Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007
For anyone who has ever wished for a job they never got sick of, meet Nikki Anthony, the owner of a mobile children’s playground called the Tumblebus Jungle.
Driving a converted school bus to birthday parties, schools and day care centers throughout Prince George’s County, Anthony engages young children in vigorous playful workouts and starts them on the road to a healthy lifestyle.
‘‘How can you look at this bus and not smile?” said Anthony of the yellow bus and its playroom⁄gymnasium interior. ‘‘It’s crazy.”
And children go crazy for it — to the point where one school’s students greet her with cheers every time she arrives.
‘‘I never felt like a superstar, but I do when we pull up,” said Anthony, of Upper Marlboro.
Inside the bus is everything from a climbing wall to a ball pit. Foam blocks form a large slide and the padded walls and carpets ensure no bumps or bruises.
To engage the children, Anthony starts the activities with stretches to loosen them up, later moving onto tumbling and dancing.
‘‘They are having so much fun they don’t realize they are exercising,” Anthony said.
A special education teacher with Prince George’s County Public Schools from 1996-2004, Anthony started the Tumblebus Jungle in June. Tumblebus is a nationwide franchise with approximately 250 operations. Anthony said once she purchased the bus she was free to personalize it and her program any way she wanted.
‘‘I knew there was something I needed to do to give the kids an outlet,” she said. ‘‘I wanted to open a [day care] center, but this was the most affordable option.”
Her start-up costs tallied about $55,000.
Anthony said she travels to nine schools each week in and around the county, and she plans to add several more stops next year. Sessions last an hour — any longer and she said both the children and her assistants would probably collapse.
The Tumblebus made its last stop of the year Dec. 12 at Greater Mt. Nebo Christian Academy in Bowie. Pre-K through second-grade students took turns playing on the equipment.
‘‘I like it because you get to fall down and roll,” said 5-year-old Morgan Yearwood of Upper Marlboro in between forward rolls.
Mt. Nebo’s principal Sonya Hamilton likes the Tumblebus because she said it fills a void in physical education.
‘‘We needed a little more support with younger children and their physical education,” Hamilton said. ‘‘Often now in schools you find P.E. is pushed on the back burner.”
Children at Mt. Nebo have physical education classes twice a week. The Tumblebus class is optional as parents foot the $45-a-month bill for their children’s participation. Other schools include the price of Tumblebus activities in their enrollment fees.
Anthony also schedules birthday parties on the weekends — many for children who are familiar with the Tumblebus through their schools.
Anthony said hosting as many as three parties a day can be tiring, but the experience is always rewarding. She encourages students to bring techniques they learn home to share with their parents and continue reinforcing the benefits of exercising.
‘‘There is not a day I wake up and don’t want to go to work,” Anthony said.
E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.
