Hey parents and guardians — summer is a great time to connect with your kids! The days are longer, shadows shorter, and all of you have a chance to decompress from school and take a break. It’s the perfect opportunity to be with your family in new environments and in unique ways that you haven’t explored during the school year.
One way to get your kids talking is through exercise, and this summer Marathon Kids is helping families facilitate that through their FREE summer Walk and Talk challenge.
In schools all over the country, teachers are using social-emotional learning tools (SEL) to help raise kinder, more empathetic, more positive kids with fewer instances of depression and stress. SEL can improve achievement, and it also increases positive behaviors such as kindness, sharing, and empathy; and improves attitudes toward school.
Marathon Kids Walk and Talk program, which is partnering with the TODAY Parenting team to reach more families, was created with that SEL connection in mind. The program is absolutely FREE and will help keep your kids active and engaged with you all summer!
When parents and guardians register online, they’ll receive a link to two resources:
- A set of conversation topics created by family physician Dr. Deborah Gilboa. Each topic – 26 in all – matches up with a mile of walking or running.
- AND a special mileage log to track your progress.
After 26(.2) miles, parent/guardian and child will have completed the equivalent of a full marathon, and have gotten to know each other a little better in the process.
The topics cover a broad range, from health, education, and friendship, up through knock-knock jokes and dreams of travel. Dr. Gilboa wrote starter questions for each topic, which are appropriate for the youngest child all the way into the college years.
All are welcome to register for free. Now let’s get walking!
