Park & Play mobile unit promotes recreation and wellness in Knoxville

Thanks to the super successful lawn games events last summer, Knox County Parks and Recreation is rolling out its Park & Play program, and it is coming to park near you.

"We decided to morph it into a structured program to serve more people where they are in their communities," said Whitney Fitzsimons, special events and recreation coordinator for the Knox County Parks and Recreation department.

The program is the department's latest initiative to expand recreation and wellness across the county.

"Knox County has an incredible park system," Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said in an earlier news release. "It only stands to reason that parks staff would find ways to expand recreation offerings even further and in increasingly creative ways."

The mobile has been repurposed from the maintenance department and will be wrapped with eye-catching graphics before it hits the road.

Inside the mobile's ample compartments there are hula hoops, jump ropes, chalk and water based relay games. It has already been pressed into service for the Sunset Cinema: Movies in the Park Series that kicked off May 19 at Carl Cowen Park on Northshore.

The Park & Play program is open to all ages but is recommended for 4- to 12-year-olds.

"Park & Play is free and open to the public and is designed with inclusivity in mind, featuring activities for all ages and abilities," said Fitzsimons.

The upcoming schedule is as follows:

Knox County Parks' new programs have been specifically designed to hit in every district, according to Fitzsimons. "We divide the county into quads and make sure we are equitable across all parts of the county," she said. "We will go to those parks that don't already have a lot of recreational opportunity because they are rural or if they have a denser population.

"The Park & Play focus is on high energy, structured and active programming for two hours," Fitzsimons said. "There are individual self-paced activities that kids and their families can do."

"If you see the program anywhere come and join us," said Fitzsimons. "We will stake out parks the week before and the days leading up to each Park & Play event."

Knoxville Head Start and the Knox County Public Library are partnering with Park & Play to provide activities for the younger children.

"The adults gravitate to noncompetitive jump rope and hula hoop and wonder if they still have it," said Fitzsimons.

"The kids are drawn to the Connect 4, strategic games, and sports-related games are also huge, as are any kind of pickup game."

The activities have been tailored toward some of the top trends. "We will have a standard setup we will do, and based on the demographics and the interests of the kids that are there that day we can pull additional resources," said Fitzsimons.

"We bought a new 9-square in the air setup that is huge and awesome," said Fitzsimons. "We have all kinds of water-based games: refillable water balloons for relay activities, a mini putt-putt green, ride on scooters for paved paths – they are always a big hit.

"If there is a tennis court, we will bring pickle ball. With all of that our staff will be able to play creative and unique games for the groups."

Fitzsimons said that from her professional perspective she sees that kids play differently these days.

"We used to see organic play, where the kids would go out and play for hours every day, but that doesn't exist anymore," she said. "The purpose of having the Park & Play program is to invite them back to their neighborhood park and community so they can see the value that is in the parks. The opportunity to just play again with their family or other kids in the community they live in."

If any program must be canceled because of the weather, the department will post a notification at facebook.com/knoxcountyparks or on Twitter @ knoxcountyparks