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Worldwide Day of Play is an annual event designed to encourage kids and parents to turn off the television and play, especially outdoors. The yearly event officially began on all US Nickelodeon channels: Nickelodeon, Noggin (now Nick Jr.), The N (now TeenNick), and NickToons on October 2, 2004. Some foreign versions of Nick also participated. The event is designed as a finale for Nick’s six-month long Let’s Just Play campaign. In addition, Nick.com would also have special features for children to learn how to stay active and healthy.

The event influences kids to be active by getting their schools and educational organizations to host an event to get out and be active. Those wanting to participate would contact Nickelodeon for instructions and permission.

When the Let’s Just Play campaign ended in September, Nickelodeon aired the finale during the last Saturday of September, the “Worldwide Day of Play”. Nickelodeon and its sister channels suspend programming for three hours from 12 Noon to 3PM ET/PT. During the time there was no programming, a special message would appear on the screen — for instance, this message was displayed during the dark period on Saturday, September 29, 2007:

Yes, your TV is working. Yes, this is Nickelodeon. And yes, this is Nickelodeon’s World Wide Day of Play! This is Nickelodeon’s celebration of all things active-an entire day devoted to play! That means YOU should get off the couch, get up from the floor, and definitely quit slouching in your bed. You should be celebrating! Ride a bike, do a dance, kick a ball, skate a board, jump a rope, swing a swing, climb a wall, run a race, do ANYTHING that gets you up and playing! Once you’ve played, there will be more Nick at 3pm, but until then, get up, get active, and GO PLAY!

On September 27, 2008, the following message was shown on Nick:

“Today is Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play- an entire day devoted to play! And to celebrate, Nickelodeon has gone off the air from 12pm to 3pm to encourage you to get outside and play. There will be more Nick at 3pm, but until then, this message will keep repeating. So don’t just sit there. Go play!”

On September 26, 2009, the following message was shown on Nick:

” Today is Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play! Turn off your TV, shut down your computer, put down that cell phone-yes, YOU! and go ALL OUT! We’ll see you back here at 3! ”

Previous editions took place October 1, 2005 and September 30, 2006. There was no Let’s Just Play campaign in 2008, though the Day of Play was held that year.

Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese amusement holidays. It is commonly called “Lunar New Year”, because it is based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as chú xī. It literally means “Year-pass Eve”.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.

Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Han Chinese populations (Chinatowns), such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans (Seollal), Tibetans and Bhutanese (Losar), Mongolians (Tsagaan Sar), Vietnamese (Tết), and the Japanese before 1873 (Oshogatsu).

In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Australia Post, Canada Post, and the US Postal Service issue New Year’s themed stamps.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile; forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone

This article ia written by Amy, a representation of Y&G company, which is a professional manufacturer of amusement equipment, including, inflatable products, out door playground equipment, fitness equipment, indoor play areas and so on.