Nickelodeon to go blank!

As the main cartoon characters of the channel like SpongeBob SquarePants, Ninja Hattori and Dora will instead come to schools and playgrounds advocating young viewers to spend time outdoors.

Nickelodeon intends to reach out to nearly eight million children through its "Let's Just Play' programme, a six-week initiative, which culminates with a nationwide Play-a-thon that will last for almost 10 hours.

Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad will host on-ground interactive games and play activities for children.

According to channel's estimate, 40,000 kids are expected to participate in the offline event.