Attended a 2 year old birthday party this weekend at Lil' Kickers and it was adorable!…read more We were greeted by the very sweet staff who pointed us to the direction of the birthday party. They set up a huge bouncy house for that was really the star of the show. The kiddos had some much fun climbing and jumping around on there. The indoor fields were also open for us to run around on. Most of the kids were still pretty little, but they really enjoyed running around and kicking the balls. We would love to bring our son back here for lessons once he's a little bit older, but for now it's an A+ birthday party destination!

My son loves the classes and instructors there. We continue to take the next level of classes thereread more

Great classes for kids and parents, accessible, clean facilities. Sometimes challenging to schedule…read moremake up classes.

Lil' Kickers is a great program for toddlers beginning to know their legs and their abilities. I…read morethink that the program as a whole is a good program but I would like a little bit of consistency with coaching. We had a sub (forgot his name) and he was amazing! We like that the program offers the ability to make up any classes if you have to miss a day or two. The price is comprable to other programs in the city. Lastly, to anyone complaining that the classes were all 'boys' or all 'girls' first off, really? ok... Classes enroll kids depending on what days/times parents have availability to bring their kids in to practice. It would be illegal for the program to only take boys or girls for a specific time (unless it was specifically stated that it was an 'all boys' or 'all girls' team. Anyway, teach kids to play together.

Isabella was so patient with both of our boys. They absolutely loved her and gained a ton of…read moreconfidence in the water!

Gina B. is an excellent swim instructor! She is warm, patient, kind, and made our infant feel…read morecomfortable during her very first swim lessons. She was always punctual and came prepared with toys and equipment that made each lesson engaging and fun. Her sweet personality and calm energy immediately put both baby and parents at ease. You can truly tell she loves working with children, and we're so grateful for such a positive first swimming experience. Highly recommend!

During these Corvid times, it is hard to find a safe practicing facility for kid activities' such…read moreas gymnastics especially when the activities are so physically demanding where they use their hands and foot to participate in almost all activities. I have been coming here for the past few weeks and noticed these safe guarding processes such as temperature screening, hand/foot sanitizers and per-marked 6 ft squares in the lobby area. My kids told me that the instructors do wipe down the equipment after each student's activities and always everyone is required to wear a mask. This facility does offer some sort of streaming app called SpotTV, which is a bit difficult to get the app to register and properly work all the time but once everything is working properly, you are able to see your kids activities online. Parking is limited in their private lot and there are metered parking outside.

The organization is not ideal. Here's why:1. Communication is poor2. The trajectory to develop…read morechildren...even if we were enrolling in recreation is just poor.3. None of the children were having fun. No talk, no giggle, no laughter. No fun in the sport Finally, it would be easy and unwise to move this to an angry parent post. This is not. It is from one who has encountered your business and, as a founder and executive, I wouldn't send nor recommend anyone. Free advice:- Improve your communication and voicemail- Take the Disney or McDonald's customer service training to learn how to interface with children- Find the joy in interacting with other people's children- Look at the children in your program and count the number of smiles you don't see I hope parents begin to not compromise the happiness and rigor that their children can have and remove their children from your program. You don't deserve to be in the business of developing children at any level in any sport.

The management of this facility and its customer service here have really gone down hill. With as…read moremany options exist in our neighborhood, I would avoid this place. Our sons attended lessons here 2-3 years ago and we had a fine experience. Great instructor who really knew them and knew how to motivate and celebrated their successes. This summer, we enrolled our one year old daughter. The classes had a different instructor every week. Classes were often cancelled due to facility closures with little to no notice. Refunds are not given for those cancellations- they will offer to give you a credit to come at another time (even if you literally cannot make any of the available times). After months of "membership" and only attending 1 class I finally cancelled, which I had to do via text message to reach their customer service. 2 months later they are still charging me. Avoid this place.

