Miami-Dade County Getting Kids Fit 2 Play For The Summer

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Students will be waving good-bye to this school year soon and to keep your kids entertained and more importantly healthy during the summer, Miami-Dade county is getting them Fit 2 Play.

"Everybody gets locked up in their houses too much, they don't get out enough. That's where we are trying to get them back out here. Get them playing again. And the bottom line is having fun," Shawn Ramirez from Fit 2 Play said.

Fit 2 Play is an after school program. The kids are bused to local county parks. They munch on healthy snacks, then time for homework and finally time to play. But keeping them active is the key.

"We're trying to get them away from the gaming, from the tablets, from their phones cause every kid out there has one," Shawn said.

So instead of looking at a screen, kids are getting outside.

For example, in Fit 2 Play's version of dodge ball, after being hit by a ball, the player has to do different exercises depending on the color of the ball.

But it's the knowledge the students walk away with about food that makes Fit 2 Play so unique.

"We have different games that incorporate nutrition and activity and making it fun," Shawn explained.

There is an activity called "my plate," which is the new way to measure out what kinds of food you should eat and how much you should be eating.

In this activity they have to place plastic food shapes on the categories they match.

"We have the open space. We are the third largest park system in the nation. We have the green space and it's just getting these kids fit and getting them to play in these green spaces that we have out here," said Shawn.

Click here for more information on Fit2Play.

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