{Green Works Walk to School Challenge}

This month my kids and I are participating in the Walk To School Challenge.  This is perfect for our family.  I’ve always loved walking the kids to school ever since my oldest started kindergarten and happily skipped along with me to school wearing her cute little backpack.  Unfortunately in my family, we just haven’t been making the time for walking lately.  Which is too bad because it's a great way to get more physical activity in your day, become more “green,”  and spend some time with the kids talking, laughing, and  letting the kids wake up :-) before they start their school day.

The Walk to School Challenge is just what we need to get back on track with walking.  For the challenge, the makers of Green Works Cleaners are Teaming up with National Center for Safe Routes to School and are offering five $5,000 dollar  “green grants” to schools that get the most people walking, and you can also earn individual prizes like “green” shoelaces and water bottles. You can sign up to participate on their face book page:  www.facebook.com/greenworks and start logging your families walking or bicycling trips to school.

Walking works great for us.  Our school has a fairly small parking lot for the number of kids that attend, and the parking lot tends to get really crowded.  So for us its great to avoid parking lot traffic and to help the environment.  The school is "going green" in a number of other ways too and I love that.  My favorite step they have taken so far is they are e-mailing announcements, newsletters,  and activity papers  (many of which don’t apply to us and just end up getting tossed anyway) instead of sending home tons of paper.  You can print them if you need, otherwise you just press delete - no wasted paper. Yay!  They are also really big on recycling and about making sure to use both sides of the paper.  My kids will freak out if you don‘t use the backside of a piece of paper for drawing before recycling it. lol   I also love the school garden, which is another great way they are helping teach the kids to be more aware of their environment.

So far the Walk to School Challenge is going great for us.  We have a lot of fun noticing all of the bugs and animals that we see along the way.  My kids also still enjoy the game of walk 10 steps, skip 10 steps, run 10 steps and variations of that.  We also have a little strip of grass with trees next to the sidewalk and they love walking through the trees pretending to be explorers.  I’d love to hear how you keep your kids interested in walking.  Please leave us a comment and let us know.  And be sure to stop by the Green Works Facebook page so you can sign up to participate and have a chance to win money for your school and/or prizes for your kids.

During the month of October, elementary and middle school students and their families can help their schools win one of five $5,000 grants – simply by walking or bicycling to school.  Parents are invited to sign up online for the Walk to School Challenge at www.facebook.com/greenworks, and log their families' walking or bicycling trips on behalf of their school. The five schools with the highest levels of participation will be eligible to win a $5,000 grant. Frequent walkers and bicyclists can also earn individual prizes, ranging from green shoelaces to reusable water bottles.

The Walk to School Challenge comes during a time of increased attention to the sedentary lifestyles of both adults and children throughout America. Walking and bicycling to school provides an easy way for many families to take a step towards more physical activity in their everyday routine ? and a more natural lifestyle.

So lace up your sneakers and take in the sights and sounds during your walk to school. Make walking fun by counting steps with your child and point out the changing leaves or colorful flowers.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox Green Works and received a $30 thank-you gift certificate.

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