Olathe Community Center’s Kids Fit Program Encourages A Healthy Lifestyle
With July being National Parks and Recreation Month, I want you discover the power of play through the services your local Parks and Recreation Department offers. For children and adults, play is a vital part of our mental wellbeing, physical health and for our personal interactions. Local sports leagues, aquatics centers, parks and community centers, offer excellent opportunities for individuals both young and old to live a healthy, active lifestyle. Parks and play go hand in hand so get out there and find an activity, program, sports league, or trail for you!
Kids Fit Program
The Kids Fitness program offered by Olathe Parks & Rec, at the Olathe Community Center, showcases these values in a fun-filled fitness class that encourages play and a healthy lifestyle. The “Kids Fit” program operates for two hours a day, five days a week, to set a foundation for an active and healthy lifestyle among Olathe’s youth. During a typical day kids will discuss the importance of a good diet and then engage with staff in fun, active games that get them working.
Kids Fit is extremely valuable not only to the youth of Olathe, but also to their parents. Virtually every parent or guardian that drops off a child at our program spends the next two hours working out at the Olathe Community Center. These parents are living a healthy life and passing on those same values and appreciation for health to their children. Healthy households will translate into a healthy community as these good habits are passed along.
We received a great email from a mom who is currently using this program to make these lifestyle changes in her family.
“My son, Hayden, has recently started struggling with weight gain related to health concerns and due to this, our entire family has been making the effort to include more exercise each day,” she said. “Starting the weekdays with two hours of fun and challenging activities has been wonderful for Hayden. Hayden has issues with gross and fine motor skills related to him being premature, and when I see him actually making contact with a ball when attempting to kick it or reaching to grab a ball when it is thrown at him, thankful tears come to my eyes, because I know how much he is benefiting from this program. He is a better little guy because of (the staff’s) commitment to physical fitness and I appreciate them as the great role-models that they are.”
I encourage everyone to find a program that works you physically, mentally, or socially. There are plenty of opportunities out there to engage with others in a meaningful way. Be sure to utilize your local Parks & Recreation Department to transform your daily life and wellbeing with the power of play!
A guest blog post from Ryan Scheibmeir, Olathe Parks & Rec Intern