Screen time is taking away play time. Make room for play. Make Room for Play Campaign Presentation – 2015

It’s Time to Make Room for Play Active play among kids is on the decline in Canada and around the world. The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that Canadian kids aged 5 –17, accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity each day. Only 5% of 5-to 17-year olds are meeting the recommendations.* While there is no singular cause or silver bullet solution to this inactivity issue, one of the contributing factors is related to the increased time that kids spend in sedentary behaviours - especially in front of screens. Make room for play. * Canadian Health Measures Survey, Statistics Canada.

It’s Time to Make Room for Play Canadian kids aged 3-4 spend 5.8 hours a day being sedentary, those aged 5-11 spend 7.6 hours and those aged spend 9.3 hours.* 73% of parents report their kids aged 5-19 watch TV, read, or play video and computer games during the after-school period - between the end of the school day and suppertime. Make room for play. * Canadian Health Measures Survey, Statistics Canada.

It’s Time to Make Room for Play Active play is a valuable activity that can contribute to children’s daily physical activity levels – and its inexpensive, accessible, easy, spontaneous, and fun! Active play offers cognitive, emotional and social development benefits. It has been shown to improve and foster motor function, creativity, decision-making and problem- solving skills. Active play allows kids to develop physical literacy – the fundamental movement skills that will provide the foundation for learning fundamental sports skills at older ages. Let’s help Canadian families swap screen time for fun, active PLAY! Make room for play.

The ‘Make Room for Play’ Campaign Without doubt, the typical Canadian family leads a hectic life. While parents universally acknowledge that kids need physical activity to be healthy, it often gets sidelined due to competing priorities and “lack of time”. And for busy families, sometimes it’s just easier to get something done if you sit kids down in front of a TV to watch a show or hand over your smartphone/tablet to amuse them with games. Moderating kids' “screen time” (which includes TV, videos, DVDs, computers, video games, and handheld devices) is key for freeing up time to get active. In January 2015, ParticipACTION launched the Make Room for Play campaign to encourage families to reclaim active play time back from screen time. Make room for play.

The ‘Make Room for Play’ Campaign Sharable Videos –The campaign includes a series of provocative 30 second commercials that asks parents to think about their own family’s screen time habits at the expense of active play time. Parent Resources –Solution-oriented tips, tools and strategies that helps parents wrestle control back over screens, and inspirational activity ideas that enable parents to play an active role in helping their kids get the physical activity they need, are all available on the website and ParticipACTION’s social media channels. Communication Tools –Downloadable Communication Tools are available for all physical activity promoters to use for their own audiences. Make room for play.

Video Creative Make room for play. All videos are available at:

Communication Tools Communication tools are available to help motivate audiences to swap screen time for active play. All tools can be downloaded at Co-branded tools are available online for the following partner provinces: o British Columbia o Nova Scotia o New Brunswick o Newfoundland and Labrador Make room for play.

Poster Make room for play. Web Button Twitter Image Communication Tools Social Media Guide

Online Resources Bring Back Play app Sharable Blog Content Make room for play. Tips for reducing screen time Cold Weather Activity Checklist Sharable Infographics Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines

Help Canadian Families Make Room for Play We all need to play a part in encouraging Canada’s kids to be as active as possible – to make room for play by turning virtual play into real, active play! Here’s how you can help: Print the poster and tips sheets or share these digitally on social media Use the pre-written posts (and images) in the social media kit on your own Facebook or Twitter pages Don’t forget to promote the hashtag #MakeRoomforPlay Post the web button on your website Share a blog post Make room for play.

Don’t Forget about Unplug and Play Week! Celebrate Unplug & Play Week from March 23 – 27, Unplug & Play Week is an initiative designed to nudge parents into ACTION by: creating motivation and incentives for parents to turn virtual playtime into real playtime for their children engaging parents in dialogue about ways to overcome the barrier of too much screen-time Communication tools have been developed to help spread the word about this week of active play, including: Unplug & Play Checklist with a week’s worth of ideas Customizable certificate to award kids if they stay active for all 7 days Posters and banners for your website or social media pages Learn more at: