Preteens, seniors work up sweat at Y-Box gaming center

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Eva Hart, 9, of Oak Park works the Dance Dance Revolution interactive video exerciser Thursday at the opening of the new YMCA’s new Y-Box Family Interactive Gaming Center.

Inside the Y-Box

The Y-Box Family Interactive Gaming Center at the West Cook YMCA, 255 S. Marion St., Oak Park, will offer:

I-Zone gaming stations for multiple players

X-boards that simulate snowboarding and skateboarding

two Expresso bikes

two X-Bikes that simulate motorcross and ATV units

“Dance, Dance Revolution” and Nintendo Wii

ping-pong

foosball

video exercise programs, such as Zumba

The Y-Box is open seven days a week: Monday-Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with scheduled times for different age groups; Fridays from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. will be Teen Nights when tournament play will be offered; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays, Open Gaming, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

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Updated: March 24, 2012 8:14AM

For years health experts have urged that kids get away from TV screens and move vigorously to improve their fitness.

Now, the West Cook YMCA in Oak Park is inviting kids to get in front of a video screen and move vigorously. And have fun in the process.

The new Y-Box Family Interactive Gaming Center opened to the public last week, and YMCA officials say they hope people of all ages make use of the facility.

If first impressions are accurate, it promises to be a popular spot for pre-teens.

YMCA Executive Director Jan Pate, an ardent advocate for practices and activities that foster healthy children, said the new facility is intended to “offer a welcoming environment for families, while promoting healthy activities that can help prevent obesity and diabetes.”

Pate was beaming Thursday as she moved about the room, taking photos and talking with children.

The newly remodeled Y-Box, housed in a former weight room in the basement, will be open seven days a week.

The new room fills a need for activities for children under 12 years old.

“These children are a little too young for the wellness center,” said Christoff.

The facility can handle “close to 30 kids at any given time,” said Cari Christoff, the Y’s child and family teen director.

Young or old, exercise is much more fun when the mind is engaged with the body. The various video enhanced games allow kids of all ages to develop coordination in everything from simulated snowboarding, skateboarding and dance to motor cross competition.

Y-Box will also offer straight-forward video exercise programs including Zumba, a fitness exercise dance. There’s even old school activities like ping-pong and foosball.

The room will also be available to seniors three mornings a week. Eventually, the goal is to have some of those seniors interacting with the children.

“It’s an opportunity to do some intergenerational work,” Christoff said. “We want to get some seniors to work as mentors with the kids.”

The kids wasted no time taking advantage of the facility.

Eva Hart, 7, was giving the popular Dance Dance Revolution a work out. Also known as DDR, the game allows people to dance and move along to a number of songs selected from the video screen.

“I like that you can do every song that you want and can do any mode you want,” said Hart, who admitted “I like the fast ones. Usually the fastest is ‘Hysteria.’”

“You get cramps because you do a lot of jumping,” Hart added, though he did not appear any worse for wear after 10 minutes on the DDR.

Tyrique Scott, 5, was just a bit undersized for video exercycle, but he didn’t let it him stop him. With a little help from Elizabeth Lopez, the coordinator for the Y’s Child Care Program, he was off and pedaling, keeping an eye on the video screen.

“It’s a great program because they can make all the noise they want,” said Ellyn Caruso, a spokeswoman for the Y.

“Oh, yeah, it gives kids more room to let off their energy after school,” said Lopez.

Village Clerk Teresa Powell had dropped by to help Pate, a former village trustee, celebrate the opening. Powell, who grew up in Florida, joked about getting her snow wings.

“I was thinking I could try (the simulated snowboard) and tell my brother I snowboard,” she joked.