What’s New list

2023年9月11日
NEWS

Join us for our NEW Seasonal Bubble Pass!

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Introducing our NEW Seasonal Bubble Pass which can be used to explore our UNIQUE Mommy & Me classes! Don’t miss this opportunity to support your little one’s development at Gymboree! Families with children 0-5 years old can purchase 4 or 6 class tickets to be used in the age-appropriate classes of their choice over the next 2 months. Please refer to the flyer below for details. Space is limited so contact us today to sign up!

Seasonal Bubble Pass Post

 

Learn more(PDF)

2023年8月23日
NEWS

Enroll during our Fall Campaign!

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Come and learn with your child at Gymboree this Fall! New families who enroll during the campaign period will receive 50% OFF their membership fee (savings of ¥8,250) and ¥5,000 OFF one month of class fees if they join with a friend or are introduced by a current member. Don’t miss this great opportunity to join us at Gymboree Play & Music. Come in for a free trial and experience how much fun learning with your child can be! We are looking forward to welcoming you and your family to our Gymboree family soon!

InTouch Ad_September 2023_Gymboree

 

2022年9月18日
NEWS

Join us for our Preschool Prep/Preschool Open House!

Families with children between the age of 1 year 4 months and 2 years old are invited to join us for one our Preschool Prep or Preschool Open Houses. Families will enjoy participating in our popular activities. After the activities, we will explain about our unique programs in detail. 

Our spacious play gym will be available for free play during the explanation session.
Bring a friend and join us at Gymboree!
Space is limited so sign up today!

※One participant will win a Free Play Gym Ticket to reserve our play gym for a date with your friends.

Contact us at our Motoazabu (Hiroo) school for details!

2020年11月27日
COLUMN

How can parents teach their child to get ready themselves in the morning?

Many parents are worried that their child will be unable to prepare him/herself smoothly in the morning. Since parents are often busy in the morning, it is helpful if children can do some tasks on their own. In this article, we will introduce some tips for helping your child prepare in the morning on their own.

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What causes children to be late in the morning?

Why does it take children so much time to get ready in the morning? There are many reasons which are often hidden to their parents.

They eat slowly

Many children have less of an appetite in the morning because they are still sleepy or they ate more food then they needed the night before. This makes it hard for them to eat their breakfast quickly.

They take a long time to get dressed

Some children have no problem changing their clothes quickly on a regular basis but tend to take their time when they know their parents are in a rush. As a result, for 2-5-year-olds, it is a good idea for parents to avoid putting out clothes with buttons and zippers when they want their child to get dressed quickly.

They are not prepared

When children wake up and spend time lazily, it is often because they do not have a good sense of time. Compared to adults, children still have an immature sense of time so they often hang around without being aware of it.

How can parents help children prepare themselves in the morning?

It is important for parents to find out why things do not go smoothly in the morning and take the appropriate countermeasures so their child can prepare himself/herself when needed. Please look at the below tips for examples.

Tips regarding Breakfast

It is often effective to ask your child what he/she wants for breakfast. For example, you can ask your child to choose their favorite jam or rice ball ingredients. Children are more motivated to eat when they feel that they have chosen it for themselves.

It is also easier for children to eat simply (main + soup) than a mixture of a lot of dishes in the morning. Miso soup and other soups that have a lot of nutrients are good dishes to prepare for breakfast.

Tips for Changing Clothes

For children who still have difficulty doing buttons, it is a good idea to help when needed. Children feel a sense of accomplishment and will be motivated to try more next time if they can do things on their own.

If your child has a hard time choosing his/her clothes, it is often helpful to prepare a “change of clothes” box and have him/her choose from what is in the box. You can prepare clothes, handkerchiefs, tissues, hats, etc. the night before and put them in the box the night before. This will give your child plenty of time to change his/her clothes in the morning.

Visualize the Preparation Flow

Creating a “preparation checklist” with your child is a great way to share the tasks that need to be done during the preparation period. The checklist will make it easier for your child to understand the contents and flow of morning preparations.

Making a table of what actions need to be taken and when is also a good idea. You can make the table colorful and post it on the wall or on a whiteboard so children can see it easily. It will help children see at a glance what has been completed and what still needs to be done.

Although parents want to rush their child when they can’t get ready in the morning fast enough. Hurrying is often counterproductive. So, it is recommended that parents instead focus on making getting ready fun. Please think about ways you can make preparation fun such as playing music or giving high fives when each task is finished.

