Fun at BUGS Gym (Bloomington, IN)

             Hey folks! Are you a parent local to the Bloomington, IN area? I hope some of you are, because I have an awesome place to share with you today!

             BUGS (Bloomington United Gymnastics School) is, of course, a gymnastics gym, but they offer a whole slew of other programs as well. Aside from gymnastics instruction, BUGS also provides adult fitness classes, a preschool program, recreational soccer, dance class for little ones, and more. Located on the west side of town, it is easy and quick to get to off of 37.

             We recently went to one of their open gym times, which are for kids walking through 6 years old, during the week. (There is an open gym time for older kids on Saturdays.) I had heard of BUGS through a local mom group, but just hadn't gotten around to taking the kids there for whatever reason. In hindsight, I wish we had gone sooner!

             My 4 year old had a blast and the 1 year old had fun as well. Even though she is not walking on her own yet, there are plenty of squishy mats and surfaces for her to play on. (You'll have to keep a close on eye on crawlers, though, to keep them away from activities that are probably not great for them, like the hole/slide thing you can see in the video linked at the end.) And bonus, if your kids are not walking yet they are free!

             As for the older kids, there is plenty of equipment to enjoy and burn some energy off on! Everything you would expect to be in a gymnastics gym can be found, such as balance beams, horizontal bars, mats of all shapes and sizes, and more. It doesn't end there, though! There is also a fun “tree house” with slide, trampoline, giant pit filled with foam blocks, and even a zipline! You can get a better idea of what to expect at BUGS open gym time and watch my kiddos in action by watching our short YouTube video below.

             I can't really compare the price to other places since I have not been to any, but I'm betting it's fairly standard. (We did have a gym similar to this in Arkansas and it was $4 per child for the whole day, but...That was a few years ago and a completely different state! That's the best comparison I can make, though!) It's $5 per child for an hour of play time. Or, you can purchase a pass and save some money, which is what I ended up having to do as I forgot to bring cash and can't remember the last time I carried a checkbook on me. In case you didn't catch that, make sure you bring cash or your checkbook if you only plan on paying for one day.

             Have you ever been to a gym like this with your kids? What kind of fun places do your kids enjoy going to?