Programs across Butler County offer toddlers new ways to learn and play
Verah Vucelich, 3, kicked away from the side of the pool, a small foam backpack strapped to her chest, as her instructor encouraged her from a few feet away.
In adjacent lanes at Big Blue Swim School, parents and caregivers held children ages 3 months to 2 years as they had their first experiences in the pool, getting used to the water and learning to hold their breath.
Programs like these are part of a growing number of early learning activities offered for toddlers across Butler County. From swim lessons and gymnastics to music classes and play groups, families have many opportunities to introduce young children to new skills and social experiences.
Swim lessons, instructors say, offer something especially valuable: water safety.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 4 in the United States. Because of that risk, many parents begin teaching water safety skills early.
Chelsea Dukovich, owner of Big Blue Swim School in Cranberry Township, said lessons for young children focus on building both confidence and coordination in the water.
“Swimming is playful and energetic for young children, but it also helps build confidence and comfort in the water from an early age,” Dukovich said.
Opening the swim school was also personal for Dukovich.
“When I had three children under the age of 4, I knew I wanted them to grow up confident and capable around water,” she said. “Opening Big Blue Swim School gave me the chance to create a place where my own children — and others in the community — could learn those skills in a safe environment.”
Dukovich said swimming also offers families a year-round activity that encourages movement and time together away from screens.
“It’s movement, laughter, bonding and lifelong confidence,” she said.
Erica Vucelich, of Zelienople, watched from a glass-enclosed viewing area as her daughter practiced moving a few feet away from the pool wall and returning during her lesson.
She said swim lessons are an important part of her family’s routine.
“As a family, we do a lot of water activities. My mom is a nurse who has seen things that scared her, so we’ve been diligent about making sure the kids learn how to swim,” she said.
Vucelich said her two elder daughters, ages 7 and 5, have also taken lessons and are now strong swimmers.
“Big Blue Swim does a great job of teaching them what to do if they fall into a pool,” she said.
Back in the pool, young swimmers practiced kicking across the shallow water as instructors cheered them on.
For many of them, each splash and small step in the water is part of building skills that will last a lifetime.
Noah, 4, flips through “Adventures with Mike and Sulley,” while 2-year-old Nina presses buttons and turns dials on a colorful activity board nearby inside Rosie’s Room, a large child care facility in the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA in Cranberry Township.
Scenes like this are common inside the supervised playroom, where children ages 6 weeks to 7 years spend an hour or two playing while their parents head to the gym or a fitness class elsewhere in the building.
“They can come and work out and know they have reliable, consistent child care,” said Maria DiMartin, youth and family director at the Cranberry Township YMCA.
Inside the cheerful room — arranged much like a preschool classroom — children play alongside their peers with toys, blocks and art supplies. They can pretend in the toy kitchen, try on costumes for dress-up, browse storybooks, color or join staff-led games and activities.
DiMartin said one little girl recently arrived announcing it was her father’s birthday. By the time her mother came to pick her up, she had made a birthday card for him — with help from staff.
Programs like Rosie’s Room are just one example of how community organizations support families with young children.
Maureen Hodge brings her son, Noah, to Rosie’s Room while she exercises three to five times a week and has been using the child care since her now 10-year-old daughter was a baby. Two of the caregivers, Joanie and Heather, have been caregivers since then and her daughter still remembers them and stops by to say, “Hi.”
“They are irreplaceable,” Hodge said. “When you come in and see them rocking or holding your baby, you feel good about leaving them.”
Rosie’s Room is open daily from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with additional hours from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The cost is $3 per two-hour visit for members and $5 for nonmembers.
A similar program, Play Place, is available at the Butler YMCA, where children ages 6 months to 9 years can enjoy games, crafts and other activities while parents use the facility.
Toddlers bounced on soft mats, rolled, climbed, tumbled and jumped into their parents’ arms during a recent Movement for Life parent-and-child gymnastics class at Butler Gymnastics Club in Connoquenessing Township. The class serves children ages 14 months to 3 years.
Their instructor and parents encouraged them as they practiced climbing over padded mats and foam blocks, walking on a balance beam, crawling through a tunnel, swinging from a rope and jumping into a foam pit filled with soft cubes.
Alison King, of Butler, attended the Saturday morning class with her daughter, Bailey, 3, and her son, Brooks, 16 months. Bailey is almost ready to move up to the Bouncing Bunnies class, while Brooks will soon become one of the newest members of the Movement for Life program.
Bailey started gymnastics at 18 months and King said the program has helped her daughter build confidence while climbing, jumping and learning new skills.
“And she loves to watch the big girls who are role models,” King said.
Julie Stiffler, of Butler, brings her 2-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter, Harlow Stiffler, who is the youngest of five sisters, to the gym each Saturday morning. Stiffler said the beginner class has helped Harlow develop balance, coordination and the ability to follow directions as she gets ready for preschool.
“This is a super program and she has advanced by leaps and bounds,” Stiffler said.
Instructor Skye Sankey knows what it feels like to grow up in a gym. She began gymnastics when she was 3 years old and later became a competitive gymnast. Throughout the lesson, she encouraged the children with smiles and high-fives to show they were doing a great job.
Sankey said classes like Movement for Life help young children develop balance, coordination and confidence while becoming comfortable moving their bodies in a safe environment.
One of the most important lessons of gymnastics, she said, is learning how to fall safely.
“Then you are safe wherever you go.”
Butler Gymnastics Club offers a free trial class for all age groups and hosts a toddler walk-in program Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m. for $10 per session.