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2020年11月20日
COLUMN

【For 3~4 year-olds】Suggested Age-appropriate Chores for Children!

When a child is 3-4 years old, he/she can do more things by himself/herself and becomes more interested in becoming more independent. Allowing children to help around the house will give them a sense of responsibility and help them gain self-confidence. In this article, we will introduce chores recommended for children aged 3 and 4 years old.

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Recommended chores for 3-year olds

Praising your child after he/she helps, gives them confidence and a sense of self-affirmation. Giving them chores will also encourage them to acquire a sense of responsibility to complete tasks until the end, improve their finger development and overcome challenges.

3-year-old children love to imitate adults. Therefore, they often want to do things on their own and copy what their parent is doing. Here are some chores recommended for 3-year-olds.

Making sweets

Pancakes, which are a favorite of many children, are easy to make by simply mixing the ingredients and cooking them on the stove. 3-year-olds are good at stirring so it is a safe task to assign them that doesn’t require the use of fire. After helping, they will enjoy not only eating but also making sweets. You also end up with delicious sweets to eat, so you can kill two birds with one stone.

Wiping the floor with a wet cloth

Wiping the floor with a wet cloth is a great chore to assign your 3-year-old. You can give them some tips on how to squeeze out the cloth and how to wipe the floor and then leave it up to them. You can also show them how to clean up after yourself when you spill something. This will help them develop an awareness that it is important to clean up on their own.

Recommended chores for 4-year olds

By the age of 4 years old, children can do many more things on their own. It is a great idea to let them try even more difficult chores.

Washing the dishes

Why not try asking your 4-year-old to help wash the dishes? Parents can start by modeling how to wash. If you are worried about injury, please avoid glass and ceramic and have them start with cutlery and plastic. Once they get used to washing, you can teach them how to handle glass and ceramics.

Although they may not do a good job at first, but they will get better after practice. Please make sure to watch when your child is washing the dishes to make sure he/she does not get hurt.

Breaking eggs

Breaking eggs can be difficult for young children. However, practicing from a young age will help them learn how to adjust their strength and crack the egg carefully. Please ask your child to help when you are making omelets or other dishes with eggs.

Sweeping with a broom

Sweeping the floor with a broom and collecting it in a dustpan is a good chore to assign your 4-year-old. This chore will help him/her learn how to collect garbage efficiently. Your child will feel a sense of accomplishment when he/she sees the clean floor.

The ability to do housework is a skill that it necessary when you live as an adult. When children get involved in chores from a young age, children will learn how to think for themselves and the importance of doing their share.

Also, children who feel a sense of accomplishment and are grateful to their parents will grow into respectful adults. It is important that parents give their children the opportunity to help whenever possible.

Attending mommy & me classes with your child is a great way to fulfill your child’s needs to do things on his/her own. These classes will help your child gain his/her independence and improve his/her communication and social skills.

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2020年11月17日
COLUMN

【For 1~2 year-olds】Suggested Age-appropriate Chores for Children!

Most parents want to raise a child who is willing to help around the house. Therefore, it is important that parents encourage children to help from a young age and teach their child that it is fun to help others. There are many chores that even young children can enjoy. In this article, we will introduce some chores targeted at 1 and 2-year-old children.

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Chores recommended for 1-year old children

Although one-year old children are often still considered babies, once they can walk on their own, it is a good idea to introduce games that encourage helping around the house.

Help with cleaning using an adhesive roller

Adhesive rollers that roll around to remove dust from cloth products are like toys for small children. They can be used to help clean sofas and carpets. When asking for help, parents should show their child that roller should not be used on people (especially their hair) and the trash should be put in the garbage not in their mouth.

Help putting their toys in a toy box

Although it is still hard for a one-year-old child to handled detailed clean up, putting their toys in a box when their done is often an extension of their play. Parents can encourage their children to put their toys in the toy box when they are finished playing. If parents say “thank you” when their child properly puts their toys in the box, it will foster a sense of self-affirmation and help them learn the importance of returning what you used.

Help with Cooking Prep

Parents can ask their young children to separate the shimeji mushrooms into small bunches or crush the tofu to be used for tofu hamburgers by hand. Young children can also help by tearing off cabbage or lettuce. Any tasks that do not require a knife or fire can be done by young children. It is important for parents to make the tasks fun and praise their child when they perform the tasks well.

Chores recommended for 2-year old children

At the age of two, many children enter the “No-No Phase” and get easily upset when adults don’t let them do things on their own. Therefore, this is a good time to encourage your child to help on his/her own. Children are also better communicators and more dexterous with their hands at this age so they can perform more tasks.

