<p>A lot of cities offer a recreation program that provide young people the opportunity to engage in various activities. I’m wondering if anyone has tried them, and what do they think of them. Are these opportunities special things for young people and something parents really should think about? Are they fun, but not something to cry about if you’re not part of? Do they attract all members of the community, or more geared for disadvantaged people?</p>
<p>In the area I live, most of the activities are held during the week, which won’t work since my spouse and I both work normal jobs. Just wondering if we are missing out on something important for kids.</p>
<p>I only did a couple recreation programs when I was a kid. One was a photography class and the other students all misbehaved terribly - the parents simply wanted to get the kids out of the house for a while and weren’t very strict apparantly. Not sure if this was a unusual occurance or more typical.</p>
<p>Engineer, it totally depends on where you live. In my town, we have some excellent programs. Both of my kids participated when they were young, along with many of their friends. DH teaches tennis at our town’s Parks and Rec program, starting today and lasting through October. Our town also offers golf, sailing and kayaking (we are a coastal town), exploring for little kids at the beach, and a variety of other things. Some are better than others, of course, but generally speaking they’re quite good.</p>
<p>The quality is mixed. My kids loved gymnastics, golf and tennis. Their more serious sports they did privately when they were older.</p>
<p>I swim at a rec center regularly and everyone in the family has used their gyms and taken other classes - sport and art.</p>
<p>In the past few years private enterprises have become cheaper than park and recs for some activities.</p>
<p>Park and recs also have facilities for parties, inside and outside, that we have used.</p>
<p>This past weekend my rec center was closed to the public because it was being used for an after prom party.</p>
<p>Love city parks and rec, especially the city pools (which are open weekends, by the way). Programming for kids is often very inexpensive and individual families and a number of summer camps take advantge of them. They are certainly not for the “disadvanteged”. The offer things like golf, tennis, swimming lessons (outdoors at the pool, but for way less than half the price of the Y or other indoor programs). The actual rec center boasts a climbing wall, basketball courts, etc. and they do rent out for birthday parties and the like.</p>
<p>Are they good? Yes. Are you missing out by not participating? No, because most of the activities can be found elsewhere, although at a much higher price.</p>
<p>I grew up participating in various park and rec programs, it was one of my summer jobs in college to run some of those programs, our kids participated in many programs through park and rec as well. We love them. We all did sports, arts, theater, special programs, events, etc. The costs are very reasonable and if you can’t afford the costs there are ways around that.</p>
<p>My kids were on the parks & rec league sports teams, younger D , elementary school, through high school graduation. Can’t say enough superlatives about her coaches. <B<B<B Also use & enjoy the swim programs. We had swim parties for several years, before they offered it as a packaged option. Both their elementary schools, had weekly lessons. When the kids were very young, they participated in special programs like, Easter egg hunts, hay rides around Greenlake, and staffed playtime & lunch at the local park.</p>
<p>Parks also hold some of the most popular summer programs for kids. Even back when my kids participated, they were so popular you had to send a postcard in January, in order to qualify for a drawing for the right to register. [Seattle</a> Parks and Recreation: Discovery Park - Nature Day Camp](<a href=“http://www.seattle.gov/parks/environment/daycamp.htm]Seattle”>Camps - Parks | seattle.gov)
The swim lessons also fill up immediately. If you don’t get in line the first morning of registration, you miss out until the next qtr.</p>
<p>I did rec sports for well over a decade, coached around five years, and have been on the board for three. </p>
<p>They’re absolutely wonderful and even vital in many communities. The low income community rec organization I’m part of doesn’t have the resources to put their kids on private teams.</p>
<p>I’m absolutely furious because the city is shutting down our rec center to make room for private businesses. This will essentially close all of our indoor sports and force city residents to go to other cities. The city council is making a huge mistake and parents are beyond livid. The city has made it clear that children are not their priority many times so I’m not surprised by their decision.</p>
<p>I’m envious of those of you who have access to great parks and recs programs. </p>
<p>In our area, each small town has their own program. There are no public pools or stand alone facilities, just parks with a unique feature (lake with small beach, playground equipment - not all have them, tennis or basketball courts, baseball diamonds, etc.) so they tend to be hit or miss as to quality and quantity of offerings. The local Y is definitely better equipped than any of these programs.</p>
<p>The day camps are staffed by teenagers, and the quality isn’t great. The sports camps are usually just 1 to 3 weeks, and so many kids sign up that very little gets accomplished. The little league type programs, however, tend do well because the parents get very involved. </p>
<p>We found these classes to be a good, cheap way to introduce a new activity. If our girls liked the activity, we would seek out private clubs/YMCA to develop it further.</p>
<p>In smaller towns,like where I grew up, many of the programs, inc the library, are run by the county. However, if you live in the city within the county, you aren’t eligible to participate in many of the county programs. (they assume that they programs are duplicated, but actually I found many that weren’t)</p>
<p>I used to use one of the county libraries for instance, because we had dial up Internet at home that was spotty & our local library was too distracting to study. ( when did libraries stop being quiet places?) But after budget cuts, even though city residents pay county taxes, we can’t use the county libraries anymore.</p>
<p>But If you live in a small town, you might see if the county offers services.</p>