Gymnastics or Dance Lessons?

When my daughter was 3 we had her in gymnastics and she danced the whole time! LOL! All she wanted to do was dance. Most places will give you a free trial lesson, maybe try that and see which one she likes. Most 3 y/o attention spans are pretty short. I dont think they expect a ton from them at that age. Its just fun.

my daughter started gymnastics and dance at 3 years old... I do think that gymnastics was a much better fit for a 3 year old than dance. She seemed to benefit more from gymnastics in general. Now that she is 5, she has the attention span to be able to focus better on the "routine" of her dance class. I would vote for gymnatics now... dance later... she will have a blast and won't need the same sort of attention span required of her in dance.

Irish step dancing is very detail oriented and way over the head of a 3 year old. In gymnastics they have more activity and freedom to go to the different areas and just being busy having fun. They start developing overall body tone and start building their core and balance. The gain confidence to control their body and learn to follow directions.

Dance for a 3 year old should be about playing games and dress up. For instance, playing the Hokey Pokey song and following the directions teaches the little ones they have a hand and it goes somewhere, it moves a certain way then something else gets a turn. The can put on grass skirts and play hula, they learn they have hands that can move like the ocean waves and tell a story, they do not learn the hula dance. The can put on tap shoes and line up. They learn to follow teacher instructions, they learn to out their hand on their tummy and hop on their toes to be a bunny, that teaches them to manipulate their ankles and works on their core and balance.

As a general rule during dance they will work on positions and often times the little guys just cannot stand and follow instruction very long. That part of dance is really kind of boring. They do need to be in dance no later than 5-6 though. At that age they can usually verbalize and explain why the like it or don't.

My son took gymnastics, a few months before age 3. He loved it. What I liked about it which could be a positive / negative , depending on your feelings & your child is that the kids have to wait their turn to do the tumbling & activities. This taught him some patience & simple safety rules b/c he had to wait / risk being hurt if he got in someones way.

yeah, i danced my whole life, too, but i started in gymnastics when i was 4ish 5ish, but that was in the 80's, ages to start things are different.
my vote's gymnastics then dance (follow my path ha ha)
sounds fun, can't wait to put my boy in something!

Look at see if there is a The Little Gym around you (thelittlegym.com). Dance The Little Gym Way is 13 minutes of ballet, 13 minutes of tap, 5 min of creative movement, and a half hour of gymnastics. Also each week has a creative theme and they do a show at the end of the full semesters (fall and winter/spring) summer is just a fun, skill growing, short semester.
I have worked for two different TLGs and I think their dance program is amazing. The kids are learning skills in a fun way and they are constantly moving, which is great for the little ones.

I'd vote for gymnastics, because (at least around here), there are options geared towards 3 year olds. It's a lot of fun play and romping on the gym equipment. The dance classes for 3 year olds were either pretty intense and too focused for my 3 year old girls, OR they were the same as the gymnastic classes... but without all the cool equipment.

If your daughter has a lot of energy but not a ton of attention span, someplace like My Gym or Little Gym or Gymnastics might be best. It's less focus on form and more on fun.

I don't think that age is too young, but it may depend on her maturity level and how well she is able to take directions from other adults and possibly separate from you for the lesson. From what you described your DD sounds a lot like my DD - she'll be 4 in August and it just a month after she turned 3 that she started gymnastics. There is a gym near us that will start them as young as 2.5. At that age, they do the class with the parent present, and as they get older and are ready to learn new skills (around 3.5 to 4), they move to the next level up which is without the parent. DD has done really well with it and loves going - she started in the level 1 class in Sept and got moved up to the level 2 class in Jan. Her attention span can be short too but the coach is great at working with kids that those ages and keeping them focused and having fun. Sometimes it's not so much about learning gymnastics or dance, but just the concept of listening to another adult besides Mom or Dad, following directions, and standing in line and taking turns. Gymnastics seems to be working well for our DD - I have not tried any dance lessons so I can't compare, but I know she has a lot of fun and I can see how confident she is becoming in herself. She loves to say, "I am a big strong girl! 'Cuz I can push up on the bars with my arms now! I couldn't do that before but I now I can!"

My daughter started dance at about 2 1/2, and for the first 2 years or so, it was mostly about learning how to be in a class without mom, learning to follow directions and such, and less about learning dancing, though they did that too. She also did gymnastics when she was very young -- a mommy and me class for toddlers and their parents, and loved it. It was about developing gross motor skills and such. Last year she did dance, gymnastics, and ice skating (and that was just about the right amount of activity for her, along with what we do at home and what she was getting at school -- she's just got that kind of energy) and she loved it all, but thinks she liked gymnastics best. They're all good, but at that age, I think that gymnastics might be the most fun for her -- the dance class spent a lot of time, even with the 3 year olds, preparing for the recital and learning a routine, which meant doing the same thing over and over and over, which she sometimes found boring. Gymnastics is different every time, at least when the kids are so young and not at the point of even thinking about competing.

The ice skating was a blast too, and our local rink has a class for adults given at the same time as the kids classes, so we took skating lessons together.

