Debut of New Ads to encourage children to play outdoors coincides with National Get Outdoors Day

USDA Forest Service and Ad Council Join DreamWorks Animation to Launch New PSAs Featuring Shrek to Help Get Children Outside and Re-connected with Nature

Washington, DC — In an effort to encourage children to spend more time outdoors and re-connect with nature, the USDA Forest Service and the Ad Council are joining DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. today to launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) featuring characters from DreamWorks Animation’s beloved Shrek films. Hank Kashdan, Associate Chief of the Forest Service, unveiled the PSAs on June 11th at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in coordination with National Get Outdoors Day. The ads will be distributed to media outlets nationwide this week.

Children in the U.S. spend fifty percent less time outdoors than they did twenty years ago, according to the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. As a result of this limited interaction with the outdoors, many children are unaware of the benefits that nature provides, including improving their physical and mental health and emotional well-being. Research shows that children who play outside have lower stress levels and more active imaginations, become fitter and leaner, develop stronger immune systems and are more likely to become environmentally conscious in the future.

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