By Amanda Ensinger
Staff Writer
Prairie Township residents will have a lot of activities to keep them busy this fall thanks to a variety of new and returning programing at the Prairie Township Community Center.
From boat races to the return of community favorites like the Pumpkin Swim, the community center has a variety of autumn activities for all ages.
“We have a variety of new programing including a fall American Red Cross babysitting class for 11 to 15 years old,” said James Gant, director of the community center. “We also have a new T-ball class for kids that are 3 to 6 years old.”
The babysitting class cost $45 for township residents and $54 for non-residents and focuses on educating pre-teens and teens on skills to safely care for infants, toddlers and children. The all-day program takes place from 12 to 6 p.m. Oct. 1 at the community center and incudes a babysitter’s handbook and American Red Cross certification.
“For the T-ball class, we will teach basic skills like, like hand and eye coordination,” Gant said.
Some other fall classes include the Jump Start Little Hoops, which teaches basketball skills to children, Sporties for Shorties and Art and Action, which offers a combination or arts and crafts and physical activity.
Besides new classes being taught, the community center also is offering some new programming. Among these programs is the Cardboard Challenge: Boat Build. This program is part of an international challenge where groups build boats out of cardboard and see how far they can paddle them across water. From lakes to pools, people have participated in the challenge across the globe in all types of water.
“Families and friends will work together to build a boat that supports one person,” Gant said. “One person will then get in the pool with the boat and see how far across the pool they paddle.”
The program will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at the community center pool. The cost for the program is $5 per family and all supplies to build the boats are included.
A cooking program for parents and children is also on the menu this fall for the community center. This multi-week cooking program is for children 3 to 12 years old and their guardian. The class is taught by Food by Kee and families will learn to cook a variety of fun fall recipes that they can make at home.
The 90-minute class will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. every Saturday from Oct. 7 to Nov. 18. The cost to participate is $40 for residents and $48 for non-residents. Some of the recipes participants will cook include pumpkin spice muffins, pop tarts and fall fruit salad with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.
“The teacher teaching this class had this idea,” Gant said. “She was looking for a class she could do with her daughter and thought this would be a good idea.”
Gant said they hope to have more cooking programs in the future and are actively looking for the right people to teach those classes. Among the classes they have considered are more adult focused cooking classes and wine paring classes.
Gant also said to roundoff the fall programing the community center is bringing back some fall favorites, including the popular Pumpkin Swim and Trick or Treat Trail.
The Pumpkin Swim, which allows kids to swim to get their pumpkin from the community center pool, is $5 and will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. or 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 15. The Trick or Treat Trail, which invites kids to trick or treat in the community center gym, is free and takes places from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 27.
For more information on Prairie Township Community Center fall activities, visit www.prairietownship.org.
