LITH Kids Enjoy Worldwide Day of Play

Jersey Caserno may only have three years under her belt, but that didn’t keep the Lake in the Hills girl from playing with the big boys Saturday during the Worldwide Day of Play at .

Caserno grabbed a padded sword — which was almost a long as she is tall — and didn’t waste a minute swiping at her pretend attackers, mostly boys age 9 to 12 years old, in a game of battlefield.

The game was lead by of LITH, just one of several recreation program providers that joined in the fun for the Worldwide Day of Play.

“We came out to this last year, and she had fun with it so we decided to come out again this year,” said Michael Caserno, Jersey’s dad.

The Worldwide Day of Play is an annual celebration sponsored and promoted by Nickelodeon television that aims to get kids off the couch and into the outdoors.

As part of the day, Nickelodeon turns off its TV programming from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and participating parks departments and independent organizations provide free, fun physical activities.

“This is (LITH Parks and Recreation Department’s) fifth year doing the Worldwide Day of Play,” said Recreation Supervisor Trevor Bosack, who organized the activities at , 201 Lakewood Road, Saturday. 

“We tried to find the best way to participate. We decided to ask our program providers to come out and give a sample of their classes," Bosack said. 

In addition to directing the battlefield game, Focus instructors gave one-on-one sparring lessons to kids wanting to take a turn at the punching bag.

Village parks departmant employees and volunteers also played soccer with visiting children and yelled encouraging words as kids propelled through the relay race course.

The Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Department had an inflated giant bouncy house, which gave guests plenty of opportunity to move their bodies and laugh with their friends.

Other program providers included Lisa Knoeppel, instructor and supervisor of the LITH Playschool Academy, which hosts classes at three different locations throughout the village. The playschool set up a bead-making craft table and paint stamping activity meant to develop children’s fine motor skills.

Also on hand was Shelly Ancheta, owner of Stretch ‘N Grow FUNtastic fitness, a mobile business that offers family fitness and "active adventures" classes through local parks departments.

Instructors from Pen and Mouse Design House, an in-home and mobile drawing course business, provided a drawing table and free puddy for children to work their fingers as well as their creativity.

Theresa Bloom, a reading and math teacher, had interesting ways to get children moving and learning at the same time.

Bloom brought along a small trampoline, and drew a hopscotch game on the pavement and guided children through the games. 

"This is all about the hands-on experience," Bloom said. "We also use poetry and stories to teach the basic education skills."