September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and in truth, it is a rare person who does not realize that America's children are suffering from obesity at greater rates than ever before. Here at BYO Recreation, we deal with a wide variety of communities, from churches and schools to planned communities and public parks and each of these communities approach us because they share a deep concern for the health and happiness of their children.

Childhood Obesity & How to Avoid It

Installing a playground is a great first step to improving the overall health of the families in your community but there is even more that you can do. The best part is, you don't need much more than the space you have and participants. Planning regular family-friendly events that center around a unique theme is a simple and great way to make even more use of your playground.

Timing is Everything:

Plan your event for times of day when families are together and not likely to be attending other events. Planning a park day at your HOA playground that competes with church services is a surefire way to cut way back on attendance.

Start at 6pm on a weeknight and include a potluck cookout to cover dinner and you are more likely to catch families who are on their way home or plan an early afternoon sack race on a Sunday to encourage the church crowd to swing by after services.

Mix it Up:

Do not rely on one type of activity because people will quickly become bored. Instead, try switching between games of skill, like corn hole or horse that will attract older children and teens and silly games like follow the leader or Simon Says that everyone can participate in but are easy for young children to succeed at.

>> Check out this list of Community Get-together Ideas!

Plan to Succeed:

Make sure you advertise your event as much as possible, pass out flyers and hang up posters at local family hot-spots. Look for corporate sponsors to donate prizes and try to round up volunteers to keep things fair. Even silly games need a timekeeper and should you manage to get a prize donated, you'll need a few extra referees to keep an eye on your Simon says participants.