Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center - Sports & Recreation

Hockey Scores with Special-Needs Kids

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:26:28 -0500

Ice hockey fans are devoted to their sport, unfazed by the game's physical demands, cumbersome equipment, and the red-hot competition for ice time. Massachusetts is one of the centers of hockey fever in the U.S. So it's only fitting that the gradually growing list of hockey clubs for children with special needs now includes The Boston Bear Cubs, which hit the ice in February. Lisa M. Cataldo explains how the Cubs got their start, and what the club means to its players and their parents.

Summer: Sunshine and Stress

Mon, 22 May 2006 13:23:48 -0500

Summertime. For many, it�s a season of carefree memories colliding with stressful, expensive realities, as busy parents try to figure out how to keep the kids busy, safe and entertained. Linda Baker looks at the challenges, especially for low- and moderate-income families.

Foundation for Dreams, Inc. and Dream Oaks Camp

Tue, 24 May 2005 13:37:47 -0500

The mission of the Foundation for Dreams, Inc. and Dream Oaks Camp is to provide fun, educational and recreational experiences in an outdoor camp environment to enhance the lives of children ages 7-17 with physical and developmental disabilities and serious illnesses.

The Psychology of Steroids

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:58:42 -0500

Why do some teens—and even younger kids—use steroids? Connect for Kids' former staff writer Rob Capriccioso interviews Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard researcher, to help understand the subculture of youth steroid use.

Get Moving With the Olympians

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:43:52 -0600

Watching the Olympics on television can sometimes seem like a coach potato marathon. But it doesn't have to be that way. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education has some suggestions.

Leading the Way

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:47:04 -0500

By developing programs for youth grounded in American Indian tribal cultures, the National Indian Youth Leadership project is helping cultivate a new generation of strong leaders. Rob Capriccioso takes a look at the New Mexico-based organization.

May is National Physical Fitness Sports Month

Fri, 03 Dec 2004 07:42:02 -0600

Since 1983, the nation has observed National Physical Fitness and Sports Month during the month of May. It's an opportunity to draw attention to physical activity as an integral part to a healthy and productive life and celebrate participation in sports and hundreds of physical activities, reports the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

School-Age Kids Report Little Physical Activity Out of School

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 17:17:50 -0600

This recent CDC survey of 9 to 13-year-olds and their parents sets the baseline for efforts to increase physical activity among kids. The majority of kids (61 percent) reported no organized physical activity like sports, and almost a quarter (23 percent) said they engaged in no active play during out-of-school hours. Parents said transportation problems, lack of local opportunities, expense, lack of parental time and concerns about neighborhood safety were part of the problem.

Fishing for a Good Time

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:42:58 -0500

Summer is a great time for kids to spend time outdoors and learn about nature. One classic summer pastime�fishing�is brought within reach of thousands of children through a national kids� fishing derby. Connect for Kids� Rob Capriccioso explains how the program works, and how to find an event near you.

Small Town, Big Dreams

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:56:26 -0600

In this story adapted from What Kids Can Do, unleashed teen power is driving change in a small Maine town, once a center of the sardine canning industry�now an innovator in aquaculture.

Giving Kids the Great Outdoors

Mon, 22 May 2006 13:20:21 -0500

For many of us, summer calls to mind picnics, hikes, days on the water and nights chasing fireflies under the stars. The Sierra Club's Youth in Wilderness Project helps connect urban and low-income youth to the great outdoors, first-hand.

Why Kids Need Fishing

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:43:15 -0500

Lessons in life and death, worm-slime and ecology: these are just a few of the reasons that author and angler Richard Louv believes every child should have a chance to match wits with a fish.

Better Health through Physical Activity and Sports

Sat, 11 Dec 2004 09:27:00 -0600

According to the U.S. Depts. of Health and Human Services and Education, "our nation's young people are, in large measure, inactive, unfit and increasingly overweight," threatening to reverse decades-long progress in reducing death from cardiovascular diseases. The report identifies a number of ways families, schools and communities can encourage and improve opportunities for physical activities.

A Grand-Slam Birthday Give-Away

Sun, 23 Jan 2005 11:26:06 -0600

Reid Kellam and Willie Conaghan, two best friends in Bethesda, Maryland, celebrated their birthdays together with a big sports party that netted five boxes of sports equipment for a local children's home. Give-away parties are fun and easy to organize. Susan Kellam explains.

Natural Childhood

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:44:57 -0500

Parents who remember lazy summer afternoons at the swimming hole, or evening games of kick-the-can, are often dismayed when they consider the scheduled, plugged-in lives of their own children. Senior Editor Richard Louv says we must work to bring children closer to nature.