Virtual Recreation Programs

Family Activities

3-D Balloon Craft (Video) - Make a 3-D hot air balloon scene in this craft for children.

Coffee Filter Craft (Video) - Make beautiful butterflies from coffee filters in this fun craft for children.

Cotton Ball Shadow Painting (Video) - Using paints and cotton balls, this painting technique is appropriate for all ability levels.

Easy Yogurt Bites (Video) - A simple recipe for all ages to make and enjoy. Participants in our Therapeutic Recreation programs often try easy snack recipes.

Family Sounds (Video) - Erin Mowels MT-BC, Board Certified Music Therapist with Healing Sounds leads this sample of the Family Sounds class for children aged 1-7 and their families. This is a fun interactive experience for the whole family. Healing Sounds is a local music therapy company. They provide services locally in schools, long term care communities, other group settings and one-on-one.

Glitter Fireworks (Video) - This is a quick and simple craft activity for children to make their own fireworks "show."

Handprint Fish Craft (Video) – Create an “interactive” under-the-sea scene with this children’s craft idea.

Homemade Playdough (PDF) - Make a batch at home for creative times.

Jonathan Austin Show - Enjoy magic, juggling and more with RVA’s Jonathan the Juggler. Jonathan performs at Parks and Recreation summer camps.

Kings in the Corner (Video) – This game is a variation of Solitaire that can be played with multiple players.

Musical Bingo (PDF) - Get in the groove with all things musical for this Bingo game.

Super Sounds (Video) is an interactive music session for children and families. This session is led by Anna McChesney. Anna is the Director of Healing Sounds, LLC and board certified music therapist, licensed music educator, certified rehabilitation counselor, and a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Virginia. View the worksheet for the session (PDF). Healing Sounds is a local music therapy company. They provide services locally in schools, long term care communities, other group settings and one-on-one.

Tin Lantern Craft (PDF) - Use what you already have to make this easy lantern. Test it out on your porch tonight.

Toilet Paper Roll Monsters (Video) - A crafty way to turn all those extra toilet paper rolls into crazy creatures.

Water Bottle Planter (PDF) - Start your own mini garden or repot your plants with this easy craft idea.

Yarn Bottle Craft (PDF) - Simple craft that anyone can complete. Make an attractive vase from a bottle or jar.

Fitness

Aerobics with Kecia (Video) - This class is suitable for all fitness levels and exercises can be modified. Kecia Allen teaches at the Bensley Recreation Center.

Arms and Abs Workout (Video) -Instructor Kecia Allen leads this 20-minute workout focusing on arms and abs. It can be done seated or standing.

Chair Fitness (Video) - Kecia Allen teaches this modified fitness class at the Bensley Recreation Center. These classes focus on strengthening muscles and increasing range of motion to enhance activities of daily living.

Chair Fitness with Kecia (Video) - Join instructor Kecia Allen for another chair aerobics class. Kecia teaches at the Bensley Recreation Center.

Chair Fitness with Sherella (Video)- Sherella Brown teaches low impact exercises, some from a chair, including strength training at Stonebridge Recreation Center.

Family Heptathlon Challenge (PDF) - In the spirit of the Olympic Games, try this Family Heptathlon Challenge. Have fun.

Functional Fitness with Kathy (Video) - The Functional Fitness class is usually held on Wednesdays at our 50+ Active Lifestyles location at Huguenot Road Baptist Church. This class is designed to increase muscular strength and endurance, improve range of motion, and prepare you to more easily handle daily activities. The instructor is Kathy Maguire.

Gentle Yoga (Video) - This class improves strength, flexibility and balance. Kathy Maguire teaches at the Stonebridge Recreation Center.

Goals with Gordon (Video) - A 30-minute strength training and cardio workout with Fitness Warrior Elicia Gordon, who teaches at the Ettrick Recreation Center.

Goals with Gordon - Ab Workout (Video) - Fitness Warrior Elicia Gordon teaches at the Ettrick Recreation Center and leads this short workout for abdominals.

