Fun in the Fall: The September and October Kids’ Events at Life Time

Fall typically brings some order after an often chaotic summer. As schedules begin to form and your family settles into its routine, you may be searching for opportunities for child-care support or ways to keep your kids active.

Many Life Time members welcome Parents Night Outs into their weekly calendars. These themed events allow kiddos the chance to hang out with others their age while learning, playing, and having fun. And parents have that time to run errands, catch up on to-dos, go out for date nights — whatever they desire.

“My kids enjoy the different event themes,” says Abby Banks, a member at Life Time in Edina, Minn. “It’s the first thing they ask about when I tell them we’re going to Parents Night Out. They love that each event is different and offers new activities and art projects. They also have great friends they’ve met at these events. My older children always make sure their friends’ parents sign them up for the same ones!”

Learn about the events and themes taking place in September and October:

Tween Takeover

Ages: 9 to 13 years old
Length: Typically 3 hours

At Tween Takeover nights, kids rule! This time is for your tween to decide what they want to do at their athletic country club: They can play sports, create crafts, challenge one another to a board game, or participate in other fun activities. The space is theirs.

Life Time Laboratory

Ages: 4 to 6 years old for Mini Monsters; 7 to 12 years old for Halloween Fun Fest (ages may vary by club)
Length: 3 hours

We’ve developed the formula for fun: challenges, explosions, and pizza! The young scientists will rotate through experiments where they’ll be challenged to develop a hypothesis and test their knowledge. There will be fun gym games such as “robot tag” and crafts including creating static electricity with bubbles and fizzing fireworks and erupting volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar.

Quarterbacks and Cartwheels

Ages: 4 to 12 years old (ages may vary by club)
Length: 3 hours

Gear up for a night of football games, cheer routines, and thrilling team-building activities. Kids can create their own paper megaphone or tissue paper pom poms, and then play football tag, relays, and capture the football in the gym. There will also be building block competitions to see who can construct the tallest tower. This event will have everyone cheering!

Mini Monsters and Halloween Fun Fest

Ages: 4 to 5 years old for Mini Monsters; 6 to 12 years old for Halloween Fun Fest (ages may vary by club)
Length: 3 hours

All preschool-age kids are invited to dress up in costumes and come to the Mini Monsters event. Get ready for scarecrow tag, “splat witch face” crafts, and a costume contest. Your own mini monster will be in for a frightfully fun night!

All other kids are welcome to join Halloween Fun Fest. Are they up for ghosts, goblins, and witches brew? Come for the crafts, games, and thrills, and a variety of activities such as spider dodgeball, zombie tag, straw art, and a costume contest.

Common FAQs About Kids Events

Shelly Forsberg, director of kids and aquatics at Life Time, shares answers to commonly asked questions from parents.

Life Time Editorial | What can I expect if I sign my child up for a Life Time Kids event?

Shelly Forsberg | Each event has a theme, and we build the curriculum around that so there are always fun, new activities for kids to take part in. There are two themes per month, each offered on two different dates. The first two weeks of the month feature the first theme, and the second two weeks, the other. This helps us accommodate family schedules and allows a greater chance for every child to attend every theme if they wish.

Regardless of the theme, every curriculum follows an intentionally designed format: There’s always arts and crafts time, a S.T.E.A.M. project, a gym game or a sports activity — or some combination of those — and then we always serve dinner, which is usually pizza and juice.

Events typically last two to three hours and can accommodate kids ages 4 to 12 years old (ages may vary by club based on state requirements). Tween Takeover events are generally for kids ages 9 to 13 years old, though that may vary by club as well.

Our Life Time Kids team members go through training before being entrusted with your kids. This training includes CPR training, a child-development course, and a classroom-management course to ensure your kids are in the safest hands.

LTE | When do kids’ events take place?

SF | Kids’ events occur every Saturday. Depending on the club, there may also be additional events on Fridays.

LTE | Do parents need to stay at the club while their child is attending an event?

SF | No. Parents can leave the club or stay on site. Most often, we see parents using this time in the club, whether that be to take a fitness class, use the space and machines on the workout floor, relax in the sauna or steam room, grab a bite to eat in the LifeCafe, or hit the pickleball court with friends.

LTE | Is there a cost to these events? And do you have to be a Life Time member to participate?

SF | All Kids events are included at no cost in Junior Memberships. Your child does need to be on a Life Time Junior Membership to attend the events.

LTE | How do I sign my child up for an event?

SF | Reservations can be made up to 30 days prior to each event. View the schedule on my.lifetime.life or in the Life Time app by clicking “View All Events” and under “Activity,” filtering by “Kids.” If your child is registered and you need to cancel, we ask that you please do so at least five hours prior to the event to open up the spot for someone else.