The second annual Get Messy Family Play Celebration brought over 100 families to Camp Chestermere for an afternoon of free outdoor play and sensory activities on July 13.
“Get Messy is a Recreation Coalition event, which is a bunch of recreation groups in the community who have come together, to promote healthy living,” said the City of Chestermere Recreation Coordinator Katelyn Richards.
Richards added, “This year we’re really focusing on outdoor play. It’s a free opportunity for families to get out and play and enjoy.”
Throughout the afternoon families participated in a variety of activities and games including flower planting, the Mobile Adventure Playground, water beads, a dino-skeleton hunt, a cow patty throwing contest, and bubbles, while having free popcorn, and healthy snacks.
The Get Messy Family Play Celebration was a hit among attendees of all ages, Richards said.
“Everyone loves Get Messy sensory activities. If you do the slip and slide you can be little, or you can be big,” Richards said.
“We’ve got some water beads, for people to put their hands in, it’s fun for everyone,” she added.
The Get Messy Family Play Celebration is an important event for Chestermere families because it introduces children and youth to unique ways that they can have fun in their own backyard.
“They just have more opportunities for that fun and unstructured play, which is so important for their social and physical development, all of it, it’s really important,” Richards said.
The Get Messy Family Play Celebration not only benefits children and youth in the community but their parents as well.
“Parents are looking for ways to get their kids off of their electronics, just ways that the kids can build those skills that they need to grow up to be healthy active people,” Richards said.
Without the support of Chestermere groups and organizations including the Parent Link Centre, Camp Chestermere, the Agriculture Society, Macaroni Kid, the Chestermere Public Library, Synergy, the Chestermere Regional Community Association, The Real Estate REP’s Group RE/MAX First, and the Chestermere Regional Food Bank, the Get Messy Family Play Celebration wouldn’t have been possible.