This review is not for Big Blue but for a specific teacher. Gloria is a real life magical mermaid…read more She is an incredible teacher, advocate, and role model. I'm truly in awe of her ability to maintain enthusiasm, warmth, insight, and intention through lesson after lesson. She is working on another level. She packs so much into a 30 minute lesson - challenging her students to build skill, creating a sense of community, encouraging them to support each other. We've had a few teachers at Big Blue, all clearly well trained, and our child demonstrates more growth in one session with Gloria than a month with his other teachers. I've worked in schools and observed educators in various settings for many years. Gloria has the passion and charisma that I recognize from the best teachers I've known. Even when my child was not in her class, Gloria advocated for his learning experience, working with the staff to make sure he was in the right level for both his age and skill. Whatever you are paying her, quadruple it. We are lucky to have Gloria in our community. Generally our experiences with big blue staff have been positive. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Gloria, again, stands head and shoulders above the rest.

We were at this location for a birthday party. My son had a great time. Everything was very clean…read moreand I was impressed with the staff and how they got the kids involved (obstacle course, bubbles, floor is lava, etc). There was very little parking available in front of the building. We ended up parking about two blocks away at a meter. We were provided grippy socks but I'm not sure if you can bring your own or have to buy theirs as an fyi.

My little guy loves coming to My Gym now that he is mobile. There are so many new changes to the…read moregym. The new ball pit is a must-see. Mrs Siara is always a joy to see. I can't wait to drop in for the Halloween party with my mini. We pay $149 a month and can go to as many classes as we want. Although we make it in on the weekends, it is fine. All children are required to wear grippy socks. Adults must wear socks at all times in the gym.

The swim teachers are good but the filter went out and they gave me a call at 4:18 when my child…read morehad class at 4:30 we were already there. So then they will give me a credit to my Foss account not even back to my cc. I didn't like the way they handled things.

I am truly sad and disappointed in our Foss experience at the Elmood Park location. When we started…read moreat Foss, the quality of instruction and kid-friendly environment made it worth the steep price. Our son loved his lessons. However, several major factors have caused us to pull our son out mid session. This year, Foss stopped offering any make up sessions. To us, this was unreasonable as the current session is 13 weeks long and the price is $30 for a half hour. Instead, Foss offers family swim as a substitute for a make-up lesson, which books out months in advance. Other swim schools offer tokens for make up sessions as inevitably, very few families are available for 13 weeks straight. We also experienced a major lack of communication with management. Nobody answers the phone. We missed a session once and when we arrived the following week, the building was closed. There was nothing on the website or any form of communication to inform us of this closure. When I called and asked why the building was closed I was told that there had been a note on the door the previous week (the week we missed.) Most unfortunately, the quality of swim instructors at Foss varies widely. Although our three teachers before this session were great, our most recent teacher wasn't in the pool when class started, had 4 year old kids sitting on the step for long periods of time, and put the kids in time out if they moved to the other end of their lane for their turn. Of course the top priority is safety, but she never showed the children what she expected of them. I'm still not sure how they were expected to get to the other side of the lane for their turn. I had to stick up for my son when the teacher put him in time out for moving down the lane. During the first class with her, my son only swam for 10 minutes total, as the kids sat on the step for the first 10 minutes, played games for 5 minutes and were sent out of the pool early. This is not acceptable when classes cost about $1 per minute. When I spoke with the manager about my concern, another mom was doing the same thing about the same teacher. Instead of listening to me, the manager said she'd call or email me the next day, but I never heard from her until I followed up a few days later. If I were the manager, I would be interested in knowing why families were ending their sessions. Overall, this lack of communication, and poor teacher experience is no longer worth the high cost (and parking nightmare.) We were hoping to keep our son (and eventually enroll our daughter) at Foss as there are few swim environments close to us that are as kid friendly. We know a lot of families at Foss who have had great experiences, but unfortunately, it was not for us.

They swim only like 5 yards for little kids, don't challenge them…read more They made the biggest progress when I took them for swim myself. Money wasting experience.

Updating my review because I need to give some love to our amazing teacher Crystal!! We took the…read morefall & winter season off from lessons since we would be out of town quite a bit and end up missing classes anyways. We started up with lessons again in the spring and needless to say we regressed quite a bit. Luckily for us, our new teacher has been so supportive and encouraging to our 2 year old. Our first lesson back was pretty rough with lots of tears, but Crystal encouraged us to keep at it and not give up. Over the last four weeks, our son has become so much more comfortable in the water. Crystal has cheered him on the whole time and always moved at a pace he is comfortable with, while slowly encouraging him to try new things. She has been so patient and encouraging, and he has grown to love swim again!! Thanks you Crystal for getting us comfortable in the water again!