Just One More Week Until the 2023 WinterKids Winter Games
Jonesport Elementary School, which won the Gold in 2022 with the help of extra points from Healthy Acadia’s Let’s Go! school assembly presentation, will be participating in the Play-Along track this year.
Healthy Acadia’s Let’s Go! Downeast initiative is thrilled to partner with WinterKids for the 2023 WinterKids Winter Games - four weeks of fun, active, outdoor learning opportunities for elementary school students across Maine and beyond.
WinterKids is the only nonprofit organization in the State of Maine that is dedicated exclusively to increasing outdoor physical activity in children and families during our longest, most sedentary season.WinterKids began in 1997 as part of the Ski Maine Association with a Learn to Ski program for fifth graders. With the increasing rates of childhood obesity and the downward trend in physical fitness in Maine and across the country, there was an opportunity to help children and families enjoy healthy and fun outdoor winter lifestyles while nurturing a connection to the natural environment - at home, at school, and in the communities in which they live. WinterKids continues to develop and expand innovative health education programs for kids in the winter and year-round. cLearn more about Winter Kids here.
Once again, the 2023 WinterKids Winter Games is bringing a little healthy competition to elementary schools across Maine. The four-week-long program, which spans from January 9 to February 3, 2023, features fun, active, and educational activities that get students moving and learning outside. This year’s theme is “My Wild Winter.”
2023 Winter Kids Schedule:
WEEK 1: OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: January 9-13, 2023
WEEK 2: NUTRITION: January 16-20, 2023
WEEK 3: FAMILY ENGAGEMENT: January 23-January 27, 2023
WEEK 4: WINTER CARNIVAL: January 30-February 3, 2023
For this Sixth Annual WinterKids Winter Games, 3,000 students in 15 schools across Maine will compete for $30,000 in cash and prizes in the Competitive Track. Participating schools focus on outdoor activity, nutrition, family engagement and a winter carnival. Activities incorporate healthy eating and active living goals at school sites across Maine in an effort to win the Gold prize of $5,000. In Hancock and Washington counties, East Range II CDS School, Topsfield, Perry Elementary, Cherryfield Elementary, and Charles M. Sumner Learning Center, Sullivan, will be competing in the 2023 Winter Games.
An estimated 7,000 students in schools across Maine will participate in the flexible Play-Along Track. Either way, over 10,000 kids will be getting outdoors and active throughout the month of January!
Healthy Acadia’s Let’s Go! Coordinator, Sandy Fortin, Let’s Go Coordinator looks forward to supporting competing schools in Hancock and Washington county achieve extra points through facilitated snowshoe and nutrition presentations. Schools may register for demos and family activities to support their healthy eating and active living competition or play-along track.
Community members are invited to join us by participating in fun family outdoor events in January:
FREE Family "Let's Go Snowshoe" Demo and Cub’s Big World Story Book Walk
Saturday, January 14, 2023; 12 p.m.
Winter Harbor Public Library, Winter Harbor
(Snowshoe sizes to fit from 25 to 200 lbs.)
Sullivan Age Friendly snowshoe walk, followed by Cub’s Big World Story Book Walk
Tuesday, January 17, 2023; 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Frenchman Bay Public Library and Rec. Center, Sullivan, ME
FREE Family "Let's Go Snowshoe" Demo and Cub’s Big World Story Book Walk
Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 10 a.m.
Dorcas Library, Prospect Harbor, ME
(Snowshoe sizes to fit from 25 to 200 lbs.)
Please RSVP at the library or email Sandy.Fortin@HealthyAcadia.org.
Event participation limited to 12 families of four.
These events are free and open to the public and sponsored by Healthy Acadia and Let's Go! in partnership with the 2023 WinterKids Winter Games. Healthy snacks and tea will be provided.
Cub’s Big World Story Walk provided courtesy of WinterKids and facilitated by Healthy Acadia’s Let’s Go! Downeast Coordinator. Snowshoes, courtesy of Healthy Acadia and WinterKids will be available for use during the events.
Stay tuned for additional events. If your competing school and community wishes to host healthy eating and active living events for Winter Kids Olympics, please contact Sandy Fortin at Sandy.Fortin@HealthyAcadia.org.
Launched in 2006, Let’s Go! is a MaineHealth obesity prevention initiative for children and adults that focuses on healthy eating and active living.
MaineHealth collaborates with Healthy Acadia and community partners across Maine and in Carroll County, New Hampshire. to display healthy messaging and create environments that support healthy choices where people live, learn, work, and play. Evidence-based strategies are used to promote policy, systems, and environmental changes that facilitate healthy eating and active living (HEAL) in early care and education programs, schools, out-of-school programs and healthcare practices. Learn more about Let’s Go!