Spring has sprung! The days are getting longer, and the weather is getting brighter. It's great to play and learn outside. Unfortunately, time spent outdoors is becoming a rare commodity for our young people. Full disclosure: I may be old. I grew up in the '70s and '80s—and back then, playing meant playing outside.

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. What better time to encourage your afterschool students to jump on a healthy lifestyle path?

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."
—Jack Welch

HBR, LinkedIn, TED, Fast Company, fill-in-the-blank. We dive into so many resources looking for the recipe on effective leadership and how to build it in others. Each of us are paving our own path, making both minor and gigantic mistakes and hopefully picking ourselves back up to learn and lead again. Along the way, most of us are discovering our own recipe for effective leadership with our teams.

Just like us, children are interested in the current presidential race. KidsHealth.org asked more than 2,000 children and teens throughout the U.S. what they think about recent presidential election and how it might affect them. A whopping 75 percent of kids and 79 percent of teens answered "yes" when asked whether they thought the outcome of an election would change their lives.

Children dependent on smartphones or computers aren't rare. In the classroom and out, technology can be a helpful learning and research tool. Used without care, focus and instruction, however, it could lead to the problem of shortened attention spans.

Animal Winner Family Board Game is a part of the answer.

Twenty million Americans took to streets, parks and auditoriums on April 22, 1970, in an effort to ensure our planet's heath and sustainability. The day marked a rare moment of political alignment as Republicans and Democrats stood together in defense of our environment. On April 22, 2016, the 46th year of this important day will be celebrated. You and your afterschool students could support Earth Day 2016 in a multitude of ways.

STEM covers four specific educational areas: science, technology, engineering and math. SEL focuses on the softer side of development and emphasizes social and emotional learning.

Parents today face an enormous challenge as they raise kids who are more tech savvy and comfortable using digital communications and social media than they are. There has been a fundamental shift in the way kids communicate today that previous generations of parents have not had to cope with. The good news is that they do not need to be tech experts to parent effectively online.

What are the key characteristics that propel today's youth toward success? How can we as adults foster the development of these important characteristics? Foundations for Young Adult Success: A Developmental Framework, a report by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, addressed these very questions.

Rural communities are diverse areas united by common strengths and struggles. With the support of John Deere, an America After 3PM report, The Growing Importance of Afterschool in Rural Communities, delved into the state of afterschool in rural areas. This special report specifically looked at how the areas' oft-underserved children spend their afterschool hours and how afterschool programs are helping them thrive.