Motivate Children to Get Moving with 'NFL PLAY 60' Digital Library and App

Getting active for 60 minutes a day is critical as kids who are regularly active have a better chance of a healthy adulthood! Yet according to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, only 1 in 5 children and adolescents partake in an adequate amount of physical activity that's recommended (*1). Thankfully organizations like the NFL, The American Heart Association, and Discovery Education have made it their mission to provide families and schools with physical activities and low-cost resources to get kids moving all year through 'NFL Play 60'.

At the height of the pandemic, as parents, my hubby and I questioned: 'How are they really?" when it came to concerns on how our two tween and teen boys were coping with daily stressors and anxiety surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. With sports programs canceled within the 5 boroughs and the need for social distancing, we could tell that our very active children were pretty down about not being able to see their friends, go to school or participate in physical, group activities. With their hip hop classes and volleyball games on hiatus, we kept our fingers crossed but it became more apparent that they wouldn't have the chance to partake in the Free NFL flag football program (that they absolutely loved) that's sponsored by teams like the NY Jets. 

NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day 

On Wednesday, February 3 at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT/ 10 a.m. PT, NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day will host an action packed, synchronous broadcast from the Super Bowl LV host city, Tampa Bay. During this broadcast, the NFL team with the winning NFL PLAY 60 exercise of the 2020-2021 season will be announced. 

Through interactive lessons and videos to jumpstart activity at home and in the classroom, students and teachers can access on-demand exercises from NFL teams in the digital NFL PLAY 60 library to help them reach their recommended 60-minutes of daily physical activity. Each school can completely customize their activation and can implement the majority of the NFL PLAY 60 activities at their own pace to allow scheduling flexibility during this untraditional school year. 

Advanced registration is required to access the NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day guide and attend the broadcast. If you're busy with prepping for the big game day and miss the live event you can still download the guide here.

 

“During a season unlike any other, we’ve been proud to continue our work with the American Heart Association to help youth stay physically active and healthy through our NFL PLAY 60 initiative,” said Anna Isaacson, senior vice-president of social responsibility for the NFL. “We look forward to a week of NFL PLAY 60 themed activities as a way to engage with more youth and to help them live a heart-healthy lifestyle – while hosting events in a reimagined way to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

“Educators play an important role in connecting the dots for students between healthy lifestyle choices and success in the classroom,” said Lori McFarling, President of Corporate & Community Partnerships at Discovery Education. "We know there's never been a more important time to connect communities to fitness and fun and are proud of our continued collaboration with the National Football League and the American Heart Association to inspire young people everywhere to get moving."

In addition to the digital NFL PLAY 60 exercise library, the NFL and the American Heart Association provide a variety of tools to add movement throughout the day. Powered by GoNoodle and Discovery Education, video content, activities and family challenges can be accessed at heart.org/NFLPLAY60 or at aha-nflplay60.discoveryeducation.com.

 

Since 2006, the NFL and the American Heart Association have teamed up to inspire kids by providing fun and engaging ways to get physically active. In addition to the online resources found at heart.org/nflplay60, the free NFL PLAY 60 app helps kids get more movement throughout the day. The PLAY 60 app allows users to control personalized avatars onscreen with their own physical movement and is available for iOS and Android devices.

Are you ready to PLAY 60?

Explore a fun interactive environment and find football players to  add to your roster. Play catch with them, train with them, and prepare with them for competition. Open mystery boxes to collect footballs, hearts, and helmets to strengthen your players in training and then search for hidden objects to win additional prizes! See how many steps you take each day.

In the NFL PLAY 60 App you can:

• Count steps
• Collect funky characters
• Workout your arms, legs, and heart with fun mini-exercises
• Pick your favorite NFL team
• Earn stars for a chance at the prize wheel
• Exercise and train your players to earn rewards
• See your rank on the leaderboard
• Run, jump, dance, catch and see your players do the same

Looking for fun new ways to keep your kids active and moving their bodies? 

Save these Pins to come back to later!

 

(*1) Department of Health and Human Services, Physical Activity Guidelines, page 14. Available for download here: https://health.gov/paguidelines/default.aspx