GameTime

For years, GameTime has promoted the mantra healthy kids, healthy environment and has been a leader in the play industry for almost 100 years. This has led to wide recognition for introducing many of today's playground favorites to the world. What are they up to now? Creating? fitness-based play opportunities while embracing their greener side.

The company will be introducing the next phase of their Xscape product lines at this month's NRPA show. Xscape, the original uber-modern play system, still stands alone in benefits that it delivers to children and facility owners alike. Xscape is designed to provide continual paths of travel, rather than simply lumping components into mindless chaos, so kids invent games of challenge while developing their upper body, core, and balance. It s also the only ultramodern system that allows the customer complete design freedom, with no preset choices or limitations.

You can even join it to a composite structure of traditional playground equipment, creating Hybrid Xscape systems with hundreds of additional design configurations! Xscape has proven to be wildly popular, as it is incredibly affordable, hip and ultra modern. It's the only modern play system that

• Is developed through research (An Xscape system is part of Dr. Joe Frost's research playground)
• Is amazingly affordable
• Can be joined to a tradi tional play structure
• Creates paths of play to encourage cardiovascular benefits
• Addresses all the core development areas for strength and cardio

Xscape joins GameTime's family of fitness based play products, like FitKid, the only fitness system with a curriculum that allows instructors and teachers to use play equipment in an instructional environment, with lesson plans for beginner, intermediate, and advanced skills. FitKid has separate programs targeted toward three age groups: elementary, junior high and high school age children.

Since GameTime uses its extensive research findings to develop equipment that challenges and develops core strength, and cardiovascular health, the company wants to help get this important information into the hands of concerned citizens to work together to help children become fit.

It's inter esting how many questions we get about caloric burn, says Anne-Marie Spencer, who gathers research. "When you consider that one pound of fat is 3500 stored calories, if you take in 3000 a day, but only burn 2000, you are setting yourself up to gain 2 pounds a week! It's easy to take in an extra 1000, but very difficult to cut that out in a day, so it becomes clear how difficult it is to lose weight but so easy to put it on." She continues, "We also created a reference table for kids to track their caloric burn, using activities they do each day, from cutting the grass to doing homework.

We hope to help adults and children alike understand the relationship between what you eat and what you expend, and how elements like 60 minutes a day of play can help us stay healthy!"

GameTime also takes environmental responsibility very seriously. It believes in reducing the environmental footprint left by its manufacturing process as well as the use of its products. Simple steps such as recycling paper from its offices and scrap material from its manufacturing processes can have a surprisingly large positive impact on the natural environment we seek to protect. Movements toward the sustainable design of its units have reduced its dependence on finite resources and increased the lifespan of its products.

GameTime is also a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization working to promote buildings and equipment that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and improve the quality of life for all. It is also focusing its attention on the USGBC s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. This rating system seeks to transform the built environment toward sustainability by providing the industry with credible, consistent standards for what constitutes a green building.

The adoption of this program by its customers has measurable benefits in terms of energy efficiency, environmental impact, and more. We belive it is up to every industry to take the necessary steps to ensure a healthy environment for future generations. GameTime understands that this is not a simple overnight process but a total change in business philosophy toward sustainability. That is why the implementation and continued improvement of these new practices is a top priority now and in the future of the company.