Clubs/activities for kids under/around 2?

[Kikiii]

Any spring to mind? Ones that aren’t too too structured?

we recently went to the infamous ‘Diddikicks’ and we’ve quit it after a few classes. DS loved running around kicking the ball but is still very much my way or the high way

Hes 22mo. Follows instructions fantastic, but ones he wants of course he’s still so young

we found the class structure was a bit too heavy/detailed for his age, not many if any of the kids were following it? And DS has recently become very clingy and shy so was upset around the coaches didn’t engage with them because of this

is there anything else we can take him to? But less structure but something fun?

or just more stuff we can do alone like take him swimming ourselves or the park, walks etc

I think 22 months is too young for structured activities really.

Do you have baby music groups nearby? Local ones or could look for Monkey Music/Gymboree/Heartbeeps/Amanda's action club.

Baby gym is often quite freeflow.

Swimming lessons could be good fun (and useful).

Otherwise stay and play/toddler group type things are your friend.

Try out your local softplay and trampoline places they're usually good fun. Check out local museums/galleries etc. to see if they have a toddler zone.

And think like a toddler. Is there anywhere nearby that has interesting terrain? Puddles. Steps. A wall to walk on. Arches to go through. Something to go under or round. Something to swing on. Anything interesting to look at (ducks/cars/trains) etc. Often a walk round the block can be an hour of fun for a toddler!

Hartbeeps is great fun if you have one nearby. It was one of my favourite things to do.

but our all time best class was baby signing. There were different age groups, that were very appropriate to the ages of the babies, from 6 months on. We did a type that was simplified bsl rather than makaton. And it was brilliant. My two got so much from it. And so did I.

Do you have a forest school nearby? Ours did toddler sessions that were just two hours of running around outside and some bread and butter. Was a nice way to meet other parents because there's not a sitting down clique option.

Are you looking for entertainment? Opportunities for socialization? Or specific skills?

For socialization, do you have any children's centres nearby, or any reasonably large churches? They run free toddler groups that are usually relatively unstructured, but have variety and opportunities for your toddfler to practise sharing etc. You may even get a cup of tea. I find they're great for allowing your toddler to learn social rules, much better than structured "classes" where there are fewer opportunities for them to share/disagree/choose their own activities.

Otherwise, there's there's lot of variety depending on where you are, what skills you want. Mine have loved cycletots (balance biking) and my eldest enjoyed a toddler gymnastics group near us. There's a franchise called Hartbeeps which is just for entertainment but good fun.

My toddler enjoyed Tumble tots, and they split the classes into age groups so it’s all very age-appropriate

At that age mine loved Hartbeeps, Sing and Sign, Diddi Dance, Gymboree, Monkey Music, messy play. But different franchises are in different areas, so I'd just look at what's available locally than picking a recommendation here and having to travel miles. Most of the paid classes do a cheaper trial or sometimes free so just try them out and see how he gets on. I used to go around all the different franchises in London doing the free trials .