Making it fun to be fit

Molly Shore

Local children will receive passports to adventure Saturday when they

participate in the second annual Burbank Family YMCA’s Healthy Kids

Day.

At the end of the day’s events, individual passports and Character

Counts cards will be redeemable for “goodie bags” filled with water

bottles, bubble pens, exercise activity booklets, nutrition activity

workbooks and more, YMCA spokeswoman April Houle said.

Children will also receive two raffle tickets when they check in

at the free event. Prizes include four tickets for the Dodgers, Magic

Mountain and Starlight Bowl, Houle said.

One of the events is a treasure hunt, which will take the children

to Media City Center, Body Balance, Cartoon Network and police and

fire headquarters.

“There are four places ... because we focus on four character

values, which are caring, honesty, respect and responsibility,” Houle

said.

At each of the four stops, youths will participate in a

character-building activity.

The putting green at Body Balance represents the honesty

character, Houle said. Each hole will have a point value, and when

the children reach 15 points using the honor system, they will

receive a sticker for their Character Counts card.

The children will tour the YMCA building and stop at six places in

the facility. In each area, their passport will be stamped, Houle

said.

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, one of the participating

community organizations, will have several activities, including a

chef to demonstrate healthy cooking, hospital spokesman Dan Boyle

said.

The barbecue will feature hot dogs made of chicken and turkey, as

well as organic yogurt and tofu-based ice cream sandwiches.

Participants can park in the Media City Center parking lot, Houle

said.