Thursday, September 22, 2011

Worldwide Day of Play!

Did you know that on September 24, 2011, kids and families are encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Day of Play to turn off the TV and play outside? I didn't know about it until I read it at Social Moms! I think it's a great idea, and one that my kids and I will be taking part in this year and every year from now on. There are way too many times that my kids get caught watching tv too long, and I'm always on them about getting outdoors. Especially since it's beginning to get cold and winter is right around the corner. They need all the fresh air that they can get! The exercise is great for them too, and being outside turns on my kids imagination like the click of a button! Worldwide Day of Play is Nickelodeons centerpiece and this year Clorox 2 is a proud sponsor! They want to know what our favorite outdoor activity is!

My kids and I are outside as much as we can be during the summer, and anytime it's nice outside! One our favorite things to do outside is to camp. Although we can't always make it to the lake (our favorite place to camp) we do have regular sleepovers in the back yard with the tent, campfire, and tons of bug spray! Sleeping outside is awesome during the summer and this year my kids liked to set the tent up on the trampoline so it's more comfortable!

We play outside a lot during the day too. We like to find rocks of all sizes and paint them, my daughter tries her hardest to find arrow heads while we are searching for rocks. When she does it's like she found a treasure! We make a game out of it a lot, with a map to the treasure! When we find enough rocks we bring the paint outside and sit down and make different designs on each rock. The kids love it, and I love not having to clean up a mess inside!

We also hunt for bugs a lot. We try to see how many different kinds of bugs we can find and then we look up what they eat, how they have babies, and their natural habitat. We always let the bugs go, but it's fun to find them. 

There are also a lot of days when we just jump on the trampoline. My kids have all sorts of different games that they have came up with for the trampoline. One is a "video game" in real life. I don't understand that one, but they know what they are talking about! 

I love being outdoors with my kids! I think it's great for them as well as myself and I would much rather be outside with them than watching them play video games or watch tv! Being outside brings out your imagination, and that's something that a lot of kids are missing nowadays. So, will you be outside on September 24th? I know I will!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.