Global Green + You = Healthy, Happy Kids at School

By Heidi Drake

Every time I drop my girls off at their school in Sunriver, Oregon, I realize how blessed they are to be entering a newly remodeled facility in a picturesque resort setting.

Not all kids are so lucky. That’s why Play Outdoors has been an enthusiastic supporter of Global Green and their Green Schools Initiative, which supports the building, remodeling, and all-around “greening up” of educational facilities across the country. You can get involved, whether your kids attend an older, urban school that needs serious help or they could just stand to kick their school’s eco-consciousness up a notch.

“How?” you ask—it’s up to you!

•    A little goes a long way. If your kids attend a newer school or you don’t have time to dive completely into green school advocacy, there are still ways you can make a difference. My daughter Maya’s Daisy Scout troop raised awareness for reusing and recycling by starting a can drive and using recycled materials for crafts, and her kindergarten class planted a garden on school grounds.

Let's Go Camping!

Oregon State Parks and Play Outdoors help you get started

By Kevin Farron

Are tent poles and tent stakes the same thing? Should I bring firewood or a chainsaw? What the heck are we going to eat and how are we gonna cook it? Do I really need a -10 or 30-degree sleeping bag? And what exactly does poison ivy look like?

Relax. PlayOutdoors.com and Oregon State Parks have got you covered. The park department's Let's Go Camping program offers families who are new to this whole camping thing the opportunity to try-before-they-buy, learn-before-they-burn and know-before-they-go. Providing free gear rentals, ranger-led camping basics, owl prowls, plant identification, fire safety and Dutch oven cooking, Let's Go Camping has something for everyone!

The group camping outings are only $20 per family and include overnight costs, parking fees and all programs. Did we mention they provide sweet gear as well? From stoves to sleeping pads and tents to sleeping bags, they've got you covered. There's no better way to learn to camp, and there's certainly no better deal. Oh, and did we mention, Let's Go Camping provides all the S'mores you can stomach? Sweet!

Check out Let's Go Camping's website for dates, host parks and how to register. Happy camping!

Kids@Heart: Inspiring Kids to Get Healthy Outside

By Heidi Drake

It seems we parents are having trouble these days finding the balance between raising inactive, obese video game kids and superathletes who push themselves so hard they’re dropping on the playing field or court—often for the last time.

Thankfully, there are companies like Play Outdoors that are committed to helping families get outside and live healthy, balanced lifestyles (yeah, we're cool with tooting our own horn), and we’re always stoked to find like-minded organizations. Like Kids@Heart. A regional group started by Central Oregon’s St. Charles Healthcare System, Kids@Heart began offering cardiovascular screenings for middle and high school athletes in an effort to reduce the alarming number of sports-related fatalities among this age group. The screenings soon grew to include cholesterol, height, weight, and blood pressure tests, and a secondary goal arose: put a stop to childhood obesity.

Winter Reads for All Ages

By Meredith Russell

As a fan of this blog, you probably spend much of your free time outside with your kids.  But alas, there do come days and nights when freezing temperatures or pounding rain make snuggling up with a good book a better option.  When you can’t get outdoors, bring winter indoors! Check out these books which capture the joys and fascination of frosty play and work outdoors.

Picture Books: Birth - Kindergarten
 
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Martin won the Caldecott Medal in 1999, an annual award given for a distinguished American picture book.  The book features Wilson Bentley, a boy who loves snow and tinkers with a camera to capture snow’s beauty. 

A Caldecott Honor book, Snow, by Uri Shulevitz, tells of a boy and his dog as they watch snow fall and transform their city. 

Also a Caldecott Honor book, The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, captures the thrill of waking up to a snow-covered world.

Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Discovery Kids (DK) presents a series of great books on many topics, including Snow Dogs.  This series is made up of great read-aloud or read-alone books your kids will enjoy and learn from.

In this installment of the popular Weather Fairy series, Crystal the Snow Fairy faces snow in the summer! Gasp!  Your enthusiastic reader will beg to read more of this large series.

 

Take It Outside with Outdoor Nation and Play Outdoors

By Heidi Drake

We get a tingly feeling inside when we connect with others who share our vision of dirty, happy, well-rounded kids and their families fully experiencing the wonders of the great outdoors—Man, we love Outdoor Nation.

Remember them?  We sent delegate Kevin Farron to NYC earlier this summer to the 2010 Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and he was one of 500 young people (aged 13-30) to tell it like it is and help prepare a special report for President Obama and the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. And, as a member of O.N.’s “inner circle” (we feel so special!), Play Outdoors got the scoop on what these young Outsiders had to say, with additional help from online participants who chimed in later:

•    The main perceived barriers keeping our younger generation from getting outside were: Too Expensive, Dirty and Uncomfortable, Perception of Danger, and Actual Danger

•    Challenges with transportation, overbooked school and extracurricular activities, and parental interest were listed as things to overcome

Play Outdoors in NYC: Representin’ at the 2010 Outdoor Nation Youth Summit

By Heidi Drake

Let The Revolution Begin!