Help with cooking, washing rice, cutting ingredients, and stirring

At the age of two, children’s range of interests expands dramatically. If your child is interested in cooking, it is a great time to ask him/her to help in the kitchen. Some tasks we recommend are: washing the rice, cutting soft ingredients with a children’s knife, or stirring in a pot or frying pan.

Children’s knives have a round cutting edge so they are safer than regular knives and protect children from cutting their fingers. However, parents still need to keep an eye on their little one when they are using them. The best food to have them cut are steamed or chilled vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potatoes, etc.). Many children tend to eat the vegetables they cut so you may want to try asking them to cut vegetables that they do not like to eat.

Folding Towels

As children reach the age of two and grow older, they become more and more dexterous. Asking your child to help fold the towels (starting with small hand towels) is a great idea. Parents can show their children how to fold the towel and practice with them. When they get it right, make sure to give them a lot of compliments. Once the towel is folded, you can have them help take it to the towel storage area.

It is important that children aged 1 to 2 are given the opportunity to try doing things on their own. This will help them feel better about themselves while giving them fun memories. When children learn that “helping is fun” from a young age, they will be more likely to want to continue to help around the house when they get older.

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2020年11月13日
COLUMN

Crafts ideas to enjoy with young children during the Fall season!

Autumn, often called “Autumn of Art” in Japan, is a great season to enjoy crafts. Children can collect fallen leaves and nuts and use them for craft projects and to learn about nature. Crafts are a great way to keep kids busy at home when the weather is bad. In this article, we will introduce some Autumn craft ideas you can enjoy with your children.

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Craft ideas using materials unique to Autumn

Children can collect acorns, pine cones and colored fallen leaves while at the park. Please check the below craft ideas which use materials unique to autumn.

Create a Poster of Leaves and Nuts

If you collect a lot of autumn leaves and nuts and put them on a piece of paper, you will have a poster that is perfect for autumn. You will need thick drawing paper, brown drawing paper, dried leaves, and nuts (acorns, pine cones, etc.).

Start by pasting a tree trunk made with brown drawing paper on a piece of thick drawing paper. Then go ahead and stick the leaves and nuts you collected on the brown tree trunk. Please allow your child to stick the leaves and nuts on the paper freely so he/she can expand his/her imagination. Once your child is finished gluing the materials on the paper, you can add drawings. Once it is done, please post it on the wall as a seasonal piece of interior.

* When using acorns, freeze them for 7 to 10 days, or boil them in a pot and then dry them in the sun to prevent insects from coming out. Also, leaves that absorb moisture can be easily handled by drying them in the sun for about half a day.

Try making an Autumn Nut Cake from cardboard and acorns

Children can enjoy making cute cakes from cardboard cut into triangles, nuts, and glue.

Start by making 3 triangles out of a cardboard box. Then, go ahead and have your child stick some nuts on the first cardboard triangle and cover it with the second cardboard triangle from above. Glue nuts on the second cardboard and put the third triangle on top.

Finally, add the remaining nuts as “cake toppings” and let them dry to complete the project. If you make the nuts sandwiched between the second and third pieces smaller, it will look like a real cake. In addition, it is recommended that you prepare nuts of various sizes for toppings so that children can enjoy choosing what they like.

Other Autumn themed crafts that can be made with simple materials!

There are many other kinds of Autumn themed crafts for children to enjoy. One craft that is particularly popular is called “Tonbo no Megane” or “Dragonfly Glasses” and is based on a famous nursery rhyme.

Using your favorite color of drawing paper, cut out 2 dragonfly eyes, 1 body and 4 wings. Then cut two pieces of cellophane slightly larger than the size of the inside of the eyes and paste them behind the eyes. If children are too young to do the cutting then parents should offer to help.

Once all the parts have been cut, turn it over and glue the torso, the two eyes, and the splashes to complete.
If you stick disposable chopsticks on the back of the body, it will be easier to hold.

The color of cellophane can be the same for both eyes, or different for the left and right. When using the dragonfly glasses, even familiar scenery feels different.

The Fall weather makes it easier to go outside than Summer. However, sometimes children need to find activities to keep them busy indoors for when it is cold and rainy outside. Doing crafts is a great activity to do when at home with your child.

Another fun indoor activity during the Fall is attending mommy & me classes, preschool or after school programs.
During these programs, children can acquire communication and social skills through indoor play with their friends.

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