Photos by Andrew Schwartz
Picture this: an indoor playspace that caters to big kids
while simultaneously keeping minds and bodies active. That’s exactly what my
kids and I discovered when we visited ExerBlast in Tribeca. The brainchild of
dancer, personal trainer and mom of two Kate Gyllenhaal, ExerBlast is an
innovative new fitness concept that incorporates the best parts of gaming
theory while motivating kids to get moving. —
To kick off the New Year, I took my son, 10, and daughter,
12, along with a friend of hers for a visit to ExerBlast to drop in at one of
their “After School is Cool” semester-long classes. When we arrived, the place
was subdued with a few kids waiting to begin their afterschool classes. The
quiet did not last long. Greeted by a cheery guide named Hannah, my trio of kid
testers signed in, made nametags and were fitted with utility belts. Fully
equipped with programmed iPods, the belts act as pedometers for young blasters
ready to break a sweat. The iPod app actually tracks the blaster’s movements
and tallies energy points that he or she racks up during the blast session. The
object of the game is, of course, to accumulate as many points as possible as
one moves through the mission.
All buckled up and ready to go, Hannah led the kids into an
enormous white space splashed with dancing lights and lines of bright colors,
anchored by a huge climbing structure and a circular rock wall. I followed
behind getting the scoop from Gyllenhaal (also known as the Chief Fun Officer)
and wishing I could join in, too. The adventure was about to begin.
After a short bit of instruction, we troop downstairs. We
enter a darkened space with tons of tinted lights and lines jetting across the
floor—you really feel like maybe you could blast off into space here.
And we do in a way. First stop is the “Blast Off” zone.
Here, Commander Pi, the pineapple-headed leader from the planet Botania
introduces the mission to the group of blasters. Botania is mysteriously losing
energy and he needs the blasters to create as much energy—or Xi (“chee”)—as
possible to save it. This is an essential piece of the ExerBlast mission,
according to Gyllenhaal. “We want kids to understand that the energy their
bodies create is something to be valued,” she explains.
Commander Pi then leads the kids through a series of
stretching and warm-up exercises to get them ready for the adventure ahead.
From there the blasters are off running, jumping, lunging and crawling all the
while working up a sweat and collecting Xi points along the “Power Path.” The
Power Path visually leads blasters to the various activity zones of the
mission. There are nine different zones including the “Climbatron,” a
light-sensored jungle gym, the “Energy Field,” a light-sensored floor game and
the “Power Wall,” an infrared wall puzzle. All of the zones incorporate both
movement and a gaming challenge, and are exhaustingly fun, to say the least.
After almost an hour’s worth of movement and activity, every
ExerBlast mission ends with a visit to the “Blast Down” zone,
a hushed (and thoroughly calming) yoga and Pilates hub designed exclusively for
weary blasters just back from their mission. Here the young charges cool down,
stretch and relax their bodies while sending their newly acquired energy
directly to the planet Botania. All in a day’s work. This is the space I most
wished to indulge in!
Looking at ExerBlast from afar, the playspace is more than
just time to run around and burn off extra energy. The whole adventure moves up
and downstairs multiple times and covers virtually all of the 6,400 square feet
of building space. Bobbing and weaving past other groups of blasters, we can
see that the place is filled with the laughter and delight of other kids
running and jumping with abandon. Music, however, is piped into each blaster’s
individual headset so the place isn’t cacophonous or overwhelming. Every
parent’s dream.
The typical mission lasts one hour but ExerBlast also offers
a two-and-a-half hour blast that includes the Botania mission along with a
healthy cooking adventure or a yoga session. As expected, ExerBlast is equipped
with a full kitchen and an inviting and airy birthday room.
According to Gyllenhaal, the prime age for young blasters is
between 5 and 14 years old but there truly is something for everyone in the
ExerBlast experience. As a mom of older kids, the opportunity to get moving is
a real boon for us all. So much of adult life is spent carting the kids to one
place or another and waiting and watching while they have all the fun.
ExerBlast is the kind of place where moms and dads can get in on the fun,
too—if only I’d worn the proper shoes!
Whole families come and enter into friendly competitions
with one another. Other times it’s a school field trip or a birthday party.
Several corporations have even used the ExerBlast experience for team building
workshops.
With an office tucked into a tiny room behind the “Singing Spheres” zone,
ExerBlast’s CEO Don Sunderland is the wizard of the
Oz-like experience that defines ExerBlast. A parent of three, Sunderland
is a tech guy with a background in business and education. From a table and a
laptop, he runs the lights and programs that keep the ExerBlast missions moving
right along. I peppered him with questions about how they came up with so many
great ways to marry gaming with exercise. According to Sunderland,
ExerBlast offers a physical way into the often overlooked benefits of gaming,
among them specific goals, concrete challenges, rewards and victories. And, as
my kids can happily attest to, blasters strive to reach certain point
thresholds so they can “level up” to new challenges and even earn prizes.
Future plans for the ExerBlast experience are many and
varied. From offering specific classes for children with special needs to
designing and creating new apps for use both in and out of the ExerBlast space,
there are many things pinned to the drawing board. And the ExerBlast team also
has an eye toward expansion. Plans are in the works for a future franchise
model. Soon enough we could be seeing ExerBlasts popping up all over the
country. Until then you’ll have to travel to Tribeca to get blasting but it is
certainly worth the trip.
As my brood’s sweaty, flushed faces could attest, ExerBlast
is a truly an out-of-this-world adventure.
For more information on birthday parties and
adventures at ExerBlast, visit www.newyorkfamily.com and click on our Birthdays
tab.
