WeeZee World Introduces Children to a New World of Fitness
Children in Chappaqua are getting quite a workout this summer, and many are having so much fun they may not realize they’re getting fit physically and mentally.
WeeZee World, a 16,000-square-foot sensory play space and fitness center for children, has been designed to strengthen youngsters’ central nervous systems and improve academic performance, athletic coordination and social connections.
“It’s the largest sensory gym on the East Coast,” said owner Louise Weadock, who opened the facility on the old Reader’s Digest campus (now Chappaqua Crossing) earlier this year. “We’ve created a health club for kids.”
Before opening, Weadock’s research revealed that there is a connection between physical fitness and cognitive performance. While the sensory integration has proven helpful for children in occupational therapy and on the autism spectrum, its benefits can help almost any child.
“Whenever we’re working out, we are increasing blood that goes to the brain,” she said. “We help build bridges for them. There are lots of obstacle courses, scavenger hunts. We make them crawl through things and get under things. All of that movement helps.”
WeeZee World has been offering weekly themed programs during its 10-week summer session. Activities include athletics, arts and crafts, music, dance, pottery, painting, rock climbing and more.
At WeeZee World, children may use iPods and iPads, but the technology is geared for brain games designed to help their cognitive skills. Programs are open to children from 12 months to 12 years old.
“They end up performing at a higher level,” said Weadock, a registered psychiatric nurse. “We have them improve their synapses and messages. We improve oxygen going into the brain.”
Weadock has developed various games for youngsters that are designed to not only help with physical fitness, but thinking skills as well. There’s one activity where young children are asked their phone number, then they must climb a rock wall to retrieve each digit.
“They climb the wall and get their number, and it reinforces what their phone number is,” Weadock said. “Then we work on their addresses. It’s strategic life skills information. There are lot of video games in our health club, but the video games aren’t violent games, they are brain teasers.”
The club also has cycling, and Weadock said many of the children get on the bikes and start pedaling, and won’t realize they’ve biked the equivalent of 10 miles. In the sports fitness program, children can work on simulations for ice hockey, soccer, football and basketball to enhance their skills for those sports, or play on a surfboard or participate in Dance Dance Revolution, a video game that mimics dance steps.
“We have kids that have lost weight just by playing around. They are running for two to three hours straight and there is lots of jumping. They are really tired when they get home,” Weadock said.
Children are often overwhelmed when they arrive at WeeZee World, thinking it’s an indoor mini–theme park.
“They have to come back for a second day,” Weadock said. “They go, ‘Oh wow.’ They become more aware, more responsive, feel more motivated and can also make friends.”
For more information, call 914-752-2100 or visit www.weezeeworld.com.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
