THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409070161
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03L EDITION: LYNNHAVEN
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Jason Seaford can do the Hokey Pokey. He can sing ``Itsy Bitsy Spider.'' At 21, he loves to get messy and paint.
This summer, Seaford and other grown-ups on staff at the Princess Anne Recreation Center have reached back into their preschool pasts and dredged up some fond memories. They've needed them.
When the new recreation center on Ferrell Parkway opened last spring, planners knew a lot of young families lived nearby. In fact, it turned out that the neighborhoods around the facility were teeming with busy preschoolers whose parents were looking for a break.
The center staff gives it to them.
Every weekday offers something suitable for preschoolers. There's Clubhouse Kids, Kids Place, Preschool Partners, Kids Adventure and Munchkins and More.
So many kids began coming to the programs that Robert Leedom, the center's coordinator, turned a scarcely used adult lounge and craft room into a second preschool area.
``They love all this stuff,'' said Leedom recently, unlocking the door and turning on the lights.
The big people furniture is gone. Little tables and small-fry chairs line one wall. Mats cover the floor and toys spill out of containers that hold them. There's an alligator teeter-totter, a playhouse, a play kitchen and enough trucks, balls and blocks to thrill a 3-year-old.
``And we're getting ready to buy some more,'' said Peyton Campbell, recreation supervisor.
Talk to the enthusiastic center staff and it's hard to tell who the toys are for. ``We go to Toys R Us and go down every aisle,'' said a gleeful Mike Parkman, recreation supervisor and a veteran of toy shopping trips. ``Honestly, it's like if you were 5 years old, what would you want - trucks and dolls and toy castles?''
There's so much to play with that the center discourages children from bringing toys from home. They don't want personal belongings to get lost, and then there are other good reasons.
``Once,'' recalled Seaford, grimacing, ``somebody brought a deer foot.''
Some preschool programs, like Clubhouse Kids, are specifically designed to give parents a place to drop off kids while they work out with weights or swim. One program, held each Tuesday afternoon from 1 to 2:30 p.m. for ages 3 to 5, is a drop-off program for children whose parents want to leave the recreation center.
Children in these programs must be toilet-trained. Nevertheless, said Campbell, accidents do happen when youngsters get caught up in the excitement.
``We're not sure if that's a compliment or not,'' joked Campbell, grinning.
Parkman, whom kids call ``Mr. Mike,'' anticipates even more preschoolers coming in the fall when the older kids go back to school.
``You have to be very patient to work with little guys,'' Parkman said. ``We have some very good part-time staff who do crafts with them, take them down to the gym, read them stories and play games. We wouldn't have such a successful program without them.''
Seaford, one of the part-time staff, stopped to comfort a sniffling tyke on a recent visit while his mother took an aerobics class.
``I promise you,'' said Seaford, holding John Patrick Meister, 3, on his lap and checking his watch, ``your mom will be here in 10 minutes.''
When Anna Meister arrived, her son's tears had stopped.
``If this weren't here I couldn't come,'' said the Pine Meadows resident who stops in for a class four times a week.
The modest cost draws other adults, like Cindy Hightshoe.
The Green Run resident cares for her niece, Alise Harris.
While Hightshoe works out, Alise plays with other preschoolers and waits for her aunt to come back and take her swimming. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
ABOVE: Three-year-old Forrest Bach is checked by Princess Anne
Recreation Center worker Lisa Wilson while playing with a kiddie
ride.
RIGHT: Recreation Center worker Jan Jackson, left, leads a group of
pre-schoolers in a group dance during a music segment.
Graphic
KID STUFF
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB