Families work body, mind during YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day
The Niagara Centre YMCA branch in Welland was bustling with activity on Sunday afternoon as families participated in Healthy Kids Day activities.
The annual event took place at all YMCAs, including Niagara’s six branches. It gave members of the community the free opportunity to see what programs the organization and its facilities offer.
Kim Bentley-MacDonald, general manager of health, fitness and aquatics at the Niagara Centre branch, described it as a showcase of the YMCA.
“It’s just a really fun day,” she said.
While there were some common activities across some branches, such as swimming, there were also some that were unique to specific branches. For Niagara Centre, that included its new barre class.
Other activities going on were obstacle courses, giant Jenga, a bouncy castle and Infinity Ball, for which the goal was to keep a ball in the air as long as possible.
While many of the activities were physical or athletic in nature, there were also tests of the mind with brain and memory games, too. These tested knowledge about topics such as healthy eating.
Bentley-MacDonald said having activities for both body and mind shows different ways that a person can be healthy.
Although called Healthy Kids Day, kids and parents alike were encouraged to join in the fun.
“It’s an opportunity for parents and kids to play together,” she said, adding that that sense of togetherness and joint learning is something the YMCA strives to foster.
She said it was great to see families participating together. They were given passports, through which they could collect stickers when they visited each station. Afterwards, they could be put into a draw to win prizes.
There was a little bit of something for everyone, and the staff could accommodate skill levels and accessibility needs.
Bentley-MacDonald said the YMCA sees a pretty good mix of people coming out, both those who are members and others who were interested in finding out more.
At present, the Niagara Centre YMCA has about 5,500 members, she said.
The day also allowed the YMCA to feature its childcare programs and day camps.
Healthy Kids Day was run by staff and volunteers, including members of the YMCA’s Youth Leadership Program.