We’re excited to share our most recent campaign, Bring Back Play, which encourages parents to increase their children’s physical activity levels by bringing back the fun games and unstructured active play that used to be a part of every childhood.

What’s the value of play?

Active play may be fun, but it’s certainly not frivolous. Play allows youth of all ages to try new things, test boundaries and use their imaginations.

In addition to the physical health benefits, active play offers cognitive, emotional and social development benefits. It has been shown to improve and foster motor function, creativity, decision-making, problem-solving and social skills, the ability to control emotions and preschoolers’ speech. And, it’s lots of fun!

Unfortunately, 63% of Canadian kids free time after school and on weekends is spent being sedentary. We need to get our kids moving, and we’ve got plenty of great ideas, tips and information on bringing more play into your children’s lives.

Read up on Play

• Encouraging active play: View tips to increase activity time for your children
• Outdoor free-play: Learn how kids’ play environment is crucial to activity
• Highlights of the 2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card

Bring Back Play App

In order to help parents recall the games that they loved to play, and to, in turn, teach their own children how to play, we have created a web-based app full of classic, active games. These games include running games like “What Time is it Mr. Wolf?”, Ball games like “SPUD” and “Foursquare”, and team games that have stood the test of time, such as “Capture the Flag”.

Are you a health professional? Get involved.