(By: Jodi Martin, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Prairie Central)
Boys & Girls Club of Prairie Central recognizes the importance of getting the kids outside as much as possible while they are here all day at the Club.
Daily the youth are outside for at least one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon to run around and get some of their pent-up energy used up. Unfortunately, the playground is off limits for the time-being so staff at the Club have come up with some other options that allow for appropriate social distancing and safety.
The youth came up with the idea of a frisbee tag game so they don’t have to physically tag each other and they especially love playing soccer with staff with sanitized balls and equipment with no touching and just in case face masks are worn.
Since the weather is warming up, staff instituted a twice weekly walk to Fugate Woods. The kids and staff take the path from the Club, past the high school and out into the woods. The kids enjoy time to spend with their friends walking, talking and being back in nature after being inside for so long.
Walking to Fugate Woods is a great work-out at about 3.5 miles per trip for staff and members fulfilling one of our pillars of Healthy Lifestyles! Exercise is one component of a program implemented at the Club called Triple Play.
Triple Play is a comprehensive health and wellness initiative which strives to improve the overall health of members, ages 6-18, by increasing their daily physical activity, teaching them good nutrition and helping them develop healthy relationships. The program consists of exercising for 60 minutes at least three days a week.
Fugate Woods is most definitely an awesome asset for the community, one the Boys & Girls Club of Prairie Central is so thankful for.
