I have had excellent experience at Rutgers Presbyterian Church with the Body & Spirit classes for the little ones. We've taken art, music and the "gym" classes, first Movin' & Groovin', now Dancin' & Prancin'. There is a good discount for the second child, and the quality has been very high. But I didn't start anything until mine were 14 months old and walking well .
Our social lives and activities really included only walks, etc., until they were about 4 months old when we did a Gymboree and Music for Aardvarks which were fun.
I have 9.5 month old twins. We do Hands On Music
Experience on Columbus and 85th St. (there are a few
other locations around the city). They introduce
real instruments each week for the babies to touch,
play, listen to. And there is live piano music
for the class while we play "toy" instruments before
and after the real instrument segment. It's a small
class, only 10 per class sometimes less and they leave
2 spots open each class for make ups, so you can
always go on different days/times if you can't make it
to your regular class.
There are only one or two segments were a second
set of hands is needed (for the bouncy ball songs and
if we stand up and walk/jump/skip around). And in
those cases, the instructor takes one of my babies. And, they are very very
accomodating to help get a baby out of a stroller or
watch a baby while I put on their coats, etc.
The other class we do is swim classes, which we do on the weekend when my husband and I can each take a
baby in the water.
I've gone to the drop-in style class at Realbirth called Developmental Movement for babies 8 weeks to pre-crawling. I have to take my babysitter along to help with one of the babies but it's worth it. My husband went with me once as well.
It's movement class for baby and mom with singing, scarves, musical instruments, etc.
It's fun and it gave me a lot of ideas for things to do with the babies at home to stimulate their activity and movement.
I found that post-natal yoga was impossible with two babies, even though the instructor very nicely used one baby as her "demo baby." They both eventually wanted to nurse, and without my twin nursing pillow there was just no way. However, a few times a girlfriend joined me, which was great. I never had to pay extra for her, and she helped me with the boys.
My synagogue used to have a weekday song group. I attended alone with both babies. All the mothers helped each other. It was a lot of fun. This class was less crowded then some. [Check your house of worship.]
The Poppyseed program gets increasingly better reviews. This is a
pre-nursery program and the parents attend all of the
classes with their children; not to be confused with day care or preschool. Recently, a teacher of a morning class was
fired, the school director took over her
duties and apparently some parents were very disappointed. But parents in the afternoon class remained
happy with the program and a number of moms in this group say their kids like the program, that it prepares them socially for preschool interviews and preschool in general.
Other parents liked...
Gymtime on the Upper East Side...Spanish or art at Kidville...Ballet Academy East has Mommy & Me and allows one parent with twins.
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