If your daughter has a short attention span - it doesn't matter what you start her in... she will not come out with learning much yet, but will get a start on learning structure and hopefully not to distract others while they want to learn and listen.

I started my daughter in dance at 3, and she did great. She's a uber social butterfly and her main lesson first year was to learn not to socialize during class, but to wait until after. She'll be 6 in Sept and will have 3 recitals under her belt and is doing well in dance now. She's going to Gymnastics camp over summer to broaden her horizons and give her more choices.

Step Dance! any kind of dance! It is a great way to pilot energy in kiddos! I am bias, because I danced my whole life!!

How about more of a My Gym or Amanda's Place situation. She will get a bit of gymnastics and dance and even better she will like sharing it with you. I think 3 might be a bit young for a full 45 minute dance or gymnastic class where she will need pay that much attention to the teacher.

Toddler Soccer.
Lots of running, outside, and more open.

Or, Dancing.

You have to call the various places, to see what age they start.
Each varies.

Not at all! We have a place called lttle gym here and they have a program that's half gymnastics and half dance. We took our then 3 yr old and she had a great time. Check into that or the ymca for their programs. Have fun!

Gymnastics. We tried dance at two studios when she was 3-5 and they basically ran around doing simple movements. Gymnastics taught her more skills and helped her develop strength and coordination.

I started mine in soccer it is for 5 weeks with practices for 45 min.& 1 game on Saturday it was perfect fo her,she is 4.I want to put her into ballet classes with our parks & rec. but it just so happened that soccer was in the same time frame for Saturdays,but will proceed next month or two because T-ball begins in June.I know I wouldn't go to a class teacher & join till I knew that is something what she wants to do right now it is for fun,so the small cost through p&r is what we will do

Step dancing here starts at 2... (scottish, though... we have a big scots community here. Up the MacGregors!!!)

We started gymnastics at 3 (would have started earlier, but it took me a whole durn year to find a gym I loved, but since I used to compete in gymnastics I have very high/precise standards; aka fun AND safe... and most gyms in our area were only one or the other).

Honestly EITHER gymnastics or dance would be fantastic. I'd say do a trial week in each to see which your daughter has a huge grin on her face the whole time.

I would start with gymnastics... they do have toddler lessons, and I think they are a good idea mainly because they teach you how to handle falls and such... stuff she will use later in life should she stop the lessons when she's older. I think the step dancing would be too precise for someone so young though... and would require waay too much dexterity. Dancing and gymnastics can be adapted to age appropriateness, I don't see how step dancing can be...

Our experiences is only with dance so I'll address that with some tips:

Look for programs with names like "creative movement" or "tiny tutus" etc. -- they tend to be dance for the very youngest. Be sure to go observe a class without your daughter there, before you sign her up, to see if the teacher has a style you think would mesh well with your child. Do not hesitate to ask questions of the teacher afterward, like how he or she handles a child who wants to go out to Mom, or how they handle kids who get frustrated. Anyone who teaches movement or dance to young kids should not be fazed by questions.

(And by the way, I agree that Irish step seems too precise for a child this young. You may find some class offered for her age but definitely check it out first and think of her personality -- would she enjoy the precision of that, and follow the directions, or would she prefer the freer movement of creative movement or tiny tutus ballet? You want her to succeed and have fun, not feel she's "getting the steps wrong," at this age, or she'll be put off all dance.)

Don't look only at dance studios; many community centers, county recreation programs, etc., offer dance classes for kids of this age and those are usually short enough -- six to 10 weeks or so -- that your daughter can try it out and it's not a huge commitment. If she loves it, you sign her up for the next 10-week session or whatever. We did many, many 10-week sessions at the recreation center until my daughter was old enough for a dance studio and she's still dancing at age 10.

Same goes for gymnastics-- enroll for a six-or 10 week class if you can. For either activity, you don't want to enroll her for endless weeks of classes because she's only three and you want her to try new things. If you have time during the week, there's no reason she can't do both. At her age, neither should have more than one class session per week anyway, so why not try them both? Lots of exercise!

As for gymnastics versus dance, no need to make her choose quite so young. However, if she likes music, dance can do a lot to help children appreciate music even more. They really learn to listen well to music if they continue in dance, because they must move along with the music.

My daughter did dance at 3 and gymnastics at 4. Neither one of them is exactly grueling at that age. Have her do whichever one she wants to do.

My daughter will be 4 in Sept. and she started Ballet/tap this past Jan. She ABSOLUTLY loves it, she is already having her first recital in 2 weeks, I am not sure about Gymnastics, we offered it to my 2 year old, but she wants to do dance also, we have been to birthday parties at ASI and they liked the playing around, but I dont know if they will like it or not, just trust me, she will let you know if she liked it, usually you can get free "trial" classes, so you can take her to 1 class and see if she likes it, try them both out and let her decide!! good luck

My dtrs took step dancing. You can start that early but it's pretty expensive for the little that they learn and are coordinated enough to do. We started her in Irish step dance at the age of 6, it was the perfect age to start for my dtr. Before that she tried tap and gymnastics. Tap prepared her for Irish step dancing.