The children at Arkville Head Start will soon have a new outdoor play space, and they will be heading outside this week for special programs to increase play while celebrating the environment.
Delaware Opportunities is one of 351 recipients nationwide of a $5,000 grant from the Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play.
Beginning today and running through Friday, all Delaware County Head Start centers will take part in Take It Outside! Week, John Eberhard, Delaware Opportunities executive director, said Friday.
"We are going to be having activities at each of our centers," Eberhard said. "We are not sure what will be going on each day because that will depend on the weather."
The Head Start centers have been provided with information from the website www.headstartbodystart.org on which to base their Take It Outside! activities, Eberhard said.
According to the website, children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation. Free play and discretionary time has declined more than nine hours a week during the last 25 years. The percentage of preschool children who are overweight has more than tripled between 1971 and 2009.
Encouraging children to get outside, get moving and connect with the natural world are all ways to reverse childhood obesity rates, the website said.
Some of the recommended activities include: inviting parents to outdoor play time, hosting a healthy picnic, inviting high school students to lead activity stations, hosting a fall yardwork day to rake leaves and plant bulbs, creating a painted rock garden or planning a nature walk.
Eberhard said he would have liked to apply for grants for all of the Delaware County Head Start sites but was told that only one site would be awarded a grant. Arkville was chosen because it needed new equipment.
"We appreciate Head Start Body Start for helping us evaluate our play space and educate our children and their families about the value of physical activity and playing outdoors," said Kyle Holden, Arkville Head Start lead teacher.
Holden said the grant will make it possible for the center to encourage children to try new activities and be more active.
Each Head Start Center that won a grant will also receive training and technical assistance from a physical-activity consultant and will have access to online courses, webinars and resource materials.
Eberhard said the Arkville Head Start Center has not yet received the new equipment or the training associated with the grant.
The purpose of Head Start Body Start is to increase physical activity, outdoor play and healthy eating among the children, their families and the staff. The program focuses on structured and unstructured physical activity that leads to the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of young children while reducing obesity.
The National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play was created through a federal grant to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation from the Office of Head Start.
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