Nickelodeon Networks is readying two campaigns to improve kids’ health, through physical activity and eating breakfast.
Next month Nick hosts its second “Let’s Just Play Worldwide Day of Play” with events, grants and a sweepstakes awarding cash for school fitness programs.
Nick goes off the air for three hours on a Saturday afternoon, Oct. 1, to encourage kids to play instead of watching TV.
The day also jumpstarts Nick’s “Let’s Just Play Giveaway” sweeps that will distribute more than $1 million through June (about $100,000 a month) in $5,000 prizes to fund fitness gear for winners’ school or community programs. The first winners, drawn from September entrants, will be announced on-air Oct. 1; sponsor Kellogg kicks in another $100,000 for the prize pool. Kids enter at Nick.com or Everythingnick.com or via entry forms in the October issue of Nickelodeon Magazine.
The sweeps extends Nick’s year-old “Let’s Just Play” grants program, which distributed $600,000-plus to 81 organizations and schools. Mini-documentaries of 2004 grant recipients will air in October on Nick.
New York-based Nick also sends show stars to lead play sessions for hurricane-displaced kids in Gulfport, MS; Mobile, AL; and Baton Rouge, LA.
“The ‘Worldwide Day of Play’ and the ‘Let’s Just Play Giveaway’ serve to elevate the importance of active play as an essential part of kids’ lives, and to provide safe, active places for kids to play,” said Nickelodeon Public Affairs Executive VP Marva Smalls in a statement. “Last year’s ‘Worldwide Day of Play,’ along with our grants program, demonstrated that kids will take the lead and help move the needle on this issue within their communities.”
Five hundred schools and community groups will host Day of Play events on Oct. 1; National Parent Teacher Associations will host local events as membership drives and fundraisers. Three hundred Boys & Girls Clubs of America chapters will reach 4.4 million kids via direct mail and online, encouraging them to play on Oct. 1, and the National Association for Sport & Physical Education has asked more than 70,000 physical education teachers to host play days.
Nick has piggybacked the campaign onto its sponsorship of the WNBA’s Be Fit Tour, and touts Day of Play in PSAs on-air and in October issues of the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.
Separately, Nick is running its second PSA encouraging kids to eat breakfast. The spot, animated by Rugrats creators Klasky Csupo, answers research that shows only half of kids eat breakfast each day (even though 68% of parents say their kids eat breakfast every day), and 44% choose what they’ll eat. The spot will run through yearend.
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