Take a Child Outside Week runs Sept. 24 through Sept. 30 this year.

Launched by the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences a couple of years ago, the week aims to encourage adults to take kids outside instead of keeping them cooped up in the house all day. To me, it's a sad state of affairs when we need a whole week to encourage what should be a normal part of every childhood.

But according to Richard Louv in his book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder," outdoors time isn't a given for many kids for a variety of reasons. Louv's book helped inspire the museum to organize the week, which now is marked across the United States and in parts of Canada.

Read more about how you can get involved at takeachildouside.org. 

There are a variety of Take a Child Outside events across the Triangle, many of which are on the Mom2Mom calendar. Just click here for the list. Most of these events require pre-registration, so be sure to make your plans now so you're not disappointed later.

And to check whether your own parks and recreation program has anything planned, check out the Mom2Mom parks, playgrounds and trails resource page. Or just use it to find some new places to explore in the Triangle.

Looking for other things to do with your kids? Go to www.trianglemom2mom.com/play and check back here every Thursday.