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Nick launches nationwide playathon, 'Let's Just Play'

The 10-hour long playathon will be held across five cities simultaneously

Children's channel, Nick has always promoted the idea of sending kids outdoors. A few years ago, the channel had gone off air for a day on November 14, so that children could go outdoors and play. Continuing with the same belief, the channel has launched a playathon to imbibe active play in the lifestyle of kids. The event, called 'Let's Just Play', is sponsored by Nestlé Milkybar.

As part of this, on November 7, the channel will organize 10-hour playathons simultaneously at Inorbit Mall's outdoor area in Mumbai, Ambience Mall's outdoor area, Delhi, Moti Mahal grounds in Lucknow, RSI Grounds, Bengaluru and Prasad IMAX grounds in Hyderabad.

Bollywood celebrity mom, Raveena Tandon flagged off the initiative last week at Nick's office in Mumbai. To emphasise the importance of sufficient physical activity in kids' lives, Tandon busied herself with some outdoor sports, such as basketball and badminton and spoke on how she encourages her kids to do the same.

In the days to come, the initiative will be supported by more actors from the Indian film fraternity, including Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Fardeen Khan and Vivek Oberoi.

The playathon will kick start with an inter-school sports event consisting of twisted and high-energy games such as giant slippers, three-team football and under the ropes. The second half of the sports event will see kids engaging in dance workshops and movement therapies. The grand finale of the playathon will have thousands of kids coming together to play telegames and have fun with the legendary Nicktoons -- Ninja Hattori, Dora The Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and Perman.

Nick launches nationwide playathon, 'Let's Just Play'
Talking about the initiative, Tandon says, "I personally believe that kids must have an active lifestyle, because play is such an integral part of growing up. 'Let's Just Play' is a pioneering initiative that I truly support. In my contribution to this movement, I am appealing to each parent and kids alike to take 'Let's Just Play' as a personal challenge and ensure that they spend at least an hour playing outdoors everyday."

Interestingly, Nick will go off air on the days of the playathon, encouraging millions of kids to get out and play.

This Diwali, the channel changed its look and feel. The new channel packaging boasts of being swift, vibrant, fast-paced and clutter-breaking, in an attempt to cater to the ever-changing needs of generation Y. More slick animation sequences along with the clever use of still photography have been incorporated, to make the channel look more appealing to the tech-savvy generation of today.

Nick launches nationwide playathon, 'Let's Just Play'
Nina Elavia Jaipuria, general manager and senior vice-president, Nick India tells afaqs!, "Currently, we have around seven million kids hooked to our channel. The new packaging aims to offer a channel with fresh and contemporary feel. As a responsible broadcaster, we strive to go beyond just entertainment. Nick is deeply concerned about the issue of lack of play in the lives of kids and is pulling out all the stops to inspire as many kids and parents as possible."

The Nestlé Milkybar Nick 'Let's Just Play' fever has already taken over on the channel. Nick has used its platform by creating interesting innovations, such as The Buzz, Game of the Week, Fashion Trends for Active Play, Let's Just Play anthem and Dance Grooves.

Nick will also use its digital space to engage kids through constant interactivity. Also, with the intention of encouraging kids to go out and play, no matter where they are, the channel will ask kids to create their own games and upload them on www.nickindia.com. Their videos will also be aired on Nick. They can also use the online playbook to choose their own set of games with a twist.

With the playathon, Nick plans to reach around 40,000 kids across five cities. "The Playathon is a step in the direction of changing the lifestyle of our future generations forever. We thought the best way to do is to put this message in the mouth of our Nicktoons," Jaipuria says.

Started in the year 2003, Let's Just Play is Nick's global movement that has come to India after going to countries such as Australia, Europe, US, Singapore and Philippines.

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