The idea of Worldwide Day of Play is to drop iPhones and other electronic devices and get physical – but not to drop the raw egg flying at you in the egg toss.
An estimated 80 adults and kids made the egg toss a hotly-contested, hilarious event at Worldwide Day of Play at Century Park in Vernon Hills on Sept. 14. Other popular, organized activities included gunny sack races, hula-hooping, bago, and ladder ball.
The Vernon Hills Park District event mirrors Worldwide Day of Play that was begun in the early 2000s by TV network Nickelodeon with the intention of promoting unplugged play in old-school, physical activities.
Free ice cream and hot dogs were provided at the park’s recreation center.
Johanna Echambia, came in first among women in the adult gunny sack race.
“I just saw (the race being organized) and thought I wanted to participate,” she said.
Jack Scherer, recreation supervisor, has noticed which event gets the most attention.
“The egg toss is always the popular event. I think we had close to one hundred in that event. We probably had about 200 people coming and going,” he said.
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Iswarya Lakshmi Nadarajah brought two children, 4 and 9.
“The kids had a nice time. I really want them to have physical activities, more than having all this screen time. This keeps them more fit,” Nadarajah said.
Denys Bucksten is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.