Karate (Video)- Master Randy Jones and Master Carrie Irving teach self-defense, physical fitness, coordination, balance and discipline in this Karate jitsu-style class. These instructors teach classes at the Bensley, Ettrick, and Stonebridge recreation centers, as well as at the 50+ program site at Chesterfield Baptist Church.

Kids Run RVA (Video Playlist) – Video resources from Sports Backers.

Low Impact Aerobics with Sherella (Video) - A cardiovascular workout to basic steps. Some strength training is included. Instructor Sherella Brown teaches at the Stonebridge Recreation Center.

Soccer Ball Workout (Video) - This fitness drill builds cardio and coordination. It’s for anyone, not just soccer players. Instructed by Chris Benson, from the Stonebridge Recreation Center. Chris has played soccer for 17 years and coached for two. He continues to play and coach.

Yoga for Older Adults (Video) - Increase strength and flexibility as well as reduce stress in this modified class, using a chair if needed. Taught by Kathy Maguire.

History and Historical Sites Tours

1892 Jail Virtual Tour (Video) – This Virginia Historic Landmark housed prisoners for nearly 70 years. The old jail sits next to the Chesterfield County Museum on the Courthouse Green.

Artifact Repair activity (PDF) - Learn how archaeologists work on artifact repair and reconstruction with shards of artifacts recovered from a dig site. Practice repair with this unique activity.

Castlewood Tour (Video) - This Federal-style house was built in 1817 by county clerk Parke Poindexter and features a formal five-part layout that is unique among Virginia’s other recorded historic dwellings. It is located near the Chesterfield Courthouse Complex on the corner of Route 10 and Krause Road.

Chesterfield County Museum tour (Video) – The Chesterfield County Museum is a replica of the 1750 Courthouse and features 400 years of the county’s history, a reproduction of a general store and exhibits on Native American culture, early English settlements, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and the first iron and coal mines in North America.

Dodd Park at Point of Rocks Tour (Video) - Although the park is known for its athletic fields and rich natural environment, the site was the southern end of the Union position during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Remnants of Union earthworks are visible along the park road and trails.

Eppington Plantation Tour (Video) – Built about 1770, this site is on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places. Thomas Jefferson was a frequent visitor to Eppington. The site is only open during special programs and by group tour reservation only.

Falling Creek Ironworks Park Tour (Video) - Explore the site of the first ironworks in English North America located in Chesterfield County.

Historic Courthouse Green Virtual Tour (Video) – Learn about the history and facilities at the Courthouse Green property on the Chesterfield Government Center complex with Bryan Truzzie, Historic Sites Supervisor for Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation.

Homemade Butter Making Experiment (PDF) - This fun and engaging activity will allow children to visually see a basic science experiment unfold in front of them (turn liquid to solid). Children can practice a chore conducted on a farm to produce butter.

Magnolia Grange Virtual Tour (Video) - A Federal-style plantation house built in 1822 by William Winfree, Magnolia Grange is named after the circle of magnolia trees that once graced its front lawn. Located on the original property were a tavern and gristmill in addition to the residence and its outbuildings.

Mid-Lothian Mines Park Historical Tour (Video) - This 44-acre preserve tells the story of the earliest coal mining in America from 1701, when coal was first discovered, to the mid-1730s, when it began commercial production. Remains of coal mining shafts and the first railroad are features in the park.

Pleasant View School Marker Dedication (Video) - Ceremony to dedicate the historical marker at Pleasant View School on Oct. 22, 2022, sponsored by the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia.

Pleasant View School Tour (Video) - Built in 1930 and designated a Chesterfield County Historic Landmark in April 2017, this one-room schoolhouse served as an elementary school until 1947, and it is Chesterfield’s best remaining example of African-American education in the segregated era.

Nature Activities

All About Bees (Video) - Identify what is flying around in your yard and learn what bees do in this video by the Rockwood Nature Center Supervisor.

Animal Tracks (PDF) - Be a wildlife detective on your next nature walk. Use the activity guide to identify what you find.

Asian Giant Hornets (PDF) - With all the buzz about murder hornets, get the facts from the Rockwood Nature Center staff.

