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Issue: 6 / June 2012
E-Newsletter for Physical Activity Enthusiasts
Move More! |
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Message from the President
The sun is out, the temperature's up and it's time to get out and play! According to the newly released 2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, active play is on the decline in Canada. We all know play is fun, but did you know that it's also fundamental?
Play allows kids of all ages to try new things, test boundaries, learn from their mistakes and, perhaps most importantly, enjoy being active. It's also been shown to foster a child's creativity, problem-solving, decision-making, motor function and social skills.
So, cross a few things off your calendar and open your front door. Play tag. Chase the dog. Hide and seek. Grab your kids, or rediscover what it feels like to be a kid again yourself. Just get out and play!
Warmly,
Kelly
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ParticipACTION Updates
B.C. leads Canada with ParticipACTION partnership
On May 10, 2012, British Columbia announced the formalization of the first provincial partnership with ParticipACTION to further promote healthy living and physical activity in British Columbia.
Health Minister Michael de Jong and ParticipACTION president and CEO Kelly Murumets made the announcement on Move for Health Day by joining elementary school children for a fun lunchtime workout in Victoria, BC.
The Province is supporting the announcement with the investment of $6 million in the partnership with ParticipACTION.
"Unless immediate actions are taken today, British Columbia's students may be the first generation to have a shorter life span than their parents," said de Jong. "Physical activity is one way to combat obesity and increase life expectancy, and that is why we are bringing ParticipACTION to B.C. This partnership will help create a healthier, happier British Columbia."
"An active British Columbia is a strong and prosperous British Columbia," said Murumets. "Through this innovative model of federal/provincial/territorial collaboration, we will work together to support and encourage B.C. families to move more, every day. With the role that physical activity plays in promoting health, longevity, academic readiness, mental health and social cohesion, a society that moves more is a society that thrives."
For more information, please visit http://www.gov.bc.ca/health/
Click here to watch a video of the partnership event!
Active play: fun and fundamental
 Have you noticed that playgrounds and neighbourhood streets aren't bustling with kids playing like they used to be a generation ago? You're not alone.
Play comes in many forms, but it is generally freely chosen, spontaneous, self-directed and fun--another way of saying it's kids being kids. Unfortunately, active play is on the decline in Canada. According to the 2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, released on May 29, 46 per cent of Canadian kids are getting only three hours or less of active play per week--including weekends. Plus, kids spend 63 per cent of their free time after school and on weekends being sedentary.
The Report Card, released in partnership with ParticipACTION and the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO-HALO), assigns an "F" grade to Active Play and Leisure this year.
"This is alarming news, as active play is a promising, accessible and cost-effective solution to help Canadian children and youth meet the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines," says Elio Antunes, CEO of Active Healthy Kids Canada.
Active play may be fun, but it's certainly not frivolous.
"Kids of all ages should have regular opportunities for active play, where they can let loose, explore, run, climb, crawl and play in parks with friends, like their parents once did. Active play is enjoyable, but it is also shown to improve a child's motor function, creativity, decision-making, problem-solving and social skills," says Dr. Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific Officer, Active Healthy Kids Canada, and Director of HALO.
For more information on encouraging active play, please visit our ParticipACTION Tips Sheet.
Resource of the Month - FREE Materials Available on our Online Too lKit
To help inspire and inform Canadians, we've developed the ParticipACTION Tool Kit, which contains free communications materials that organizations can use to promote physical activity and sport participation.
Tool of the Month: A Parents Guide to Physical Activity Tips Sheet. Download this and other resources today and share them with clients, family, friends and coworkers.
Feel free to view and download the available materials online at the ParticipACTION Tool Kit webpage.
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Inspiring Words from our Active Living Ambassador
We need to move and play MORE
 With temperatures soaring and lighter evenings upon us, there's no better time to get outside and play. The dinner dishes can wait, the laundry will keep coming and checking your email can wait. Just as 'after-school' is an ideal time for kids to play outside, the 'after-dinner' period presents another opportunity... and for us big kids too!
With over half of Canadian adults considered inactive and only 7% of Canadian children and youth meeting the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, the message is clear: we need to move and play more. Now, who doesn't like the sound of that?!
Take a moment and visit our blog for more of this feature.
Happy playtime!
Catherine Cameron
Active Living Ambassador
For more tips and articles written by Catherine Cameron, Ambassador, Active Living, or to chat with her, visit the ParticipACTION Blog. Keep up to date with the latest ParticipACTION news and join in on the discussion, become a fan of our FACEBOOK group, follow us on TWITTER or check out our BLOG.
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Physical Activity News for Everyone
Make getting active the easy choice for your family
re:activity is a multi-media memo to parents from Saskatchewan in motion regarding physical activity. And the message? Your kids aren't as active as you think they are. But the good news is that it doesn't take a super hero to make physical activity the easy choice.
Click here to watch a webisode about how a Saskatchewan family tackles screen time and getting moving.
Faster. Higher. Stronger: As the London 2012 Olympic Games quickly approach, Canadian women in sport reflect on our greatest challenges and inspiring triumphs
 To appreciate the impact Canadian women have in sport, consider this: 84 years ago when
Amsterdam hosted the Summer Olympic Games, Canada's team included female athletes for the first time ever. And while those seven women accounted for less than eight percent of the 71 members, they succeeded in winning more than a quarter of the team's medals.
