniques and continue to improve their gross motor skills. Their classes are scheduled for afternoons, so children can come after school.
In addition to classes, which kids may take once or twice a week, Flying Fish hosts supervised open gym time. There is also an area intended for parties, complete with a pint-sized table and tiny chairs.
“It’s a great place for little-kid birthday parties,” Trina said.
So far, the gym has hosted four such parties, with another scheduled this afternoon. Parties for older children will include a gymnastics class, but parties for 2- and 3-year-olds generally only require supervised open gym time.
“They just want to play,” Trina said.
The gym also hosts play groups; Trina said she would like to host free play groups for nonprofit organizations.
“It’s such a good venue. I just want it to be used as much as possible,” she said. “If people have an idea, bring it to me.”
Trina eventually would like to start a similar gym in Kalispell, where she originally intended to open her preschool facility. She settled in Whitefish for its smaller size and for a personal reason.
“It’s my town,” Trina said.
On the Net:
www.flyingfishkidsgym.com
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.