Fit Kids Playground injects active fun into weekly routine

Most of my weekday evenings follow your basic boring grownup routine: Leave work and pick up my little dude from day care, cook dinner, maybe run, do dishes, and get the kiddo bathed, read to and put to bed.

Some nights we stop at Target or Publix on the way home if we're feeling really crazy.

I got a push to break from the norm one night earlier this month when Fit Kids Playground hosted its first free event at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in downtown Tampa. Organizer (and mom) Marisa Langford plans to bring it back on the first Tuesday of each month, which means you can check it out next on April 5.

And you should. Sure, we got home a little later, but my post-work night felt a lot longer - in a good way. The fresh air, the live music and the chance to run around like a fellow kid with my son showed me that we don't need to save up all our fun for the weekends.

Langford held the first Fit Kids event in 2009 in Hyde Park Village and another last fall. It's a way to get parents and kids to exercise together.

You can work out in a more organized fashion under the guidance of local fitness experts, or you can play freestyle and select balls and hula hoops to borrow from Langford's stash. Vendors pass out healthy snacks and local bands play.

The night I attended, Harbour Island Athletic Club led family-friendly classes. Future Fit Kids nights will feature Zumba, yoga, gymnastics, karate and more.

The activities run from 4 to 7 p.m. I arrived a little before 6 p.m., and I think there were about 50 people there when I arrived -- but it's hard to say because everyone was, well, moving. Moms and dads were kicking balls to their kids, children were throwing footballs across the lawn and wiggling in hula hoops and some were just chasing each other around.

My son spotted the bubble machine gurgling and the kids playing and said "Down? Down?" until I let him out of his stroller. He hunted down stray balls like he was on an Easter egg hunt. He piled hula hoops on his arm. At one point, he kicked a soccer ball (I had no idea he could even do this) down the lawn but skidded in the damp grass and landed on his back. I watched him to see if the tears were going to start. Instead, he just looked up at me and giggled and giggled.

In fact, the only tears came when it began to get dark and we needed to head home. He wanted to stay and play some more.