To ensure that only the strong survived, ancient Spartans would leave newborn babies to fend for themselves in the wild—a tradition the Spartans continued until they mysteriously went extinct. Today’s Groupon provides a more nurturing and less self-defeating method for keeping kids in shape: for $40, new members get one month of classes, including a one-time membership fee (normally $75), at My Gym Children's Fitness Center (up to a $150 total value). Existing members can use this Groupon to add a month to their current membership. This Groupon is good at all six Chicagoland locations: Chicago, River Forest, Skokie, Wheaton, Buffalo Grove, and Aurora.

My Gym Children's Fitness Center’s classes have been tailor-made for developing children’s minds and bodies at every stage of development by physiologists, psychologists, sociologists, and a whole bunch of other -ologists who have spent years observing the behavior of babies in their native deep-crib habitat, with the latest advances being added constantly. Parent participation classes start young with Little Bundles (six weeks to six months old) and end with Terrific Tots (2.5 to 3.25 years old), with each class incorporating more structured games, dances, exercises, and gymnastics, and less parental involvement.

Once babies burst out of their infant shells and pupate into Mighty Mites (3.25 to 4.5 years old), they’ll be ready to join My Gym Children's Fitness Center’s independent gym classes, which increase strength, boost flexibility, improve hand-eye coordination, and teach them to be both social and self-reliant. Children’s fitness experts are always close at hand to shower them with praise, positive reinforcement, and vuvuzela blasts—helping them to build a healthy level of confidence and self-esteem. By the time your miniature adult is focusing on specific muscle groups and circuit training in Cardio Kids (7 to 13 years old), they’ll be rendered immune to the flabbifying effects of video games, Internet, and candy-flavored TV. Your child or children need separate Groupons to participate in the offer of one class and one open play per week for four consecutive weeks; check the class schedule at the location of your choice.

Must register for classes in advance.

Reviews

While most parents are too busy chasing their fit and happy children to write reviews, six lilaguide users give the Chicago location an average of four stars, and four reviewers give the River Forest location an average of 4.5 stars:

• This is the BEST place in Chicago for children to run around andhave [sic] fun while in an organized setting. The programming is creative, the place is extremely clean and the staff is outstanding! – One mom on the Chicago location, 9/30/2004
• Our 3 year old has been coming since she could crawl, and it has helped her develop her gross motor skills as well as her social skills. The staff is well-trained, fun-loving and caring for the children. – One mom on the River Forest location, 1/5/2005