6 weeks into Kindergarten, and Maya is loving it. She happily hops on the bus every morning, and wonders why she can’t go to school on the weekend as well! We’re just under a mile from her elementary school, so I debated walking to school once a week. I had it all planned out in my mind… W.O.W… Walk On Wednesday. A few days before school started, we did a trial run – er, walk – and that’s when I changed my mind. There were no sidewalks for most of the walk, and I found myself nervously holding Maya’s hand and tightening my grasp every time another car zoomed by. While it was only about a 15 minute walk, it seemed too daunting, even only once a week. This was disappointing, as I really wanted to participate in the Walk to School Challenge. Now that she’s in school all day, Maya’s not nearly as active as she was when she was at home with me, playing outside most of the day. Walking to and from school would be an easy way to add a little more physical activity to her everyday routine.
Green Works, the line of naturally derived cleaning products, is encouraging kids and their parents to participate in this challenge in celebration of International Walk to School Month. 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.
I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox Green Works and received a gift certificate as a thank you for participating.
It is disappointing that there weren’t any sidewalks to walk on. My kids could walk that distance when they were younger, and we would walk around the block. We didn’t have any sidewalks, so we walked across front lawns. The neighbors we knew didn’t mind us walking on the edge of their front lawn, but when the kids were older, we did walk in the road.
Growing up in the city I always walked to school, but with teens driving so fast to school in the morning, I wouldn’t want to do it out here in the countryside.