Childhood obesity rates are continuing to rise across the state of Kentucky. The Hardin County Extension Service promotes physical activity through a Longest Day of Play event hosted across the road from the Extension Office on the Farmers' Market lawn.

This event was held in 2017 on the actual Longest Day of Play (June 21st), which was a Wednesday. This year, we held the event on June 20, the Wednesday before the actual Longest Day of Play. The reasoning for this was to use the event to also promote the Hardin County Farmers Market. By having the event on Wednesday, parents are able to shop at the Farmers Market while their children run and play in the lawn. At the same time, parents are directed to stop at the Extension Office table, where they are handed a list of summer events hosted by the Extension Office, and the volunteer discusses what the goals of the Family and Consumer Sciences Program are. 

More than 20 different outdoor games were spread across the lawn, in addition to a craft that children are able to make that also promotes play.

In 2018, over 250 kids came to the Longest Day of Play event. The event runs 3 hours. With an average play time of 40 minutes, an estimated 30,000 calories were burned by the youth who attended. More than 40 of the youth returned to the next Extension event after learning about it at Longest Day of Play, and Farmers' Market vendors saw an estimated 15-18% increase in sales compared to a traditional Wednesday.