Play Outside With Art will be a
project that unites 7 public schools in 7 cities (Acworth, GA, Newark,
NJ, Hartford, CT, Philadelphia, PA, New York, NY, Chicago,
IL, and Los Angeles, CA) to promote playing outside for youth through
art. The project consists of a traveling art mural on stretched canvas
(3 feet by 5 feet) with 100 empty square boxes for each school to fill
out about 7 boxes with paintings showing students
playing outside such as jumping rope, riding a bike, playing football and playing volleyball.
Each school will paint 7 of the empty squares with student created art
of children playing outside then take a photograph near the traveling
mural before packaging it and shipping it to the next school and there
will be a border for hundreds of students to
sign as a pledge.
Seattle Children's Research Institute recently completed a study, which appeared in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that nearly half U.S. children do not play outside, not even one hour per day. This is currently a dilemma that can be addressed with educational programs such as Play Outside With Art.
The website: http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/blog/post/Playing-Outside-Could-Lead-to-Healthier-Children.aspx states: "Childhood obesity has become one of the most widespread public health problems in the United States, and it has received tremendous media attention in recent years. Obesity in children and adolescents has also been thought to be a significant risk factor for cardiac disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure later in life."
Play Outside With Art, is a project that will impact many students. Childhood obesity is a national problem that effects many children in the U.S. According to the CDC, "In 2010, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese."
~ I. Hardesty
