World Athletics releases “Kids’ Athletics Day at home” toolkit to encourage children to get active on Kids’ Athletics Day 2023 

• World Athletics aims to engage 400,000 kids in athletic activity on Kids’ Athletics Day 2023 to counter worrying global inactivity rates

• World Athletics targets the highest ever level of participation in Kids’ Athletics Day across the world

World Athletics is pleased to release a new “Kids’ Athletics Day at home” toolkit for children around the world who wish to take part in Kids’ Athletics Day 2023.

The toolkit has been specially designed for children who may not have access to an organised Kids’ Athletics Day activity but wish to join in the fun on 7 May. It provides all the basics to get moving including:

• Activity cards with instructions on how to stage an obstacle course, air bowling and “flying saucers”
• A “Design your own spikes” template for kids to make their dream spikes
• An activity pyramid with different running, jumping and balancing challenges

The “Kids’ Athletics Day at home” toolkit can easily be printed off at home or at school so that kids can get active in their own backyards, with their friends, in the playground at school – or wherever they can practice sport safely.

The French and Spanish versions of the toolkit will be available shortly.

This new toolkit is being released as part of our wider Kids’ Athletics Day celebrations. As announced on 7 April, World Athletics is inviting kids across the world to MOVE, PLAY, EXPLORE in celebration of Kids’ Athletics Day 2023.

An annual celebration that takes place on 7 May, Kids’ Athletics Day is a global day entirely dedicated to celebrating children and young people being active by participating in athletics.

Kids’ Athletics Day is the cornerstone of World Athletics’ Kids’ Athletics programme – a free and exciting programme that uses the power of athletics to inspire children and young people, wherever they are, to be more active, develop their skills and confidence, and to connect with sport for life.

In order to achieve its ambitious goal of getting 400,000 children active on 7 May – the highest ever level of participation in Kids’ Athletics Day – World Athletics has launched a global Kids’ Athletics Day Challenge to all of its Member Federations (MFs) and continental Area Associations.

The Member Federation with the best Kids’ Athletics Day activation – measured by a combination of participation rates, social media engagement levels and overall innovation – will be awarded a prize including a US$10,000 one-off Kids’ Athletics MF Challenge award to be used to promote and activate Kids’ Athletics (or an equivalent youth activity) in their country.

In addition, the Area Association with the best participation rate, based on a cumulative score of the participating MFs in each Area using the same measures as the MF Challenge described above, and considering the activities undertaken by the Area to promote Kids’ Athletics Day, will also be eligible for a US$10,000 one-off Kids’ Athletics Area Challenge award to be used to promote and activate Kids’ Athletics at an Area Championships*.

In order to assist clubs and Member Federations taking part in the celebrations, World Athletics has already made available a general toolkit that includes all the information required to celebrate Kids’ Athletics Day 2023. This includes marketing assets and suggested activities and ways to bring Kids’ Athletics to life in a celebration event. 

The Kids’ Athletics Day toolkit is available on our website.


GET INVOLVED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

World Athletics will be sharing photos of people, events and organisations across the world who have joined us to celebrate Kids’ Athletics Day. We invite everyone taking part in the day’s events, whether through a club or organisation, at school, or at home, to share images from their own celebrations using the hashtag #KidsAthleticsDay.

Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible, and to reach as many children as we can across the globe to get them moving!