NYC Dads take over New York Kids Club

A unique experience was had by the dads & their kids at the New York Kids Club last week. Adam keeps things fresh through this guest blog post, and offers his experience by recapping the event…

My daughter Samantha (20 months) and I attended our 2nd NYC Dads group meetup event and ventured over to the New York Kids Club in Murray Hill (38 East 22nd Street (betw. Broadway & Park Ave. South). This day was unusual for the group. Manhattan is such a tremendous island with dads in the group that are dispersed all over. Therefore, NY Kids Club held a similar, exclusive dads-only event, at their Upper West side location as well as their Battery Park location. This enabled about 25 dads to have the NY Kids Club experience! We had a blast exploring their great space and participating in one of the well-rounded classes they offer in Murray Hill.

Immediately upon arrival, we were greeted by the very friendly staff who invited us in. After parking our stroller, and taking off our shoes, we hit the play zone which had everything a kid (and dad) ever dreamed of. The room was large, bright and colorful with high ceilings that included a 15-foot climbing wall, trampoline, and variety of gymnastic setups, giant mat blocks to climb over and under with a soft bouncy floor to pad any falls. We were joined by six other dads and their kids along with two staff members that did a great job of getting every child involved in exploring the variety of activities. After some initial time to go crazy and explore the space we all came together in a formal circle to sing songs organized by the staff and did some stretching exercises, which my daughter loved. Who doesn’t like bouncing on your legs and rolling upside down? We then hit the trampoline where the staff encouraged the kids to discover this strange sensation of bouncing up and down, allowing each child to have a turn. And it didn’t stop there….We played with a parachute, a blanket with different textures to explore with their feet and hands, and ran around the gymnastic circuit of parallel bars, balancing beam, crawl through a tunnel, up a hill, and somersaulted down the other end.

All in all, it was a fun packed, energetic session that had my daughter beaming from ear to ear. I really appreciated the staff who took great care to involve every child and introduce them to each activity in a fun, engaging, and playful way. It was also great to have the staff there so it provided the dads some time to meet up and trade some stories. Sam spent the ride home screaming “Fun, Fun, Fun” the whole way. Based on that reaction, there is a real good chance we will be back for more. I highly recommend the New York Kids Club and was overly impressed with the facility, the staff and organized session they offered us. On a personal note, it was great to meet the other dads and their kids. Sam and I look forward to getting to know everyone better down the road.