Wellness Focus: Exercise

Benefits of Exercise and Movement: The recommended amount of exercise for children is 60 minutes a day.

• Improves resistance to certain diseases
• Builds healthy lungs and heart
• Helps maintain a healthy weight
• Boosts energy levels and mood
• Enhances creativity and self-esteem
• Creates more positive attitude toward school
• Grows brain cells and increases oxygen to the brain
• Improves brain efficiency for learning and memory
• Improves concentration, focus and test scores
• Helps students sleep better

 Lack of exercise contributes to childhood obesity, difficulty focusing, memory problems
Family Tips
 Go for a family walk after dinner.

 Walk to school instead of driving. When driving, park far away and walk.

 Cut back on TV, video and computer games. Allow time for more physical activity.

 Invent fun, active games, and exercise together.

 Take walking tours of historic sites.

 Have a family dance party, or hula –hoop contest.

 Jump rope to music.

 Create an obstacle course - include the concepts over, under, around, and through.

 Learn a new sport, or reinvent a traditional sport.

 Keep an exercise log including: jogging, sit-ups, push-ups, and stretches.

Teacher Tips

o Incorporate physical activities and energizers into the school day. Visit http://www.emc.cmich.edu/BrainBreaks/default.htm for ideas.

o Play memory games in which students memorize movements for words.

o Call out a math problem. If the answer is less than 20, ask the students to answer by doing that number of vertical jumps.

o Take a two- minute fitness break between lessons. Stretch to music.

o Ask the students to act out verbs such as jump, jog in place, skip in place, stretch. Use adverbs to modify the movement such as skip merrily.

o Have students measure the distance covered while hopping, leaping, and jumping to help students practice measurements.

o Ask students to write a report on the benefits of physical activity.

o Have students journal the sports and activities that they enjoy the most, and explain why.

o Have students graph the amount of time the class spends watching TV as compared to being active. Problem solve ways to be more active with family and friends.

o Explore web sites that give information about being active, and games that encourage physical activity. Two great websites are:
http://www.kidnetic.com and http://www.verbnow.com.

o Encourage students to participate in after school physical activities.

Family Tips
 Go for a family walk after dinner.

 Walk to school instead of driving. When driving, park far away and walk.

 Cut back on TV, video and computer games. Allow time for more physical activity.

 Invent fun, active games, and exercise together.

 Take walking tours of historic sites.

 Have a family dance party, or hula –hoop contest.

 Jump rope to music.

 Create an obstacle course - include the concepts over, under, around, and through.

 Learn a new sport, or reinvent a traditional sport.

 Keep an exercise log including: jogging, sit-ups, push-ups, and stretches.
Student Tips

 Set fitness goals, and keep a log to track your improvement.

 Do aerobics such as jogging, jumping rope, in line skating, swimming, cycling, or cross-country skiing.

 Perform the “TV Workout”. Jog in place during the first commercial, sit-up during the second, push-ups during the third, then stretch.

 Dance to your favorite tunes.

 Play a game of basketball, kickball, or spud with your friends.

 Go for a bike ride with friends or family. Wear a helmet!!!!

 Try a new sport or game with your family or friends.

 Take a Nature Walk. Identify our State tree, flower, bird, insect.

 Follow the steps in Dance Dance Revolution.

 Walk and talk with friends instead of standing in one place.

 Take dance, gymnastics, martial arts, ice skating, or swimming lessons.

 Ask your P.E. teacher to help you LEARN AND REMEMBER the following terms: MUSCULAR STRENGTH, MUSCULAR ENDURANCE, CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE, AGILITY, AND FLEXIBILITY.
Resources
Dennison, P., Dennison, G. (1989). Brain gym. Ventura, CA: Edu-kinesthetics, Inc.
Hannaford, C. (1995). Smart moves. Alexander, NC: Great Ocean Publishers.
Jensen, E. (2000). Learning with the body in mind. San Diego, CA: The Brain Store Sousa, D. (2001). How the brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Action for Healthy Kids: www.actionforhealthykids.orgAmerican Alliance for Health, PE, Recreation and Dance: www.aahperd.org
Action for Healthy Kids: www.actionforhealthykids.org
PE for Life: www.pe4life.com
Model School Wellness Policies: www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org
National Association for Sport and Physical Education: NASPE.org