Let's Move Outside
Tomorrow is National Trails Day! Let's Move Outside
On June 4, 2011, the American Hiking Society will hold its 19th annual National Trails Day® (NTD), a celebration of America's magnificent trails system and its countless supporters and volunteers. This year’s NTD theme is, “Made With All Natural Ingredients,” which supports Let’s Move! Outside (LMO), the outdoor activity component of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. Together, LMO and NTD have inspired land managers and other local and state organizations to host nearly two thousand events nationwide to help connect people, especially youth, with our nation’s extensive trail system.
Kids Move Outside and Experience Fishing on Lake Bastrop
Last Saturday morning, the sun shone brightly over Lake Bastrop near Austin, Texas, where 28 kids and 14 boat captains joined hundreds of volunteers to experience the joys of fishing at the Bureau of Reclamation's 8th Annual Catch A Special Thrill event.
Get Outside and Be Active: National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
Warmer weather brings a greater opportunity to get outside and be active! To encourage all of us to incorporate physical activity into our daily lives, President Obama signed a proclamation declaring May National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, a tradition that started in 1983. In the proclamation, President Obama calls on the American people to make daily physical activity, sports participation, and good nutrition a priority in their lives.
Let’s Move! to grow more Community Gardens
Spring is here and that means it is time to get your hands in the soil and start gardening! As part of Let’s Move! Faith and Communities, First Lady Michelle Obama has challenged congregations and neighborhood organizations to plant gardens in their communities.
Colorado Students Celebrate the International Year of Forests by Planting Trees
More than 1,200 students, teachers and Scouts recently planted 4,500 trees at the Monument Fire Center on the Pike National Forest in Celebration of the International Year of Forests and as part of an ongoing restoration project in the area. The event brought elementary school students from Rockrimmon and Discovery Canyon Campus schools in Colorado Springs, Colo., to learn about forests, the role of fire in the ecosystem and how forests protect water. Another 1,500 trees were planted by Boy and Girl Scouts from the area.
National Parks Service Looks Into Healthy Foods in America’s Parks
If you’ve been following the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, you know that eating healthy and getting active go hand-in-hand. Thanks to the National Parks Service’s new Healthy Foods Strategy, it will be easier than ever to enjoy healthy foods and exercise at America’s beautiful national parks.
Young People Plant Coastal Garden to Benefit Endangered Sea Turtles
Under a bright Hawaiian sun, a group of girls ages 11 to 18 planted a special vegetable garden that will not only teach others about ecosystems but will also help endangered sea turtles. The project is inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Lets Move! campaign and the USDA People’s Garden Initiative. The girls, who attend the same church in Mililani, Hawaii, needed a community service project. Sea Life Park on Oahu had land and a seed of an idea to plant a garden. The U.S. Forest Service helped to bring the two groups together.
Secretary Vilsack Announces Local Projects to Help Kids Get Outdoors
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday the infusion of $1 million from the current U.S. Forest Service budget toward projects and programs that get kids outside to experience the great outdoors, connect with nature and help nurture future land stewards.
Spring 2011 Kitchen Garden Planting video
Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama, along with school children from DC-area schools Bancroft Elementary and Harriet Tubman Elementary, planted the kitchen garden. Now in its third year, this planting season the garden included spinach, peas, lettuce, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries and other vegetables and herbs.
Success Story: Let's Move Gets Musical in Massachusetts!
In New Bedford, Massachusetts a group of teenagers is putting its passion for the outdoors into music, using catchy beats and smooth moves to persuade other young people to get moving outside. As part of the Youth Ambassador Program (YAP!) at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, these young people – the “Yappers” is their recording name – share their experiences learning about and exploring their city through creative media. In their latest music video, inspired by the First Lady’s Let’s Move Outside initiative, the Yappers call upon their peers to get up, and get going: “Don’t be a couch potato; just get up off your feet. Go play a game or two and keep on rocking to this beat!”
