3-4 yo Kid's Club and "older" 4 yo ???

[nasmith]

Hi - First time Cruiser here! (Not so with WDW - been about 30 times) and I have a question about the activities and Counselors for the 3 - 4 YO Kids club.......

My son will be 4 3/4 on this cruise (Dec.)-- and he's a big boy (just ask him ) who attends preschool 5 days a week with 3 - 5 yo kids. Almost without exception, my Son ends up playing with the 5 yos - who are almost a full year older than him now.

My question is this - Will he have fun at the kids club - or be bored out of his mind because the CMs plan activites around the lowest-aged children (the just-turned 3 yos) most of the time?

Would it be better to wait until Feb. so he could go into the 5 - 6 yo group? (although I really had my heart set on a Christmas Cruise).

I only ask because I remember him as a just-turned 3 yo - and there is such a HUGE difference in his emotional, intellectual (can you use that word when referring to a pre-schooler?), and physical ability now as compared to then - and the cruise in question is another 4 months away yet!!

Thanks so much for your opinions!!!! Jill

 

[clh2]

There are many other posters who will probably chime in with their specific experiences with "upgrading" your child into a higher aged club. It seems like there is the 30-day rule, plus a soft "we'll let them try it out" rule. I can't really give you any experiences on those - since we didn't have this issue to worry about.

The one thing I will say - just from reading these boards - that would concern me for your situation on a Christmas cruise. If/when DCL allows a child to be in a different aged group in the clubs is highly dependent on how many kids are on board already in that age bracket. They may be less inclined on this cruise (expect it to be fairly full) to allow your son to move up - just because they will be sailing full.

If you want to do see if your son can move up - you may want to try a different week.

 

[nasmith]

clh2 - Thanks for the quick reply ! However, I don't necessarily want to move my Son up to the next age group - I am hoping to find out if Cruisers with children in the earlier-age Kids Groups thought the program was well-balanced for the ENTIRE age-spectrum represented, or if the program was skewed towards the youngest children.

I am signed up to go on the Dec. 5th Mega-Mouse meet 4 -day cruise - and I know that my Son will want to spend every waking moment at the kids club, as long as it isn't skewed towards the "Babies" (My worldly son has adopted this loving reference towards younger children since turning 4! I am absolutely dreading the pre-teen years already!)

I could reschedule the trip for when he turns 5 - but that would be putting off my first cruise yet again - and it's really, really, really something I've wanted to do for a long time - but there has always been one excuse or another!! Thanks!!!!! Jill

 

[CM_Mom]

Jill, my DD is a Youth Counselor with the 3-4s and has done several weeks with the 5-7s as well. She says they really recommend against changing age groups. That gives the children something to look forward to when they come again....and I know you'll want to come again.

They often have 50-60 kids in the Club so there will probably be other kids his age in the 3-4 group. And there are several activities in the club where the two groups are combined so your son will have some interaction with the older kids.

The activities are varied to include small motor and large motor skills as well as active and quiet stuff. Check out the kids Navigators on the http://www.dcltribute.com site to give you an idea of the activities. I don't think he'll be bored, he'll just do some activities better than some of the other kids in the group. Also, they sometimes have situations where an older child stays in the younger group to be with a sibling so it can't be too dull or they'd have problems with that.

FYI, all the counselors are college graduates with 2+ years experience working with groups of kids. One advantage of the 3-4s is that the ratio of kids to counselors is 1 to 15 where the ratio for the 5-7s is 1 to 25 so he'll get more attention from the counselors in the younger age group.

Hope this helps.

 

[nasmith]

CM-Mom ...Thanks Soooo much for the info -that is exactly what I was looking for! That eases my mind considerably!! Thanks Again! Jill

 

[mickeyboat]

I had DD3 and DD4 both in the 3-4 group and they both enjoyed it. I didn't feel the activities were "babyish" at all. I think the best thing to do would be to go over the Navigators with your child and see which activities he would like to participate in. My kids particularly enjoyed free play. The pirate ship and slide are great! If he gets bored, he can always have you paged. There is plenty for him to do even outside the club.

Denae

 

[crisi]

Given the number of posts on this topic recently, he will have no problem, because all our four year olds seem to be "ready" for the five group, all the seven year olds should really be with the nine year olds. Disney fans seem to have precocious children.

I have a four and a half year old who was fine with the three-four year olds. Like many of the mother's here, I think my child is unusually bright with good large and small motor skills (more objectively, she does score well on developmental tests, with excellent verbal and math skills, and average large and small motor skills for her age). She does have some emotional weaknesses that make me hesitant to stick her with older children, but also make me not want her to see too much toddler behavior modeled for her (we are still, at four and a half, working on tantrums - she annouces now when I pick her up from daycare "no tantrums today, Mommy.") I also have a son who is five and a half, who did fine with the five to seven year olds (he is, of course, exceptional as well - but with very different strengths and weaknesses - he's had ONE tantrum in his entire life). Like alot of parents, I had some concerns about seperating them - thinking that maybe I should try to "move her up" or that maybe he'd enjoy being with his sister. They are daycare kids, and in a center, so they spend most of their day in seperate preschool rooms with some together time. After reading the posts here, I decided to just leave things be and see how it worked out. And they worked out fine.

I'd encourage you to leave him in the room he is supposed to be in. The activities I watched the 3-4s do seemed scaled in such a way that the young three year olds would enjoy the colors and stories, and that the nearly five year olds would have an intellectual or physically challenge. i.e. art projects where scribbles are fine, but a child with advanced motor skills can really make an art project. Dancing where jumping up and down was fine, but a child with the temperment and skills could follow along and dance. Matching games where a young three year old could follow a story and look at pictures, while a nearly five year old could make the matches.

 

[nasmith]

Thanks so much for the replies!! Exactly what I was looking for (and knowing Disney - what I expected!) I'm sure he'll have a great time!! (As will I!)

 

[floridaminnie]

DD also goes to preschool full-time and she's been in the 3/4 year old club 4 times now at that age level. She wasn't bored, but then she loves being around kids of all ages. There are times when the "older" kids are with the "younger" kids. DD ended up making friends with someone in the "older" group, but it was hit and miss when the other little girl was in the club.