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.

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.

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. Learn more about Sierra Club efforts to give all kids access to nature.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kids look to their coaches for coaching about sports and about life. This guide will help coaches talk to their players and keep them drug-free. For a hard copy, email a request for NCJ 173393.

The six professional sport and dance associations that share this Web site offer guidelines and useful information on the benefits of an active lifestyle, at school and at home.

Experts agree there are both benefits and detriments to participation in youth sports. The Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (YSI) at Michigan State University conducts research and provides educational materials for coaches, officials, administrators, and parents to help kids get the most out of physical activity. Explore past issues of Spotlight on Youth Sports, YSI's newsletter covering issues on the youth sports scene.