The goal of Safe Routes Utah, a UDOT program, is to help children get to and from school safely while motivating children to experience the benefits of walking or biking to school.
There are numerous benefits including physical wellness, improved cognitive abilities, better air quality and less traffic, which actually makes it safer for pedestrians with less cars on the roads.
Safe Route Utah wants to encourage and reward kids for walking or rolling with The Walk & Roll Challenge.
This challenges runs from September to May and rewards students K-8 monthly prizes for walking and biking to school.
Students track the days that they walked or biked and then submit them online.
The more frequently a student walks or bikes to school, the greater the chance of them winning prizes.
Parents who encourage their kids are also entered into the drawing.
Last year Safe Routes gave out more than 140 prizes throughout the state of Utah.
You can find a printable tracker sheet that your child can put on the fridge or somewhere handy where they can mark the days they have walked or rolled her.
Parents can sign up for text reminders that come at the end of the month by texting WALK to 833-277-0641.
For more information please visit: saferoutes.utah.gov.
