Rec and Park District WOW Bus Living Up to Namesake

For years the used a bus to run groups to and from trips, but when the district was no longer able to use the bus for transportation, it needed to find a use for it beside taking up space.

Through a little bit of district synergy and brainstorming, the inspiration for the WOW Bus was borne, recreation coordinator Jennifer Davis explained.

"We wanted to get people out in the parks more and thought it was a great idea," Davis said.

The WOW Bus (short for Wonderful Outdoor World) brings children and families of the community together through a variety of activities. Inside, the bus comes full stocked with a variety of goodies, including equipment for group games like flag football and dodge ball. Artistic skills are encouraged through activities such as drawing with sidewalk chalk, coloring, painting, and craft techniques of making beaded necklaces and animals.

"The kids love it," Davis said. "The biggest hit is making beaded necklaces, and animals with plastic lanyards."

Davis explained the kids are given a variety of scheduled activities which gives them something different to do in the park everytime. Up till recently, though, the district was only able to get the bus out three times per month, but as Davis explained, that all may be about to change.

"We’re actually getting more time to do it, and we’re getting more staff so we’ll be able to do it more," she said. "It would be awesome to have it out every weekend. Right now we’re doing it like three weekends per month give or take, depending on whether there are other events happening at the same time."

There are plenty of fun activities to go around, and there are Recreation Leaders on hand to provide direction to the children and get them engaged and interested in something they may not have tried before.

The bus activities are appropriate for most children ages one to 12, but Davis said it can be a little difficult coming up for activities for children under the age of five.

"We can hit all age demographics," she said. "We have had one-year-olds come out before, which was pretty funny. We just gave them some balls to roll around on the ground with."

There are no sign-ups required and the activities are free of charge. The WOW Bus will make its next appearance in Fair Oaks Park Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. till 12:30 p.m.

Those interested in finding out more can log onto the district website for updated times and dates.

As attention for the bus increases, Davis hopes to be able to offer more activities.

"We're trying to get it out more," she said. "We want a radio to play for the kids."

Like on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Get Free Newsletter