Giovanni and Alice Cassannello were looking to start a business that would be different and interesting, so they hopped on the Fun Bus. Like so many children who have boarded, themselves, they’ve enjoyed lots of fun.

Your children can climb aboard, too.

The Fun Bus is the brainchild of a New Jersey mother-daughter team who sought to add a new dimension to their day-care center. It is a full-sized school bus equipped with padded and safe gymnastics equipment that provides fitness fun for children ages 2 – 7. It never moves and is climate-controlled with heat and air to ensure a comfortable environment any time of year. Best of all, it comes to you, whether it’s for a birthday party, day care or summer camp.

The Fun Bus brings an interactive approach to improving children’s gross motor skills, coordination and physical fitness. Children may not realize that they are exercising, but their health will thank them for it. The Fun Bus philosophy is to enhance classroom learning experiences via a highly entertaining, hands-on approach to fitness.

The concept has rapidly caught on with day care operators, church groups and parents. Today there are 31 Fun Bus owners operating in 10 states, and the fleet is growing.

The Cassannellos, owners of the South Carolina Fun Bus, are pleased to be able to continue working with children. Giovanni’s background in coaching recreational sports and Alice’s background as a religious education director and supervisor of an after-school program led them to stumble across the Fun Bus franchise.

“When we went to see a Fun Bus operation, the music was blaring and the kids on the bus were going wild,” Alice Cassannello said. “They were jumping, punching, swinging; the bus was rocking with their activities. It made me want to get down and play peek-a-boo with one of the two-year-olds. When he laughed and I saw a big smile on his face, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.”

“We’ve seen reports on how children are being diagnosed with diabetes and obesity at a younger age, and we just wanted to focus on something positive and healthy,” Giovanni Cassannello said. “Children used to get plenty of exercise during the day riding their bikes, taking physical education and playing outside. Now we see that children spend more time on video games, and there are cutbacks in physical education and an increase in cost for outside sports activities.”

But the Fun Bus can help — and make it fun. Call 843-797-2236, or e-mail lowcountrysc@funbuses.com .