Category: Parks

Clay Park & Sports 4 Tykes Soccer

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This is the 3rd recreational activity we’ve signed Giuseppe up for through Jurupa. At the beginning of summer he was in ballet/tap at the Veterans Memorial Community Center on Monday’s. Halfway through that session he started Sports for Tykes football at Agate Park on Tuesday’s and Thurday’s — we were a busy bunch of a while. Ballet/tap fills up quickly so we weren’t able to get another Monday spot — we were offered Thursday’s but that meant he’d either miss his first day of ballet/tap or the last day of football which was receiving his certificate. We passed on ballet/tap for the moment. Soccer was already filled up for July/August so we were put on a wait list. I decided to sign him up for Tee-Ball in August/Sept. We got a call saying there was an opening for soccer at Clay Park. Yay!

Sports 4 Tykes is really cool. Especially for Seppe. Tap/ballet was teaching them to listen and be focused. He was there for the structure, discipline, and balance. He did great the first month but then got really comfortable and decided he’d walk off to look out a window or lay down when they were on the floor stretching. Football was rowdy. Boys running around being goofy, making faces at each other, getting in trouble. During the weeks that we did both activities I think Seppe brought a lot of the football with him to ballet/tap.

All sports are 4 weeks long taking place every Tuesday and Thurday from 5:30 – 6:15. There are always 2-3 coaches on hand and are very kind but firm to the kids. All sports are taught with mini equipment and non-scoring. It’s teaching the little ones the basic of the sport, exercise, how to work with a group or one-on-one, waiting your turn. Each child receives a t-shirt when they sign up and the award ceremony at the end of the session.

The football group wasn’t that big. Soccer is double the size. Football only had boys. Soccer is boys and girls. The coaches remembered Seppe so it’s been very fun and comfortable for him.

The playground equipment at Clay is about as old as Giuseppe. It was being re-done when I was pregnant with him. Seppe has always been adventurous with this playground and ready to climb up the ropes, tubes, rock wall, bridges and I’ve always had to spot him. Now, he’s big enough to do it all on his own and wants to be timed. There are two slides in the big part of the playground for kids to race each other, a few ride on horses, and regular swings. The small part of the playground also has two slides for the littles to race, a little station where Seppe pretends that he’s serving food, moveable planet map, some steering wheels, baby swings, and Giuseppe’s current favorite — the mini monkey bars.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen at this park was covering over the equipment. It seems that the newer parks are being built with these. (there’s a brand new little secret hidden park down the street from us like this — I’ll be showing it soon)

https://www.jarpd.org/ – for information on sports, swimming lessons, list of parks, splash pads, and special events happening in the area.

Vernola Family Park

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There are a lot of parks surrounding the little area we live. Seppe has done ballet & tap at one, football recently at one, and starting soccer at another. We decided to try out one that isn’t as close, but still in the area, and much bigger.

Giuseppe thought we were in some dream land when we pulled up. The kiddie section, which doesn’t look so kiddie, looks like a pirate ship. With a few small slides, lots of area to climb, and even a sitting area inside the ship. There’s also a little crawl through hut area for the kids to sit and have a chat. The big playground looks like a prehistoric getaway. Lots of climbing action, rock wall, and multiple slides. They had a 3 section slide that was a big hit. Kids liked to race, usually the biggest kid in the center — which was a straight down drop of doom. Underneath it all were more places for kids to sit and chat with each other in the shade. Giuseppe found the secret map of the park. The biggest hit with G was the climbable Triceratops.

After all that play the kids took a ride on their scooters. There’s a perfect trail to go around without getting in anyone’s way. There’s a big shelter to hang out under but I also loved how there are a lot of benches. The nice part was a lot of these benches were placed under trees with plenty of shade. There’s also a wall all around the park so even if you don’t find a bench to sit on, which is unlikely, then there’s plenty of low wall space. As well as a lot of shaded grass area.

Vernola Park is located at 5211 Wineville, Jurupa Valley. For more information about the park visit www.jarpd.org Where you can find information about all the other great parks in the area — including parks with free splash pads. Or visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/JARPD1984/ where you can see pictures of the parks and upcoming free activities in our neighborhood.