Part of Play Outdoors’ passion for the outdoors is how time spent outside seems to encourage our kids to appreciate and want to take care of Mother Nature’s wonders.  In fact, 92% of the young adult delegates at the 2010 Outdoor Nation Youth Summit in New York City agreed that outdoor exposure was the most important factor in raising new environmentalists and naturalists.

And Play Outdoors was there.  Proud to be among a group of Program Partners and Sponsors like CamelBak, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Sierra Club, we sent delegate Kevin Farron to the Big Apple to check out the two-day event, held in Central Park.  All 50 states were represented by 540 youth delegates, who attended seminars and worked in small groups to share ideas and solutions regarding our environment and the importance of outside time for us all.

Bad Kids' Clothes Are No Fun!

How kids' apparel choices affect outside play.

By Heidi Drake

 I was waiting for my first grader in front of her school the other day—it was 29° outside and I was shivering a bit even in my down jacket, hat, gloves, and snow boots. As the stream of students flowed out the front doors, I was shocked to see the assortment of flip-flops, PJ pants, and no-jacket ensembles the kids were wearing; and it wasn’t just the middle schoolers.

I’m one of those moms who lets my girls dress themselves (pretty much), but I do have rules about clothing fitting properly and being both weather and age appropriate. I’m also a firm believer that kids need to spend as much time outside as they can, without risking illness or injury because of their clothes.

According to a recent article on kids' poor clothing choices and based on a study published by the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, inappropriate clothing directly affects how much time our children get to play outside and the quality of that important time. Over 50 child care providers were interviewed and stated that the following “clothing mistakes” cause them to limit or eliminate outdoor play at their facilities: inadequate weather protection (no coats, hats, or gloves in winter or sun hats and light cover-ups for warm weather), unsuitable footwear (flip-flops, open-toed sandals), and fancy or expensive clothing that needed to be treated with care.

Getting the Most Out of Play is Simple!

Parents have a long list of aspects to worry about when it comes to their children’s development. Not only should we consider what kids eat, read, are exposed to and how much exercise they get; but we have to worry about how kids play too.

In past generations, children were not given visually stimulating, colorfully manufactured toys, time in goal-oriented playgroups and safe plastic play structures. Instead, they had to search around the yard, field or woods and make toys and games out of what scraps they could find with the other kids in the neighborhood.

They had to learn the hard way how to play well with others and to avoid injury, and at the same time they were unconsciously developing a foundational understanding of the world around them.

We’ve generally accepted that today’s world of over-engineered kids’ accouterments is not only healthy but necessary. Or is it?

What if we simply remove all the plans, products and manufactured crutches, and let our kids actually learn more fundamentally and develop necessary skills on their own?  It can work.  Really.

We know most kids these days are not given enough time for unstructured play, a hot topic often discussed at Play Outdoors (as a highly recommended part of our kids’ lives). Not only can unstructured outdoor play boost immunity, spark imagination, and increase fitness, it can heighten kids social skills. Because the most common type of unstructured outdoor play takes place in the neighborhood with local kids, “…outdoor play is often the easiest way for all sorts of diverse personalities, abilities, and ages to interact.”

Leading the Charge for Greener Learning

By Ben McKinley

In a previous post, I mentioned the good work being done by Global Green USA. The mission of this group is "focused on stemming global climate change by creating green buildings and cities." 

Global Green has roots in Russia—it was founded by former President Mikhail S. Gorbachev “to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future by reconnecting humanity with the environment." Some high-level agenda items include nuclear disarmament and providing safe drinking water for 12.4 billion people who lack access today. In the U.S., Global Green’s primary focus is building green cities and schools.

It’s no secret that many schools are old and have unknown toxic materials in their bones—including asbestos and lead paint, among others. Not to mention, the layouts of these facilities tend to be dark, cramped and depressing. To combat this issue and provide healthier, most aesthetically pleasing schools for our children, Global Green USA started the Green Schools Initiative in 2004, which was created to provide school builders and architects with green and sustainable options, sources and techniques to use in the design/construction process. It’s a no-brainer, really. If the work is being done anyway, there are obvious benefits to considering energy efficiency and reduced use of toxic materials, and obtaining ongoing education on the subject. 

Green Spotlight: Kidsforsavingearth.org

A review of this environmental education website & organization

By Ben McKinley

In previous posts, we've looked at some great organizations that are taking the lead in producing and publishing new content to the web that can help us teach our children about sustainability and healthy living. And we’re not done yet. 

Kidsforsavingearth.org is committed to encouraging and promoting green living, and educating kids of all ages on all kinds of environmental topics. 

This non-profit was started as a legacy to a young boy, Clinton Hill, who lost his battle with cancer before he reached his teens. This New Hope, MN boy was a devoted environmentalist, who recognized how our earth was being abused in many ways. He not only noticed it; he took action and helped make some positive changes in his elementary school classroom. Kidsforsavingearth.org targets teachers and parents, providing them with educational content for the home and classroom.