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99 Days Outdoors Encourages Colorado Kids to Have "A Wilder Summer"

Spokescreature Wilder Shares Creative Ways to Play Outdoors as He Ventures Across Colorado

June 23, 2022

The average kid spends less than seven minutes a day outside in unstructured play. We’re on a mission to help change that.

Generation Wild, a movement created by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to reconnect kids with nature by increasing the amount of time they spend outside in unstructured play, is kicking off its latest campaign, 99 Days Outdoors: A Wilder Summer, at the end of the month. The campaign aims to inspire parents across Colorado to get their kids outdoors this summer by providing accessible, achievable ideas for spending time outside. Generation Wild’s popular part goat, part yeti, all friend mascot, Wilder, will return for an epic 99-day adventure across the state making appearances in Colorado communities and showcasing different ways to spend time outdoors.

“Kids are spending less time outdoors – and more time on screens and in structured activities – than ever before, and Generation Wild is on a mission to change that,” said GOCO Executive Director Jackie Miller. “Parents are busy! The goal for this year’s campaign is to provide 99 days of ideas that help them find inspiration for unstructured outdoor play so their kids can get outside every single day and have a blast doing it.”

 

Generation Wild is hoping that 99 Days Outdoors will get kids playing outside and off of their screens. But don't worry! Generation Wild will share daily inspiration with parents and an abundance of ideas that will help kids and their families have “A Wilder Summer.” Some of the activities stem from the 100 Things To Do Before You’re 12 list and include:

  • Build a fort  
  • See what’s hiding under a rock
  • Tightrope walk on a log
  • And find shapes in the clouds

Plus, find tons of outdoor summer fun on the Generation Wild website!


The campaign will begin on May 30 with an official send-off as Wilder heads out on his 99-day tour across the amazing land known as Colorado. Wilder will showcase the magical outdoor activities the state has to offer from the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope with stops in cities and mountain towns along the way. He will make appearances in communities at special Generation Wild events including:

  • June 4: Get Outdoors Day (Colorado Springs)
  • June 21: Generation Wild Day (Grand Junction)
  • July 30: World Record Hopscotch Event (Denver/Aurora)
    • Generation Wild will attempt to beat the record for the world’s largest hopscotch, which currently stands at 4.2 miles. With the help of the community, Generation Wild will seek to create the longest contiguous hopscotch as well as the most people hopscotching at one time along Denver’s High Line Canal. 

“99 Days Outdoors will take families through every nook and cranny of Colorado,” said Miller. “From rural to urban, we’re highlighting unique aspects of Colorado that will inspire ideas for getting outdoors anywhere and everywhere.”

Follow along on Facebook and Instagram to see what Wilder is up to as he explores destinations that are off the beaten path and shares treasures from every corner of the state. #GenerationWild #99DaysOutdoors 


ABOUT GENERATION WILD

Generation Wild was created by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to reconnect kids with nature by increasing the amount of time they spend outside in unstructured play – the kind of play that used to be way more common. The program is an integrated, statewide effort supported by a statewide network of non-profit, public and private partner organizations. In 12 Colorado communities, diverse, locally based Generation Wild coalitions are creating equitable access to the outdoors with new places to play, outdoor programs, and pathways to leadership opportunities and jobs in the outdoors. Follow Generation Wild on Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT GREAT OUTDOORS COLORADO 

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. GOCO’s independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created when voters approved a Constitutional Amendment in 1992, GOCO has since funded more than 5,500 projects in urban and rural areas in all 64 counties without any tax dollar support. Visit GOCO.org for more information. 


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