Greater Scranton YMCA Kicks Off Summer with Annual Healthy Kids Day

The Greater Scranton YMCA is hosting the Y’s annual Healthy Kids Day® on Saturday, May 21st, encouraging families to take a moment to help kids be kids and set them up for a summer of success. Sponsored by Howard Johnson®by Wyndham, the day-long event will feature activities such as a petting zoo, rides, healthy cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, a kid’s fun run and more to motivate and teach families how to develop and maintain healthy routines at home.

“At the Y, we believe in the potential of all children and each day we work to help kids find that potential within themselves,” said Trish Fisher, President & CEO, Greater Scranton YMCA. “Healthy Kids Day is a fun, free community-wide event to kick off summer and remind us all how important it is for kids to stay active physically and mentally throughout the summer.”

Celebrating its 30thanniversary in 2022, Healthy Kids Day is the Y’s national initiative to improve health and well-being for kids and families. The Y hopes to use the day to get more kids moving and learning, creating healthy habits they can continue while they’re away from the classroom. When kids are out of school, they can face hurdles that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Research shows that without access to out-of-school learning activities, kids fall behind academically. Kids also gain weight twice as fast during summer than during the school year. With all that’s going on in the world right now, Healthy Kids Day is a reminder to families that we can help ensure all children have access to what they need to reach their full potential, even during out-of-school time.

Keeping Kids Healthy All Summer Long

In celebration of YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the Y offers the following tips to help families develop healthy habits this summer that can have a lifetime effect:

• High Five the Fruits and Veggies–Make sure kids get at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day, the minimum number nutritionists recommend for healthy childhood development. And to keep kids’ taste buds evolving, have everyone in the family try at least one bite of a new fruit or vegetable at least once a month.
• Read Together –The summer is a great time to enjoy books with summer program participants—and 30 minutes a day goes a long way! Take trips to the local library or create a family reading challenge to see who can log the most minutes of reading. Encourage youth to create their own stories as well.
• Get Moving! –Activities that require movement also help kids flex their mental muscle. Use materials in unique ways: ask youth to build models, manipulate tools or develop their own theatrical scenes.
• Play Together –Play may be the best way to prevent childhood obesity. By putting more play into your family’s day, you will soon find yourself getting the activity that will have your family feeling energized and strong.
• Make sleep a priority–Doctors recommend 10-12 hours of sleep a day for children ages 5-12 and 7-8 hours per night for adults. Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining our healthy immune system, metabolism, mood, memory, and learning.

TheGreater Scranton YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day will take place atthe Y’s facility, located at 706 N. Blakely Street, Dunmore, from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. The Kids Fun Run (pre-registration not required) will begin with the 3-5-year-old race from 10:30-10:40 a.m. followed by ages 6-9 from 10:45-10:55 a.m. and the 10-14-year-old race from 11:00-11:10 a.m. Additional features of the day include a petting zoo, rides, vendor fair, face painting, healthy cooking demonstrations and more.

Locally, Healthy Kids Day is sponsored byHighmark Blue Cross Blue Shield,Community Bank,Johnson,Matrix Fitness,Rainey & Rainey CPA,Topp Business Solutions,Northeastern Rehabilitation Associates,Brucelli Advertisingand NET Credit Union.

For more information, contact Brandon Whipple, Wellness Director, at bwhipple@greaterscrantonymca.org or call (570) 828-3116 or visit the Y online at www.greaterscrantonymca.org.