The Celebrate the Young Child Collaborative (CYC) invites families with children from birth to 8-years-old to an evening full of play with Wheels on the Go!, the first CYC event of the 2026-27 school year.
This family-friendly event will be held at Wildwood Park on Myrtle Street in Crookston on Tuesday, September 22, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Crookston Public Schools Early Childhood Coordinator Gina Gunderson organizes these events, and she hopes that families will come out, socialize with other families, and enjoy an evening of fun activities and play time with their kids. “It’s really important for families to be able to come out and enjoy time with their children outside,” said Gunderson. “I thoroughly enjoy watching families connect during these events too, and so you see lots of great interactions with parents. The children are excited to see their friends if they’ve come from school or from childcare or whatnot, and so these events are made just to help support parents and great development with their children.”
Since this year’s theme is Wheels on the Go, Gunderson and the CYC wanted to try something new and bring in the big wheels for this event. “After looking back at what has been done in previous years, we’ve never done anything like this, so we’re excited,” Gunderson said. “We have some big wheels coming: a fire truck, possibly a surprise from Titan Machinery, and a payloader from the city. We have a great committee that works on different stations for families to explore throughout the evening, so there’ll be lots of other different activities and things that the kiddos can do with their families.”
In addition to all the activities, a healthy snack will be served courtesy of the Crookston Public Schools Food Service Department. Families will also be able to use the vast green space and play areas at Wildwood Park for their own activities and games. “Wildwood Park is has a very large green space, and so families can spread out and enjoy running in the grass,” said Gunderson. “There’s a large play structure. There are some swings. There’s a structure for younger kiddos, the two year olds and older, and some swings for babies, It’s an event for all families with young children.”
This event is free to attend and is sponsored by Crookston Public Schools and other CYC partners, including the Crookston Public Library, Polk County Family Resource Center, University of Minnesota Crookston, Polk County Public Health, RiverView Health, Our Saviors Lutheran School, and Tri-Valley Head Start.
