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may 2015 News
Send a Kid to a Park: DONATE

Are you ready? Kids to Parks Day is this Saturday, May 16th.  Both KTP Day and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative are celebrating their fifth anniversaries! #GimmeFive is Let’s Move’s theme and the First Lady is inviting you to share five things you can do to live healthier lives this year. To help you get started, we are sharing five ways you can get involved in Kids to Parks Day. Also, remember to pledge to participate for a chance to win one of our fun prizes! 


 

Check Out One of Our 50+ Bloggers! Below are Five to Follow

Emily Knight, mom of two and creator of Our Knight Life: Family & Life in Las Vegas.
Her latest post is full of great ideas for local families!
 
Patricia Hall, the blogger behind Fairfax Family Fun. Check out her blog for KTP Day activity ideas and events in Fairfax County, Virginia!
 
Lauren Breeze, at Nashville Fun for Families; provides various fun activities to try on your park trip and a great summer guide for future park adventures. Read more on her blog!
 
Annie Yearout, in Mill Valley, California, mom of two and creator of Outdoorsy Mama. She recently posted a great list of  21 ways to celebrate Kids to Parks Day!
 
Erin Kirkland, mother and blogger at AKontheGO, Alaska’s first website for family travel. Read more about KTP Day and check out park events in Alaska on her recent post!
 

 

Attend a Kids to Parks Day Event at a Park Near You!
 

Here are five different events. For more information about events all across the country, visit kidstoparks.org.

Boulder, CO: Stop by Scott Carpenter Park for a ton of fun activities. Try their climbing wall, work on your skating and hula hooping skills, or play bubble soccer!
 
Washington, D.C.: Meet up at Lincoln Memorial Plaza with your bike, a helmet, and plenty of water and sunscreen for a special tour of the memorials on the National Mall! This ranger-led tour will take you all across the National Mall (and even to some memorials you may not have heard of!).
 
Baton Rouge, LA: Head over to nearby Port Hudson State Historic Site for a guided nature hike with a park ranger! Afterwards, go on a special park scavenger hunt.
 
Flint, MI: Are your kids interested in meeting birds of prey and learning more about them? Stop by the Bird Nerd Festival at For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum and find out more about attracting birds to your own backyard!
 
Seattle, WA: Visit Saint Edward State Park to learn about local wildlife, bike repair, recycling, and more! If your kids want to try their hand at a real-life treasure hunt, attend a workshop on geocaching.
 

 

























5 Ways to Engage Your Family in Outdoor Play

Our thanks to Susan Sachs Lipman, creator of Slow Family Online, for this terrific information.
 
The benefits of outdoor play for people of all ages are well documented. Numerous studies show that time spent in nature impacts every area of children's development–physical, psychological, intellectual, social, and emotional. One of the best ways to impart nature’s joys and benefits to our kids is by joining them outdoors and adding a sense of play to our outdoor time.
 
In honor of the fifth anniversary of both Kids to Parks Day and the U.S. Play Coalition’s recent Conference on the Value of Play, here are five ways to engage your family in outdoor play.
 
 

  1. Start close to home.

    There’s no need to wait until you find a perfect trail or take a vacation to a national park. Look for the “nearby nature” that is close to your home. Bring a magnifying glass or binoculars on your next trip to your local park to get close-up looks at flowers, birds, bugs, butterflies, and other creatures and plants.
 
  1. Keep your plans simple.

    Try to plan activities that work for your child’s attention span and honor his or her limits and pace. When hiking, start with easy loop walks and time them well before or after naptime. Bring plenty of water, snacks, sunscreen, a hat, good shoes and other comfort items. In addition, let your kids slowly explore, even if that means you don’t cover a lot of ground. The experience outside is key, not the mileage.
 
  1. Get the whole family involved.

    Young children enjoy learning what their parents did at their age. Did you make daisy chains, build sand castles, go fishing, or gaze at the stars? You may have played playground games like Duck, Duck, Goose; Mother May I?; or Freeze Tag. If so, it’s time to play again. (Here are rules for games to play in parks.)
 
  1. Turn walks or outings into scavenger hunts.

    Sometimes a hunt is just what it takes to turn a walk or a park outing into an adventure. Before you go, make a list of 10 things to search for, such as a pond, a duck, a dandelion, a yellow wildflower, a nest, a feather, or a hollow log. You could create items that are more open-ended, too: something rough, something orange, or a heart-shaped leaf or rock.  
 
  1. Bring friends or another family.

    Friends can help make an outing more fun, and they can help you with resources if your family isn’t particularly comfortable in nature. Join families across the U.S. for Kids to Parks Day on May 16, or join a club, group or family nature club for outdoor activity buddies throughout the year.

 
Have fun outdoors!
For more resources about play, see the inaugural edition of the U.S. Play Coalition’s Play Pulse.

 

Join Us as We Honor Senator Rob Portman (OH)

Senator Rob Portman (OH) will receive the 2015 Bruce F. Vento Public Service Award on Tuesday, June 16th at the Newseum. Save the date and join us in celebrating this outstanding park conservationist.
 
Senator Portman serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and is on the Subcommittee on National Parks; the Finance Committee and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; as well as on the Budget Committee.
 
Among his many accomplishments, which include his work to launch the National Parks Centennial Initiative while serving as director of OMB during the Bush Administration, Senator Portman has also co-sponsored the Senate Resolution for Kids to Parks Day in 2015 (along with Senators Ron Wyden, OR; Mazie Hirono, HI; Cory Booker, NJ; Martin Heinrich, NM; and Michael Lee, UT) and in 2014 (along with Senators Wyden, Mary Landrieu, LA; and Mark Udall, CO).
 
For more information on how to support this special event, including sponsorship opportunities and tickets, contact Grace Lee at grace@parktrust.org or Cynthia Rodriguez at cynthia@parktrust.org or call us at 301-279-7275. All proceeds benefit NPT’s park preservation and youth education programs.

 


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