June 13, 2024
This paid piece is sponsored by GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness.
GreatLIFE’s GreatKids child care program just got even better.
The new Fit Kids program allows kids age 6 through 10 to participate in a special fitness-based hour for free while they attend child care.
“All they have to do is show up, and they get to go,” said Lisa Rappana, who runs the Performance Center location at 69th Street and Southeastern Avenue.
“We just thought it would be a nice way to offer more things for older kids through GreatKids.”
PLAY Everything coordinators Tristen Jackson and co-worker Emily Swanson take it from there.
“We have kids who want to come to the gym with their parents now, but they’ll usually just shoot hoops while their parents are working out,” Jackson said. “We want to give them a chance to come interact and learn about what we’ve got going on here.”
Fit Kids will be offered from 12 to 1 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at Woodlake Athletic Club and from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday and Friday at Performance Center. There’s no need to register — it’s included for free for any membership that qualifies for child care, and parents don’t even have to be working out while kids attend.
“You can drop your kids off for the hour and not be in the facility,” Jackson said. “We’ll be putting out a monthly calendar, so parents will know what to expect each week.”
This was the first week, so it’s focused largely on movement-based games such as “everyone’s it” tag, capture the flag, dodgeball and kickball.
“We want to build up excitement and get kids coming, and we’ll grow the program from there,” Jackson said. “We’ll do some workouts, some skill development, some games, and we’ll go through areas like nutrition and some life skills.”
It won’t be overly structured though.
“We want it to be fun, especially after the school year,” Jackson said. “And at Woodlake, we’ve also found an area of grass we’ve never utilized before, which will provide a good way to get the group outside.”
If your kids are looking for additional ways to stay active this summer, consider the following programs:
PLAY All Summer
Kids age 8 through 12 can sign up for this twice-weekly program. It runs from 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday at Woodlake. The first session is underway until June 27, and the second session runs July 9 through Aug. 1. Kids will learn valuable life skills through sports, games and drills.
“Last year was the first summer of PLAY All Summer, and I think it’s an awesome program,” Jackson said. “We had eight kids go through both sessions last year, and we already have 20 registered for the first session alone this year.”
Parents like that kids get to try different sports, he said.
“It’s fast-paced, and we try football, volleyball, basketball and soccer with two days of each, which often is enough to show if the sport is something that interests them,” Jackson said. “It’s geared more toward kids who haven’t done as many sports, and it’s a great way to make sure your kids have something to do in the summer.”
Basketball camps
Kids age 8 through 12 who love hoops can add a number of basketball camps from 10:30 a.m. to noon Monday and Wednesday at GreatLIFE Woodlake. There are four more dates to choose from this summer.
Sport performance program
It’s not too late to sign up for eight weeks of training to help with overall sport performance. Athletes 7 through 11 and 12 and older will be put through performance testing, group activities and workshops aimed at improving in their sport.
Football camps
Football season will be here before you know it, so start building skills now with camps in June, July and August at Whittier Middle School’s football field. Your young player age 8 to 12 will hear from guest speakers and do skill work, drills and scrimmages.
Click here to learn more about all programs and register.
Save and give
Ready to register? You’ll save $10 off a future PLAY Everything registration when you purchase or donate any item from this list for schools in the Sioux Falls School District. Items will be collected and given to each school at the end of summer. GreatLIFE will have “ornaments” with the name of an item written on it that members can take and purchase or donate that item. There will be a QR code on each ornament that will take the member to a landing page where they can fill out donation information. These ornaments will located at GreatLIFE Woodlake, GreatLIFE 41st, and Sertoma and GreatLIFE Performance Center. Once an item is purchased, it can be brought back to the same fitness center where members took the ornament.
Free on-site child care makes difference for families to fit in workouts
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