Parents are receiving lots of information about childhood obesity and health.  We are learning even more about the foods are children are eating and what they should be eating. But quite possibly one of the most important things parents have been told (or reminded of) is that children need to play, preferably for at least an hour each day.  Many sponsors are helping families make sure they get the recommended 60 minutes of active play including Nickelodeon Television and the Clorox2 Play 2Day Pledge as they offer parents and families ideas and tips for making that hour easily achieved.

Here are a few of the favorite ways; my family loves to play outdoors:

Make life a walk in the park, or in the neighborhood.  With the heat in Houston walks in the park aren’t always a “walk in the park.”  But with cooler weather moving in the whole family including our dog can take a walk and get out and about. My daughters love to take a walk, collect the mail, make sure our dog Jack stays safe and pick up little items of interest along the way like acorns, pine cones and flowers.   Sometimes our adventure includes scooters or bikes, depending on how much time we have to stay and play outside.

Splish splash this isn’t a bath.   One outdoor activity that my children love is a “splash pad.”  Thanks to the warm weather climate where we live some many parks and neighborhoods offer splash pads as a very popular amenity.  Each one may have a different theme from ocean creatures to barns, but one thing that they all have in common is children and families able to beat the heat while playing outside.  Many of them are right next to outdoor play structures, so our children can climb and run, swing and slide then take a few minutes to cool off in the spray of the cool water.

And the winner for outdoor play is . . .  swimming.   Whether it is a backyard in ground or above ground   pool, blow up pool the YMCA, or neighborhood pool our family can be found every week except for a few short winter months swimming with our little mermaids.  Jumping and splashing, beating the heat and sliding down the water slide are just a few things our family enjoys in the pool.  Pool parties with friends, swimming races and outdoor games are all part of having the pool open for the many long months that our warm weather climate offers.  With three girls in the house it is almost like having mermaids as they beg and plead for yet another chance to go swimming whether it is during the sweet summer time, the warm spring or as we fall into Fall.

Wherever we go or whatever we do to enjoy ourselves playing outside, one thing is for sure we need to take our go to bag with us full of sidewalk chalk, sunscreen, sunglasses, beach towels and snacks.  After all it pays to be prepared!

Once we get home, it also pays to be prepared with some excellent pre-treater, laundry detergent and stain removers because a family that spends this much time out and about is bound to come back with a stain or too.

In just a few days we are looking forward to a whole afternoon of outdoor play as we head to the splash pad.  It’s a half day of school next week and we are all looking forward to more than an hour in outdoor play.  It may be hard to do with the winter months coming up, but just to make sure we get our hour a day of play we took the Clorox Play2Day Pledge.   That should help to remind us!

What about you?  Will your family take the Clorox2 Play 2Day Pledge to help you get outside and play?

 

Disclosure

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.