For those students, faculty and staff who have children and find it difficult to balance working out and parental obligations, the Wildkids program may be the answer.

The Wildkids program, sponsored by the Department of Campus Recreation, provides child care services to members of the Campus Recreation Center while they exercise, said Kim Clark, coordinator of facilities for Campus Recreation. She said Wildkids is not a day care center, rather it is designed for drop-in short term care.

The program begins Monday at a cost of $1 per hour per child for students and $1.50 per hour per child for non-students, Clark said. She said children ages 6 months to 8 years old are eligible for the service.

Clark said there is a three-hour maximum per drop off, and the center can hold a maximum of 10 children on a first-come, first-served basis.

The child care center is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be located on the Rec Center's first-floor, across from the men's and women's locker rooms.

Wildkids is staffed entirely by part-time student employees who have prior child care experience or are majoring in education or family studies, Clark said. She also said all Wildkids staff have gone through 16 hours of training, and are community first aid and CPR certified.

Tami Pack, education junior and Rec Center employee, said once word gets out about Wildkids, it will become a viable part of the Rec Center.

"I love working with kids and sometimes it's kind of fun to just sit there and play," Pack said. "It's a nice stress relief."

The child care center will provide books, games, arts and crafts, Legos, and a pretend kitchen to entertain the children, Clark said. She said parents will need to provide bottles, diapers, clothes and snacks.

"Our goal for the program is that the kids are totally interactive with the staff and they have choices of entertainment," Clark said.

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