KAILUA — An 8-year-old girl's drive to get children to shut off their televisions, computers and video games yesterday took an international turn as students in Hawai'i, along with supporters in California, Washington and Canada, went outside to play.

Hannah Skaggs recently addressed more than 2,000 students on O'ahu at 10 locations, asking them to join her for No Screen Day. She also contacted relatives in California, friends in Washington state and an aunt in Canada who is a schoolteacher.

A mother on the Big Island, who wanted her children to take part, called Hannah after reading about the girl's efforts earlier this month in The Advertiser. The newspaper story also prompted a 9-year-old girl to volunteer to help spread the word, and a member of the Academy of Film and Theatre offered to coach Hannah's speeches.

Several business owners promised donations of money and gift cards, which Hannah is using as an incentive for participants.

The Windward Adventist School third-grader initiated the project with a $500 grant from Do Something. The nationwide nonprofit, which encourages young people to pursue community-service efforts, obtained funding for the project from GameStop, touted as the largest video-game retailer in the world.

Hannah said she has learned that incentives are sometimes needed to get people to do the right thing.

"It's kind of like a bribe," she said, noting that some students laughed at her idea, but once they learned they could win a prize they wanted to take part. "It's not the right thing to do, to bribe them. But it gets them started."

Hannah came up with the No Screen Day idea while surfing the Internet with her mother, Dawn Skaggs.

Emily Luke, grants coordinator for Do Something Inc., said Hannah's creativity is impressive.

"Do Something and GameStop awarded her a $500 grant because we truly believe in her mission ... and she's only 8 years old," Luke wrote in an e-mail. Hannah was the youngest of some 30 youths awarded grants for projects.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen showed her support by visiting Hannah's Kailua school yesterday during an assembly to recognize No Screen Day. Thielen told the students that when her children were in elementary school, the television went into the closet and the result was that she had a house full of readers.

"I think what Hannah is doing is making youngsters think that there are other things that we could be doing," Thielen said. Kids could be outside playing, talking with family or friends, she said.

Andrew Yamada, 8, planned to participate in the project by doing his homework, then playing with his younger brother. He pointed out that No Screen Day would be a breeze for him because there's not much he enjoys on TV, and he rarely uses his computer. Still, Andrew said he supports the project because it frees up time that would otherwise be spent in front of a screen.

"Then you can spend time with your family," he said.

The project's incentives — gift cards for toys, books, sporting goods and food — will be distributed through a drawing. Nine businesses contributed nearly $500 worth of products or cash, Dawn Skaggs said.

Dawn Skaggs estimated that about 1,500 would participate in yesterday's event.

"She had a goal of 200 to 300 kids," said Skaggs, adding that her daughter is "very encouraged" because Hannah has dreams of one day turning No Screen Day into a national event.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.