Getting ready for the Longest Day of Play, Driveby style to maintain social distancing due to COVID-19. Handing out items.  Teri King-NEP Assistant and Jennifer Bridge, FCS AgentJennifer Bridge, FCS agent handing out packets, explaining items in the folder and how to access the QR code to evaluate the activity.Covid-19 continued to disrupt plans so modifications needed to be made to adjust to the new normal in programming.  The Longest Day of Play happened to be a Sunday this year so plans were made to observe the day with a drive by pickup of outdoor activity items as well as information from FCS on interactive outdoor activities. Focus was on play for all ages so the packs were not limited to just children.  Emphasis was on nutrition,  physical activity with added information on heat stroke and sun safety.  Kids packs included sidewalk chalk, make your own sun visor and pinwheels, NEP footballs, blowup beach balls, sand buckets and shovels and catch and throw hand paddle games.  Lip balm and sunscreen sticks provided by UK Healthcare along with sunglasses were included as well..  The adult packs included and insulated grocery bag, an exercise towel, water bottle insulators, sunscreen, lip balm and hand wipes.  These were given to adults who did not pick up a kids pack as one is never to old to play.    This year the event was sponsored by the Meade County Extension Homemakers and UK Healthcare in conjunction with the FCS and NEP programs. Information about the day was included in the local newspaper via the agents column as well as a posts on the FCS and NEP Facebook pages.  The initial post received a few responses so a picture so the items being complied was posted with the second post.  The post went viral with over 11,000 reach, 1600 engagements and 498 direct interactions.  Anticipating a larger than normal crowd the local police was contacted in the event roads were congested.  Set up was also modified to create a quick interaction time and limited access to the items in the event someone got out of thier vehicle.  Within 30 minutes all 140 kids packs and 15 adult packs were distributed along with FCS folders which included great information on at home, outdoor activities, an evaluation QR code to reflect how they used the items/information, information on the NEP program and how to contact all staff at the Meade County Extension office along with all program Facebook page information.  Thankfully, the police did arrive and blocked off the entrances to the extension office as traffic was backed up for almost a mile.  We ended up reaching 393 young children along with 187 adults.  We have received lots of great comments and FCS Facebooks likes have increased and additional 107 followers.  This event served as a great PR effort for the extension service but more importantly encouraged increased physical activity.  The following pictures were shared by participants and used with thier permission.Father and son time with some outdoor play.

A happy young man