Have An Active Day*
CONCEPT: General Nutrition
BRIEF SUMMARY
Participants discuss healthy activity and find ways to add more activity to each day of a week.
OBJECTIVES
After completing this activity, children will be able to:
- state three ways they can build healthful exercise and movement into each day
METHODS
Discussion
Ask the children to name their favorite physical activities. How often do they engage in these activities?
Why is physical activity important? Even with the healthiest diets, we wouldn't be completely healthy without activity.
- It helps us reach or maintain a desirable weight
- It helps us avoid heart disease
- It strengthens our bones, which helps us avoid osteoporosis
- It helps us get a good night's sleep
- It helps us feel more energetic
- It helps us feel good - about the day and about ourselves
Explain that sports and games are important ways to keep fit, but not the only ways. It's possible to build healthful exercise and movement into each day, no matter what we're doing!
Worksheet
Distribute copies of the two handouts. The first handout lists 25 active ideas other than sports and games and asks the children to find new activities they would like to try. The second handout is a chart for scheduling these ideas into one week. Let the children work together to complete "Have Seven Active Days!"
Questions for discussion: What are some other active ideas? How can you be more active at school? At home?
MATERIALS
Worksheet: Ideas to Have an Active Day!- Worksheet: Have Seven Active Days!
- Pencils
*Activities adapted from the Connecticut Nutrition Education and Training Program, University of Connecticut and State Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs, 1984.