Growing Tomatoes in Containers (PDF) - After the last frost is a good time to grow tomatoes. Follow these step-by-step instructions to start your plants.

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt (PDF) – Try this scavenger hunt, for all ages, in your back yard.

Park Safety (Video) - Review these tips from Parks and Recreation and the Fire & EMS Department before you head out to the parks.

River Safety (Video) – Greg Velzy, Outdoor Adventure Programmer with Chesterfield Parks and Recreation, discusses the effect of water levels on low head dams. Innocent-looking but deadly dangerous, learn how recirculating water hydraulics are formed. This is especially important to know when the river reaches higher levels.

Tidal Lagoon Tour (Video) - Learn about the history of the tidal lagoon at the Dutch Gap Conservation Area.

Park Tours

Dodd Park at Point of Rocks (Video) – This park features a system of trails which includes a floating boardwalk through a freshwater tidal marsh. This area also has historical significance, as the land was the southern end of the Union position during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign.

Dutch Gap Conservation Area Virtual Tour (Video) - Enjoy a photo tour along the loop trail at the Dutch Gap Conservation Area. This area of almost 800 acres includes woodlands, wildlife and waterways. This trail tour winds around a tidal lagoon with an abundance of beautiful vistas.

Robious Landing Park Virtual Tour (Video) - This 102-acre park borders the James River and features trails, playground, picnic shelters and river access.

Rockwood Park Trails Virtual Tour (Video) - Enjoy the sights along the trails at Rockwood Park, located at Courthouse and Hull Street roads.

Springtime at the Radcliffe Conservation Area (Video) - Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Radcliffe Conservation Area. The conservation area consists of 97 acres of woodlands and swampland along the Appomattox River. Wildlife is in abundance in this diverse environment, and 1.5 miles of trail and over 500 feet of elevated boardwalk through the property provide visitors with a unique recreational experience.

Other Resources

Balloon Art (Video)- Michelle with Mickey’s Magic Show presents a balloon twisting tutorial. Mickey’s Magic offers balloon twisting and various themed magic shows for children’s parties, festivals and other special events. They perform at many Parks and Recreation summer camp programs and for National Night Out at Ettrick Park.

Easy Cooking with Judith Onesty (Video) - Judith has been a healthy diet advocate since the 1970’s. She has developed a repertoire of quick and tasty meals. Sharing her recipes is now a favorite activity. Judith teaches classes at Stonebridge Recreation Center and Huguenot Road Baptist Church.

Help Fido Find His Way Home - Fun activity for 2^nd -4^th graders focuses on cardinal directions and basic math skills. Using the map (PDF), follow the directions (PDF). Check the answer key (PDF) when finished.

Hula (Video) - Learn an easy hula dance to a Hawaiian song, the Hukilau.

Linda Rubin’s artwork - An instructor for the 50+ Active Lifestyles programs, Linda Rubin is a local artist who works in many mediums. Linda has taught classes for our recreation centers in jewelry, painting and other topics. She has created artwork to reflect the coronavirus situation.

Making Leis (Video) - Make your own lei with these quick and easy steps.

Senior Self Defense (Video)- Participants will learn self-defense techniques, safety awareness, self-discipline, and how to avoid dangerous situations. Instructed by Carrie Irving, certified master instructor. This class is taught at Stonebridge Recreation Center and Chesterfield Baptist Church.

Smartphones for Older Adults (Video) - This introduction to smartphones will aid older adults in learning how to best use their device.

Uncle Ty-Rone - Tyrone Travis is ventriloquist and children’s comedian. He uses ventriloquism to encourage good behavior, respect, the importance of reading and following your dreams. He has performed for Parks and Recreation summer camps. He makes all of his puppets by hand.

Virginia Credit Union Webinar (Video)- Protect Yourself Financially During the Coronavirus - from our partners at VACU

Watercolor Class (Video) - Instructor Carol Henderson guides you through the process of creating a seaside painting with watercolors. Carol teaches at the Stonebridge Recreation Center. She attended the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and graduated from Wheaton College with a minor in art.