About Good to Grow!

Let's Move! Museums & Gardens

Good to Grow! Web Site

Resources & Research

The Going Wild Project

Partners

Press Kit

Initiative Goals

• Activate children and families as they visit our museums and participate in our programs.

• Convene and sustain the conversation about the health of our young children and their families wherever there is a children's museum.

• Improve the environment for our children by increasing the healthy options available wherever there is a children's museum, starting with the museum itself.

• Strengthen the children's museum field through leadership on this issue and the development of new ways of working together.

Key Messages

• Good to Grow! highlights the following key messages within its multiple implementation strategies.

• Eating healthy foods in the right amounts;

• Increasing physical activity;

• Reducing screen time (including computer and TV); and

• Connecting with nature through outdoor play.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Four Areas For Museums to Explore

• The Healthy Happenings at Museums area showcases the healthy programs, services and exhibits ACM member museums provide for children and families.

• The Good to Grow! Museums area highlights those members who completed the Self-Study process and were designated Good to Grow! Learn more about what it means to be Good to Grow! here.

• The Good to Grow! Opportunities
  area shares the latest project developments and explains how museums can get involved.

• In the Good to Grow! Products area members can download tools, resources and publications to help implement Good to Grow! activities at their museum.

Four Areas For Families to Explore

• In Family Fun, families plant a virtual Good to Grow! tree and help their tree sprout colorful stickers by answering health discovery questions.

• The Gallery is the place where families can see a wild and wacky array of Good to Grow! trees created by other families.

• In Grown-up Stuff adults can find tips and tools to support their family’s good health and connect with other parents online.

• In Museums, families can learn about “Healthy Happenings” exhibits, programs and events.

Kids Dig Dirt! Green Paper

Support the Going Wild Project

Children learn best through multi-sensory experiences. And children’s museums are experts in stimulating learning through interactive exhibits and programs. But hands-on learning can extend beyond museum walls. By providing direct experiences with nature, children’s museums can nurture healthy, active kids.

Reaching 31 million children and families worldwide, children’s museums have the opportunity to connect kids with nature through wild outdoor play spaces. The Going Wild project is a five-year endeavor that will create vibrant outdoor environments at children’s museums and offer related programming to connect kids to nature and give them a strong sense of environmental stewardship.

Going Wild will launch over the first two years at five pilot sites. The National Wildlife Federation will train museum staff and create a guide for parents to bring the experience home. In the project’s second phase, children’s museums nationwide will have access to tools and training to establish their own wild play spaces and experiences.

The National Forum on Children and Nature has endorsed Going Wild as one of 30 projects nationwide that creatively reconnect kids with nature, benefiting their overall health and appreciation for the great outdoors. By endorsing this project, the Forum celebrates its relevance, impact and sustainability. The Forum seeks to raise visibility and support for endorsed projects.

• We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) is a national public education outreach program designed to help children 8-13 years old stay at a healthy weight through improving food choices, increasing physical activity, and reducing screen time. We Can! is unique because it provides practical tips and materials to parents and families in home and community settings. The We Can! Web site is a one-stop resource for community groups, health care professionals, and parents and caregivers with information, fact sheets, and materials to either download or order including a community toolkit, parents brochure (in English and Spanish), poster, PSAs and a wristband.

The program is a collaboration of four Institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Cancer Institute (NCI).

• The Trustees’ Philanthropy Fund of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund is separate from Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, with donor contributions that engage the Board of Trustees and the organization in direct philanthropy. The Trustees' Philanthropy Fund has granted more than $8.8 million to charitable organizations since its inception in 1991, and has delivered on fulfilling the Gift Fund's mission to further the American tradition of philanthropy.