Never heard of Worldwide Day of Play?

Huntley Park District’s Recreation Supervisor of Special Events and Marketing David Genty explained the idea behind Worldwide Day of Play, which is happening on Saturday, Sept. 22 in Huntley.

Genty answered a few questions from Huntley Patch via email about the origin of the day and what the park district has planned.

Huntley Patch: What is Worldwide Day of play?

Genty: Worldwide Day of Play was an initiative originally started by Nickelodeon encouraging everyone to turn off their TV’s and to get out and play!  Many schools, churches, libraries, and park districts created activities and programs on this day to give people something to do on these days. This event originally started in 2004 started by Nick’s campaign titled “Let’s Just Play”.

Editor's note: Nickelodeon is marking the day on Oct. 6 when its airwaves will go dark to encourage children to head outdoors and play. Huntley is commemorating the day a little earlier.

Huntley Patch: What made Huntley Park District hold this event for the first time?

Genty: This event is actually brought to you by the Huntley Park District, Kyuki-Do of Huntley, and Player’s Choice Academy.  Kyuki-Do of Huntley approached us and asked if we were planning anything for this day and once we started looking into some past events, we immediately knew we had to do something for this event because this is what the Park District stands for: Recreation for Generations.

Huntley Patch: What are some of the highlights of the park district’s Worldwide Day of Play?

Genty: This event is just a sample of some of the many programs we offer at the Park District along with programs Kyuki-Do of Huntley and Player’s Choice Academy offers.  We’ll be offering:

• Disc Golf on our new Disc Golf Course
• Martial Arts and Bully Prevention
• Fitness Classes including Zumba for both kids and adults
• Arts and crafts
• Pickle ball demonstrations and lessons
• Different sporting activities by Player’s Choice Academy
• A multi-dimensional obstacle course which will test your endurance and skills

Huntley Patch: Another activity is kidercise. What is kidercise?

Genty: Kindercise is a program that we offer to children ages 1-3 or 3-6 .  It encourages gross motor skills and social skill development through structured and unstructured activities.  Adult and child share, explore, and interact through a series of exercise, songs, dances, and games. 

Huntley Patch: How does doing family activities like this help children? Both

physically and emotionally?

Genty: Programs like this really help to bring families together but the main goal is for children to get outside and get active.  There are so many organizations in the community that offer great programs and this gives the opportunity to sample what we have to offer.  And this program isn’t just for children but it’s for people of all ages.  We always want to remember our tagline of “Recreation for Generations” and provide activities, programs, and events that suit everyone! No matter how young or old, we’ll have something for you!

Huntley Patch: What can parents do to promote this idea throughout the year?

Genty: Parents have such a huge influence in their children’s lives and making sure they lead an active life will directly reflect on their children.  Getting out and enjoying programs is what’s really important and ensuring everyone stays fit both mentally and physically is what is really important.