A handful of university students from Burman University are helping give parents the option for a date night by offering a free Kids Fun Night.
The 1.5-hour program is meant to allow parents to catch up on grocery shopping, errands and give parents a bit of a breather.
The students wanted to give back to the community and volunteer to make a fun night out for the kids, too.
“It’s really more of a community help initiative in some ways, so some of the students are involved in different sports teams or they have different skill sets, so they like to just help in educating little kids, too,” said Pekka Maattanen, assistant professor of biology, who is also helping out with the event.
The idea started out as a grassroots initiative that the students wanted to be a part of, but Maattanen said he doesn’t want it to be a glorified babysitting type thing. It’s specifically for parents to have a bit of a breather and for the kids to have a good time while they do that.
Maattanen added that it’s especially helpful for those single parents who just want a bit of space and some time to do basic errands.
The fun nights have been taking place now for almost a month and run every Saturday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Burman University Physical Education Centre. They are looking at possibly changing this time to Sunday afternoons down the road.
The program targets kids ages six to 12 who can take part in a variety of activities including dodgeball, floor hockey, colouring and more. Snacks will also be provided.
“We are tailoring the games to more of what the kids want. If a particular group wants to play a game of floor hockey we can do that,” said Maattanen.
He said the event will run until about April and may continue again in the fall when students are back in school.
Currently around 10 to 15 kids take part on Saturdays, and the limit is 40.
Drop-ins are welcome, but contacting to make sure there is space is preferred by contacting Maattanen at 647-772-5991 or emailing nathaliecrowley@burmanu.ca.
carlie.connolly@reddeerexpress.com