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Baby Activities in Sonderborg: Part 2

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In August I wrote about some baby activities in the Sonderborg area. Now that I am getting close to the end of my parental leave, here is the promised second post about further activities.

Baby Stimulastik

As the title alludes to, stimulastik is a combination of stimulation of the baby senses with gymnastics. Occupational therapist Lotte Greve-Thomsen is the person behind this class offered either as an open group on Mondays at 9:45-10:45 or as a fixed group on Fridays.

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We attended five Monday sessions so far. Each session starts with group exercises where the babies are moved up and down and left and right, stimulating the child’s sense of balance and orientation in space. This is followed by individual exercises at a number of stations set out around the room, such as different types of swings, a ball bath and other sensory items. The session then ends with group exercises to calm the children down.

At 90-105 DKK per session (depending on which payment solution you opt for), this was the most expensive class we attended. However, it is also probably the most different from the other (mostly) singing and music-oriented classes. It is also the class that the child potentially gets the most out of. The fact that you can pay as you go, however, means that you only pay for when you are there and can decide week by week.

Note: Since Lotte has moved away from Sonderborg, baby Stimulastik is now being offered by Line Lyneborg.

Baby Swimming

A while ago we wrote about baby swimming possibilities in the Sonderborg area. From these we ended up going to the class offered by Rinkenæs Swimming Club at the Gigthospital in Grasten. We went there as we were looking for somewhere with warm water and this was the first class that started.

As stated, there were 7 babies in the group. One new thing is taught in each session starting with floating on back and front at the first class, then proceeding to diving in different constellations. At 550 DKK (now 560 DKK) this is potentially the most expensive baby swimming class. However, our child really gained confidence in the water and went from being OK but concerned when in water prior to the course to very comfortable in water, splashing around happily. This also translated into happier bath times ;). So it was well worth it.

Baby Psalm Singing: Christianskirken

Before the summer holidays I went to baby psalm singing at Sct Marie Kirken. I enjoyed it so much that I thought of trying it again at Christianskirken. As with the other class it consists of mothers (mostly) and their babies, an organist, glockenspiels and cloths. However, there are also a number of differences.

The Baby psalm singing at Christianskirken is of a more mellow nature than that at Sct Marie Kirken. There is no talking between songs and we just follow what the organist and her two helpers do for 30 minutes. In contrast, at Sct Marie Kirken we sang and laughed and joked for 45 minutes. However, at Christianskirken we then get 1 hr afterwards with coffee and tea to talk and chat together, while at Sct Marie Kirken we brought our own drinks and had 15 minutes.

So the question would be: which would I pick? Well, first of all check which one has place as they are relatively similar. However, if you are spoiled for choice see what you are looking for most: something for the child? Then pick Sct Marie Kirken: Organist Pia has an amazing singing voice and the singing bit is longer. Somewhere where you as a parent can get some adult company? Then maybe pick Christianskirken: You get one hour of adult conversation here.

The picture in this post is used with permission from ErgoLeg.

Baby Activities in Sønderborg

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Unless you have friends who have babies at similar times as you, parental leave can end up being a bit lonely. I have tried to keep myself busy by doing some baby classes. This has made sure that I got out of the house and met some other adults, while entertaining the little one without having to think too much myself. These are some of the baby activities I have tried and what I think about them

Babysalmesang – Sct Marie Kirke

Babysalmesang, literally baby psalm singing(!), seems to be a very popular baby activity, with most churches offering this possibility. I was a bit sceptical about this, but decide to try it out anyways (what I do in the name of research for this blog!). I first tried Christianskirken as it is closest, but the group was already full (word of warning: if interested don’t leave it till late to sign up as groups do get booked up), so the choice fell on Sct Marie Kirke.

Organist Pia leads the babysalmesang at Sct Marie Kirke. The class consisted of around 10 mothers and their babies meeting every Wednesday for an hour in the church. As the name implies what happens during that hour is that we sing psalms, but I was surprised to see that it was also so much more than that! Pia was always very organised. Equipped with a glockenspiel, rattles, bubbles, a piano, cloths and a swing (amongst others) we were kept constantly on the go (and babies entertained).

I was very impressed with this class, not least because it is all free! A new group is starting in September (as well as a group at Christianskirken that I will be checking out for yours truly) so if you are home with a baby I really do recommend trying to join one of these groups if you need the push to get out of the house. And no, don’t worry too much if you’re not Danish Protestant! I was made welcome with open arms. And if you do, say hi to Pia for me!

Babyrytmik – Sonderborg Musikskole

Babyrytmik is another baby music class, this time organised by the music school in Sonderborg. Again this was a one hour activity consisting of singing, movement and rattles. It was pretty similar to babysalmesang, with the main difference being the topic of the songs we were singing (church songs vs children’s popular songs)

Again this class was very well organised, and when I asked the teacher if he could share some Danish songs with me so I could learn them before class (Danish parents already knew them as grew up with them) he obliged very happily. However, when thinking that babysalmesang is all free, while this costs around 45 DKK, I started to doubt whether it was value for money.

Baby Tju-Hej – Sonderborg Bibliotek

This is another music/singing activity for children, this time happening at the library in Sonderborg (as well as other branches) around once a month for 30 minutes. Surprisingly, the library has no story-telling or similar activities for young children, though the songs used here have more of a story-telling nature and are more action-songs than at the other two activities. The selection of action songs is potentially as the event is aimed at children up to 3 years.

Unlike the other two activities, there is no limit here on group number, so this was by far the activity with most children (around 40 at a quick guess when I went), and both parents and ‘dagpleje’ mothers (childminders) bringing their charges to the event. This made the activity more of a show rather than a class, but was just as well organised. Again, there were rattles, soft toys, and this time a guitar.

Other Activities

There are, of course, other activities going on. We have already written about Baby Swimming. There is also part 2 to this post about our experience of this, together with the babysalmesang at Christianskirken and a Baby Stimulastik class I am also doing.