Kids stay cool during YMCA Play in the Parks camp

CUDAHY -- Tuesday brought hot, sticky weather for the second straight day this week, and kids and YMCA camp were sure to play it safe when it came to being outside in the extreme heat.

"Really sticky and icky," YMCA Play in the Parks camper Alyssa Skrzypczak said Tuesday.

Although kids were playing outside despite temperatures in the 90s and high humidity levels Tuesday, they were still playing safe.

"You can tell when they're starting to get a little lethargic and we pull them over and make sure we're taking water breaks every 15 minutes or so," YMCA Family Program Manager Erin Cross said.

This group is part of the YMCA's Play in the Parks.                         

All of the children were continually reminded to stay hydrated, and water was always on hand.

"I drink a lot of water and sometimes I pour it on my head," Skrzypczak said.

"This morning, we already went through our whole jug once. We've re-filled it since then and we're getting through our second one now," Cross said.

"I drink it because it's cold, so it can cool me down in the summer when I'm really hot," Play in the Parks camper Journee Sandoval said.

"It feels great. It's so refreshing," Play in the Parks camper Justin Cieminski said.

Play in the Parks organizers modified games and had the kids rest in the shade to keep cool.

"We play a lot of water games, so we do water balloon tosses. We also have a game called drip, drip, drop. It's similar to duck, duck, goose. We also play a lot of the parachute games," Cross said.

Despite the heat, many of the children said summer is still their favorite season.

"Summer time is when you can go swimming, and like, have your popsicle and just have cool things that you can't really have in the winter time," Play in the Parks camper Jessica Busch said.

Some kids even profited from the hot weather.

"I had a lemonade stand at my house and we got a lot of money and we wanted to take a bunch of breaks because we were out in the sun," Skrzypczak said.

Officials with Play in the Parks say it's their priority to teach kids how to take care of themselves in the heat, in order to keep the good times rolling.

YMCA's Play in the Parks is held every Monday through Thursday at various Milwaukee County Parks.

CLICK HERE for more information on Play in the Parks.