The contributions that track-and-field athletes Bobbie Rosenfeld, Jean Thompson, Ethel Smith, Myrtle Cook, Ethel Catherwood and Jane Bell, as well as swimmer Dorothy Prior, made to sport in Canada extend beyond the 1928 Games in which they first appeared. These trailblazers paved the way for countless other female athletes, including those preparing for the upcoming 2012 Summer Games in London, find similar success at the podium.
This year, female athletes constitute nearly 50 percent of the Canadian Olympic team. It's an impressive statistic that demonstrates how far Canada has come in terms of inclusion of women in sport. But is it too soon to kick up our cleats and celebrate? Karin Lofstrom, executive director of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport (CAAWS), thinks so.
To read the full article in Women of Influence magazine, please click here.
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Lifestyle Tips
Active play - today!
 Play allows children and youth of all ages to try new things, test boundaries, use their imaginations and, perhaps most importantly, enjoy being active. It has also been shown to foster and improve motor function, creativity, decision-making, problem solving and social skills. And, it's lots of fun! Unfortunately, the 2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card tells us that play is on the decline in Canada, and that Canadian kids are not playing actively in their "free time" after school and on weekends. To encourage active play, parents can encourage kids to play outside after school rather than watching TV, set aside family play time on the weekends and consider reducing the number of scheduled activities.
For more information on increasing opportunities for active play, please visit our Lifestyle Tips. |
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Highlights and Events
Nature Play Day Canada
Child and Nature Alliance of Canada
June 15
National
The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada invites you and your community to celebrate the joys of outdoor play and join us for Nature Play Day Canada! This Canada-wide day of playing in nature is all about finding a simple way to connect with nearby nature in your backyard, local park, schoolyard, rooftop garden . . . wherever really! Make Nature Play Day a day to invite someone out with you who may have forgotten how wonderful it is to play outside - help them reconnect with nature by planning a great day outside!
For more information visit the Child and Nature Alliance website.
Longest Day of PLAY
Bruce Grey Health Unit
June 21
Bruce Grey, ON
The PLAY in Bruce Grey physical activity project is pleased to announce Longest Day of PLAY on June 21, 2012. This event marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. The Longest Day of PLAY is designed to encourage Grey Bruce residents to get more active by taking this challenge. Prizes will be awarded to the municipalities with the highest percentage of their population who participate.
For more information about the event please visit Longest Day of PLAY website.
Free Teen Fitness Program
GoodLife Fitness
Month of June
National
The GoodLife Free Teen Fitness Program will be made available for youth aged 12 to 17 at all GoodLife Fitness clubs from coast to coast. The program will be made available seven days a week, between 8am to 4pm.
For more information on the program, or to register, visit the GoodLife Fitness website.
Recreation and Parks Month 2012!
Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO)
Month of June
Ontario
The theme of this year's Recreation and Parks Month is Hike it or Bike it! and PRO has created a new website to help promote recreation and parks in your community. Register your events online and promote the great trails in your community.
For more information, or other examples of how you can get involved in Recreation and Parks Month, visit
http://recandparksmonth.ca/
Learn the FUNdamentals
Strathcona County
June - August
Strathcona County, AB
Learn the FUNdamentals of being a kid through discovery of the trails at the Sherwood Park Natural Area, located just south of Sherwood Park. This parented program is a fun introduction for kids to running, and they'll learn about local plants and wildlife along the way. Run over roots, listen for frogs and turn over new leaves in this new program that will help develop fundamental movement skills for kids in a natural and safe environment.
For more information, or to register, visit the Strathcona Country website.
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
June 9
Toronto, ON
The TDSB is taking health and wellness beyond the classroom by launching the first-ever TDSB Fit for Life Fun-Run, and you're invited! This run is for everyone. Students, staff and community members are encouraged to lace up their sneakers!
For more information, or to register, visit the TDSB website.
Sports Day in Canada
ParticipACTION, CBC, True Sport
Sept 29
National
Sports Day in Canada, held this year on Saturday, September 29, 2012, is a national celebration of sport, from grassroots to high-performance levels, in communities across the country. Sports Day in Canada is presented by CBC Sports, Radio-Canada Sports, ParticipACTION and True Sport, working with national sporting organizations and their networks of coaches, athletes and enthusiasts.
If you're a team, organization, school or club, register your event soon and you will receive a FREE event celebration kit with posters, tattoos and banners, while quantities last. Plus, your event could be featured on the Sports Day in Canada broadcast!
To register your Sports Day in Canada event, please visit www.cbcsports.ca/sportsday.
For more event listings, or to promote your own events, visit the Events Calendar on our website. |
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Success Stories
"I'm Gonna Walk"
 Visit the ParticipACTION YouTube Channel and check out this fun and active video we've uploaded by Will Stroet called I'm Gonna Walk.
Will Stroet is an award-winning bilingual children's musician and educator who connects with kids through high-energy, interactive and educational music in English and French.
Will sings original songs about literacy, animals, sports, road safety and multiculturalism, transforming ordinary topics into an extraordinary musical experience.
Sing along and walk with Will: I'm Gonna Walk.
View other Success Stories, or submit your own, on the ParticipACTION website. To view Success Story videos, visit the ParticipACTION Channel on YouTube.
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If you would like to submit articles, events/programs or news to our e-newsletter, or for more information on ParticipACTION, please feel free to contact us by email at info@participACTION.com or visit our website at www.participACTION.com |
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