Toddler Swim classes at Abilities United, Palo Alto
Swimming at Abilities United, Palo Alto
We wanted to expose Mr. Busy Body to water and swimming before he got too old and too afraid of the swimming pool. So, at about 3 months old, we started to take him to the infant/toddler swimming classes at Abilities United in Palo Alto.
Its a good place, and they have a nice therapy pool thats very warm (probably 90F or higher) and they have a nice gentle walk-in entry, so getting in and out of the pool with him was easy.
They also have a set of changing areas where you can set your baby and not worry about getting the bench or pad all wet, since its designed for this use. All in all, I thought the facilities were really nice.
Swimming!
The “class” is 30 minutes long, costs $11 (right?) and consists of alternating between signing songs with the kids, and some general free play time where the instructor might come by and see how you’re doing. The songs were fine, and were mostly a way to get the parents together and organized and doing the same thing. None of the kids were really old enough to “do the hokey pokey” or sing “tick tock”.
Classes are from 10am-12pm on Saturdays, and you just pay as you go, and there are no signups necessary, which is really nice.
Although, as Mr. Busy got older, we found that we didn’t have as much time to take him to the classes, which is sort of unfortunate. Getting out of the hous e at 10am on a weekend with a toddler, and then going swimming, means that you’ve just spent your entire morning (say, 9am-noon) doing one single half hour event.
But, I really enjoyed going there, and I do think we’ll go back every once in a while, just to get him some nice fun time in a non-threatening pool.
In the mean time, we’ve taken him to the Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto, and that also seems like a great place, although its much bigger, and a much different, social experience!
