Description

Remind students that physical activity is good for the heart. The heart is a muscle that works better when we are active.

Ask students to trace their footprint on a sheet of drawing paper or construction paper. Inside the footprint, have the student write in a simple activity, such as:

“Do 10 jumping jacks” or “Do five curl-ups.”

Have the students trace their other foot on the backside of the paper and write a different activity on this footprint.

Make a path by laying the footprints around the edge of the classroom or the gym. Invite students to exercise their heart muscle and their other muscles by following the path and doing the activities written on the footprints.

Description

Choose three students to be the “chasers.” Have these three students pick one of the five colors from the Choose MyPlate food categories: green for vegetables, red for fruit, blue for dairy, purple for protein or orange for grain. You can also include the fats/oils group if you would like. Once they have picked their color, have them each choose one nutritious food item from that food category.

Have the rest of students line up at one end of the gym and the three chasers in the middle of the gym. One of the chasers tells the group which food category was chosen. He or she then tells their classmates that they need to decide to be one of the three chosen food items.

The chaser calls out one of the three food choices. All of the students who have chosen that food item run from one side of the gym to the other without getting tagged by the chasers. If the student is tagged they are out of the round and need to go to the side of the gym and wait for the next round to start. For example: The fruit category is chosen by the chaser group. From the fruit category, the first student picks strawberries, the second student picks grapes and the third student picks watermelon.

One of the chasers tells the group that they have chosen the fruit category. He or she then tells their classmates that they need to decide if they would like to be a strawberry, a grape or a watermelon.

The chaser calls out grapes. All of the students who have chosen to be grapes run from one side of the gym to the other without getting tagged by the chasers.

If the chasers would like all of the students to run at once, they might call:

“Fruit Salad” for the fruit group, “Salsa” for the vegetable group, “Milk shake” for the dairy group, “Popcorn” for the grain group, “Chili” for the protein (meat and bean group), “Grease” for the fat and oil group

Or some other food category name that the group has decided upon.

The game starts over when there are only three participants left to run. These three students then become the new chasers and a new food category and foods choices are chosen.

Description

Pass out one feather to each student.

Have the students spread out so they each have their own space to work.

Tell the students to hold the feather high in the air and let it go. Have them watch how it slowly and softly floats to the ground.

Now challenge the kids to the following feather tests. Have them hold the feather up in the air as high as is possible again and let it go.

As it floats down, see if they can catch it or have it land on the following body parts:

• back of the hand
• elbow or forearm
• shoe or foot
• lay on floor and have it land on your back
• knee
• nose
• any other body part.

Additional Feather Activities

• The feathers could be used to represent the colors of the five food groups:
  • orange for grains
  • red for fruits
  • green for vegetables
  • blue for milk and dairy products
  • purple for protein.

Spread the feathers out on the floor. When you say “go,” have the students run to the feathers, grab one, and then quickly go to a corner or area of the room that represents that food group. The students with the green feathers could group in one corner and so on. The students with black, brown or yellow feathers could all represent the fats/oils group.

• Follow up this activity by having the students think of a healthful snack or food item that is the same color as the feather or think of a food item that is from the food category that their feather represents.

Description

Make sure wall and floor are clear from obstacles. Have students put back to the wall and then lower down into a sitting position. Their knees should be in a 90 degree angle. They will quickly feel their quadriceps muscles working. Once the muscles become tired, have students lower their knees and bottom gently to touch the floor.

Description

Sit on the floor with your legs crossed, or in your chair with feet flat on the floor, and your back straight.

Put the palms of your hands together at the center of your chest.

Close your eyes and begin by taking three big sun breaths.

Here’s how: When you breathe in deeply, raise your arms above your head in the shape of a big round sun.

Then breathe out and bring your arms back down so that your palms are together at the center of your chest.

Do this at least three times. The sun breath allows you to become centered and focused on your breath.

Description

Write names of various sports on pieces of paper (e.g. Basketball, soccer, bowling, baseball, swimming, etc.) Depending on the number of students, consider writing the same sport name on more than one piece of paper.

Lay the pieces of paper in a row on one end of a gym, large open space or an outdoor area.

Divide students into teams of 6 to 10.

One player (per team) at a time runs to the other end of the room or outdoor area, grabs a piece of paper and runs back to their team to act out the sport. (Remember, don’t let your teammates see what it says on the paper.)

When the team answers correctly, the next player runs and grabs a piece of paper and runs back to act out the sport. This continues until each team member has had a turn.

The team who finished first wins. This game is a good way for students to learn about a variety of sports.

Description

Keep it up and moving – hands free!

Pass out one hacky sack (often called a footbag) to each student. Explain and demonstrate the basic concept of using their feet, legs and head to keep the bag off of the floor.

Hands are only used to start the movement of the hacky sack, but shouldn’t be used once the bag is in motion. Once the students have had a few minutes to experiment with the hacky sack, tell them to pair up with another student or two. Have each group try to use the hacky sack between their group members. Remind the students to count the number of times it hits a body part before falling to the floor.

Other variations include:

• The person who can keep the hacky sack in motion the longest wins.

• The person who was able to bounce the hacky sack off of the most body parts wins.

• Challenge a group of three or more to pass it to each participant at least once before it hits the ground.