On Saturday, April 17th, the YMCA celebrated the nation's largest health day for children and families with YMCA Healthy Kids® Day. The fun and relaxing day was a chance for families to come and play together and learn more about ways to live healthier and longer lives. The national event was celebrated across the country at more than 1,700 YMCAs and was expected to draw more people than last year's 700,000 participants.

Families were able to enjoy games, demonstrations, arts and crafts, educational resources, healthy treats, giveaways and more. The RTC at Sand Point was happy to be a part of this great day and is proud to be a partner to the YMCA University District Chapter.Though the weather didn't exactly cooperate, kids played with QuickStart balls and rackets and got a feel for tennis.

As part of the fun, the RTC held a free raffle for a brand new Fischer Junior tennis racket and after the event, ticket # 147031 was pulled out of the box awarding Carrie Koelle and her family with the brand new racket! Congratulations to the Koelle family!!

Many thanks to the other participants of the raffle and the staff at the RTC hopes to see all the great kids and smiles at the summer camps.

To help promote the message of the YMCA Healthy Kids® Day event, here are some simple ways to put more play in kids’ day, and to get the family moving more, too!

1. Make physical activity a regular part of family play time – the more active kids are the more likely they are to continue being physically active later in life.
2. Allow kids to have unstructured playtime. All play is not created equal – kids need different types of play, including indoor and outdoor, active and inactive.
3. Reintroduce your kid to the basics of active play: play hopscotch or basketball, jump rope, or enjoy games such as “Red Light, Green Light” and “Simon Says”.
4. Limit screen time and use of electronic media to allow more time for play.