This Saturday, it’s time for everyone to come over and play.
Emporia’s first-ever Family Play Day will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Lee Beran Recreation Center, 313 W. Fourth Ave. It’s a perfect chance for parents and grandparents to have some fun with the kids — a quick game of three-on-three perhaps, or maybe spending some time learning walleyball.
The idea was sparked in November at a meeting of the Diversity Collaborative.
“We were sitting around throwing out ideas of how we could promote physical activity during the winter months for the community,” said Barb Rourk, a staff member for the recreation commission. A morning’s worth of activities seemed ideal, especially if they could get enough like-minded groups involved.
A few phone calls later, several local businesses and community groups — including Sherry’s Dance Workshop, Sunflower Gymnastics and the High Gear Bicycle Shop— had agreed to set up booths and provide prizes for a drawing. Any business related to physical fitness was welcome to be part of the fun, from the Family Arts Martial Center to Curves.
Eight area elementary schools have already agreed to take part and six more still could. Each school will be putting together a team for a rather unusual sport: monster ball.
The basics of the game are simple. Two teams stand on either side of an open area with a huge ball between them. Each team has ten smaller balls to throw at the big ball. The object is to use the balls to force the big ball over a line on the other team’s side — but team members have a line they can’t cross, so if any balls wind up out of reach, it’s tough luck.
The winning team gets tickets for a second drawing. To enter the main drawing, participants have to visit each of the booths. Prizes include:
• A youth bike from the Sertoma Club.
• A bowling party for four from Flint Hills Lanes.
• A skating party for four from Rollers.
• Memberships to Walburns, Emporia Fitness, the Emporia Recreation Center and Curves.
• A month of lessons at Sunflower Gymnastics.
• A month of lessons at Flinthills Martial Arts Center.
• Eight weeks of lessons and a uniform from Family Martial Arts Center.
• Six certificates for bicycle helmets from Newman Regional Health.
• Gift certificates for Sherry’s Dance Workshop and High Gear Bicycle Shop.
In addition, the grade school with the highest attendance wins a free fitness night for their school’s staff at either Emporia Fitness, Walburns, or the recreation center.
The day’s activities will include walleyball, racquetball, basketball, a soccer obstacle course, several activities for kindergartners and a number of demonstrations. These will include a demonstration by Sherry’s Dance Workshop (9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.), a display of zumba-style dancing by the recreation center(10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.), hip-hop by Kari’s Dance Academy (10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.) and a demonstration by Family Martial Arts (11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.).
“We’ve tried to make it something fun and a challenge for every age group,” Rourk said.
The event is free. However, it is not a babysitting service. Children should not be left unattended, Rourk said — the idea is to get families to have fun together.
“I do hope it goes over really big,” Rourk said. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls on it, a lot of enthusiasm. I think we may see this become a regular event.”
The Family Play Day is sponsored by the Community Health Coalition.