On Worldwide Day of Play, Nickelodeon will turn off all programming and go dark for 3 hours to encourage kids and their families to turn off the TV, get up, get out, and go play!

YOU can be part of the Worldwide Day of Play! Thousands of schools and organizations are hosting Worldwide Day of Play events.

• To download the 2009 WWDoP Playbook, NFL Games, register your event and more, visit the WWDoP Web site.
• Participation in WWDoP will make you eligible for a GRANT. For more information and how to apply click here!

The Big Green Help Grants Program is a funding initiative that offers up to $5,000 in grants to support environmentally-friendly projects that inspire kids to:

1. Take care of the environment;
2. Be active and live healthier; and/or
3. Engage in community service.

Apply for a Big Green Help Grant at www.nick.com/play.
For more information e-mail publicaffairs@nick.com.

The Big Green Help is a global kid-led initiative that provides information and tools to help explain climate change to kids, and educates and empowers kids to make a difference by connecting them to earth-friendly activities in their everyday lives.

In the campaign's first year, over 1.8 million kids pledged to take action for the environment.

Download The Big Green Help Green Team Toolkit packed with environmental resources and ideas for Earth Day, summer camp, and back-to-school activities for your school, club, troop, or community group.

Download and play The Big Green Help Global Challenge online game!

Click here for game description!

*Check out our glossary of kid-friendly green terms!

For additional information on TBGH campaign and for interactive, educational games, visit The Big Green Help!

Log onto Climate Classroom to help educate your class about global climate change in accurate, developmentally appropriate, and hopeful ways.

For additional information on NEEF visit www.neefusa.org

Additional educational resources and opportunities:

• Description of our education programs: Environmental Education Week, Classroom Earth and Planet Connect
• Description of our Classroom Earth High School Challenge Teacher Grants
• Description of our Planet Connect Grants for high school students
• A sampling of Environmental Education Week activities across the country

As part of The Big Green Help's SpongeBob & You Save the Big Blue, join the NRDC to take action for the environment and help conserve the world's oceans!

Ways to Get Involved with The Big Green Help and The Natural Resources Defense Council:

1. Learn about and visit a Marine Protected Area -- the underwater National Parks of the sea where marine life is protected! Animals, seabirds and fish flock to these areas because they are safe from human threats. Find a marine protected area near you to visit with your family, friends or school.

Log onto http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/mpa.asp.

Get Involved! Contact your local politician to encourage them to create more Marine protected areas by visiting http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign.

2. Check out the NRDC's Beach Report Card to see how clean your local beach is. Every year, NRDC rates popular beaches nationwide to help you pick the safest, cleanest place to play in the waves and catch some rays. This year's report is expected to come out at the end of July. In the meantime, see how your favorite beaches stacked up last year. Visit http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/titinx.asp.

You can keep water clean near you by:

• Conserving water in your house by taking shorter showers and turning of the water while you brush your teeth
  
• Picking up garbage and litter in your neighborhood and while you are at the beach
  
• Cleaning up after your pet so it does not get into the water-system

3. Watch the world premier of the new documentary, Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Oceans Acidification and learn about how the ocean became more acidic which is killing corals, plankton and shellfish. Visit www.acidtestmovie.org to make a difference.

About the NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

Past Featured Partner:
National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout!

Get Schooled: You Have the Right is a 30-minute special that highlights the education challenges and breakthroughs of well-known personalities The President of the United States Barack Obama, pop superstar Kelly Clarkson and 2009 NBA MVP LeBron James. This unprecedented education special tells the stories of three professionals who serve as important advisors to our high-profile guests.

Viacom joined with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create Get Schooled, a national program that seeks to inform, inspire and mobilize students, parents and government officials to find effective solutions to the problems facing our education system. Get Schooled applies the power of Viacom's diverse brands from BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures to raise awareness about the challenges facing America's public education system. Get Schooled is dedicated to identifying sustainable and effective approaches that will increase high school and college graduation rates, improve postsecondary readiness and promote the fundamental importance of education.

For more information visit Get Schooled!

Below please find information and posters from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and tips to help prevent the spread of flu.

• Action steps for teachers
• Action steps for parents
• Things to do to fight the flu

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: I'm Allergic to My World
Available on Turbonick
We all know someone who suffers from allergies, some the average seasonal type and some more life threatening. Nickelodeon's special will look at what life is like for kids who live with the life threatening type of allergies.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: $tre$$ed Out: The Economic Crisis and You
Available on Turbonick
Although there is little that kids can do to help the nation out of this economic crisis, they are still directly affected by it. This studio show is about letting kids know that they are not alone and that what has happened is not their fault.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: A Kid Off The Grid
Available on Turbonick
As Earth Day approaches, what are you doing to help save the environment? Did you know that there are nearly 400,000 American families now meeting their own energy needs?

