Let’s Go to the Mall! NWF Gets Outside For National Parks Week

In honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary and National Parks Week, Department of the Interior employees took their kids to the Mall.

NWF spent the morning on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall, along with Secretary Ken Salazar and Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. Local students and Interior employee children attended ‘take a child to work day’—outdoors—and oh man were the kids excited to see Ranger Rick.

Today’s inaugural Buddy Bison Earth Day Celebration was an educational event designed to engage kids in environmental stewardship, promote outdoor activities and health, and celebrate our national parks.

Studies show that outside of organized sports, kids spend an average of just four to seven minutes per day playing outside, compared with more than seven and a half hours each day in front of electronic media.

This imbalance—too much screen time, not enough ‘green’ time—costs some children their health and puts the future of conservation at risk.

Click here to view NWF’s full Buddy Bison Earth Day Celebration press release and statement by Patrick Fitzgerald.

Looking for some Earth Day, everyday activities? Click here to read Ashleigh Poff’s 8 Ways to Get Outside, Reduce Your Waste, and Have Fun!

Watch National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and Ranger Rick speak to the importance of getting outdoors:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR9xmJUs0ss[/youtube]