For a day, these kids came off the grid Boys and Girls Club hosts program designed to fight childhood obesity
By DAN HIGGINS, Staff writer First published: Sunday, September 28, 2008
ROTTERDAM -- The TV screens and splashy Web pages of the kid-friendly Nickelodeon network went dark for a few hours Saturday afternoon, encouraging kids all over the country to go out and play.
In Rotterdam at the Boys and Girls Club on Curry Road, it meant an afternoon filled with games like musical basketball and line-dancing to songs like "Soldier Boy" and "Cha-Cha Slide."
The network and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America sponsor a Worldwide Day of Play to raise awareness of the risks of childhood obesity. From noon until 3 p.m. Saturday, Nick's television network and Web site went dark, reminding young fans of programs like "Dora the Explorer" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" that events were scheduled around the country at local Boys and Girls Clubs.
At Rotterdam, about 30 kids, a handful of parents, and club leaders in bright green t-shirts circulated around a large gymnasium. Rotterdam Police Department representatives printed ID cards for children, and a costumed character called Jackie the Jester wandered the hardwood floor. It was kid-friendly chaos in the name of physical activity.
The threat of rotten weather scuttled plans for an outdoor climbing wall, but children like Shamere Pinn and Destiny Narain, both 11, didn't seem disappointed that this Day of Play took place indoors instead of outside.
"Children live in too much of a digital world. They spend too much time sitting in front of electronics, and I think they've lost touch with the "real" world," said Julie McKane, the club's program director.
She said the club is open year-round and charges a membership fee of $5 a year, and events like Saturday's encourage kids and families who are not members to see the activities that are available as a year-round alternative to televisions, X-Boxes and iPhones.
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