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: We Shall Not Be Moved
Available on Turbonick
The song "We Shall Not Be Moved" was often sung during the civil rights movement and one of the verses states "Black and White together, we shall not be moved." Certainly this was true on Election Day '08 when Americans of many races came together to elect President Obama. In this special, we look at what history is being made right now by kids coming together to make change in our neighborhoods, our world, and in ourselves.

Click below for lesson plans from the National Multicultural Institute!

• Becoming Cultural Allies
  
• Inclusion/Exclusion

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: American's Forgotten Children: The Rural Poor
Available on TurboNick!
There are places in America that are not inner-cities where one out of every six kids suffers from poverty. And they are America's forgotten children, many of them living in shame because where they live, folks just aren't supposed to be so poor.

Click here for the lesson plan from Save the Children!

For more information on Save the Children visit www.savethechildren.org

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: The View From
My Chair
Available on Turbonick
All over the country, there are kids who, for one physical reason or another, live their lives in wheelchairs. What is it like to be them? What do you think it would be like for you? Nick News Host Linda Ellerbee introduces us to some remarkable kids who use wheelchairs and have some important things to teach all of us. Come along for the ride - and the surprise ending.

Click here for the lesson plan from VSA arts (affiliate of the JFK Center for Performing Arts)!

Previous Nick News Specials and Lesson Plans!

For daily updates and more information on Nick News click: www.nicknews.com

The movie, which is based on Jerry Spinelli's book, is about a boy named Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, who confronts racism in his small town of Two Mills. The book won the 1991 Newbery Medal and is a teacher favorite.

• Click here for the Maniac Magee Lesson 1 plan! (Grades 5-9)

• Click here for the Lesson 2 plan! (Grades 3-5)

• Click here for the Lesson 3 plan and Iceberg Analogy! (Grades 5-9)

Partners in Education

Special offers are slippin' and slidin' your way from Nickelodeon Family Suites. In partnership with the Florida Education Foundation, Nick Hotel in Orlando is offering Florida Public School Personnel the opportunity to experience the ultimate Nickelodeon vacation at a discounted rate. Plus, for every room night you enjoy, the hotel will donate $10 back to the Florida Education Foundation. It's our way of saying thanks for all you do!

For reservations - Enjoy these special perks*:

Valid August 17 to December 23, 2009
2-Bedroom KidSuites
$89 Sunday-Thursday
$129 Friday & Saturday
$10 donation to the Florida Education Foundation for every night you play and stay

Call 1-877-642-5111 and ask for the Partners in Education Package.

Rates listed available through December 23, 2009. Call for rates after December 23, 2009. Offer based on limited availability. Rates and conditions subject to change. Black-out dates and restrictions may apply. Cannot be combined with any other special offers or promotional rates. Offer available to the Florida Department of Education only.

*Click here for the "Kids' Vote" press release!

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Tales from the Trail
This show takes viewers on the campaign trail with kids as they blog, canvas, rally, raise money and deliver their candidate's message-in all sorts of creative ways.

*Click here for the lesson plan from the Center for Governmental Studies!

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Election Issues '08
Kids talk about which issues they feel are most important in this election. They then explain how these issues affect them personally, and how they'd like the candidates to tackle them once in office.

*Click here for the Election Issues '08 lesson plan!

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: The Kids' Primary
Nick News explores the process by which we elect our presidential candidates. Linda Ellerbee walks kids through the complicated primary calendar, conventions, and electoral college system in a way that they can understand.

*Click here for the Kids' Primary lesson plan!

For full details on the Kids Pick the President campaign and to view Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Tales from the Trail, Election Issues '08 and The Kids' Primary visit www.nick.com/kpp!

Cable in the Classroom's eLECTIONS game
Inspired by the classic board game The Game of Life, players will roleplay their own virtual candidates running for President. The one or two-player game is both genuinely entertaining and genuinely educational-with emphasis on delivering a fun learning experience.

To play enter here!
Cable in the Classrooms eLECTIONS game!

Help NOGGIN & First Book Donate Books

NOGGIN has joined with First Book to generate 1,000,000 new books for kids in need. You can help simply by visiting Noggin and clicking the red button. It's that easy!

First Book is a national nonprofit organization that provides new books to kids through eligible community organizations that serve children from low-income households. If you would like to find out how to receive books, visit FirstBook.org or e-mail staff@firstbook.org.

Click here for more information on The FAMILY TABLE.

Nick and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Talking with Kids About Tough Issues

Nick Jr: Play-a-long for preschoolers and kindergartners

Choice, Control, Education. How can you control what your family sees on TV?

Cable puts you in control.
Cable in the Classroom and National Cable & Telecommunications Association