When I was growing up outdoor play preempted everything from homework and cartoons to mealtime. Who cared about mealtime when it would only make you lose your spot on the winning kickball team. Not to mention, the word "play" has a very different meaning today than say 30 years ago.

Playtime is by far the most effective and enjoyable form of exercise. My apologies for showing my age here, but those were good times. Today most kids idea of play is an interactive Wii game. Now many of those games can certainly raise the heart rate and burn a few calories but definitely not to the extent that a game of dodgeball, tag or biking can. "Play" is now most commonly associated with video games and primarily takes place in front. Now let's fast forward to the present. The present generation of kids hear the words, "Go outside and play" and it's like a foreign language.

I remember the days of barefoot racing, cheering, hopscotch, big wheels, biking, skating, kickball, dodgeball, double dutch, tag, kites, dance offs, snowball fights, hide and seek and whatever else we could find to keep ourselves outside till our parents threatened us with corporal punishment.