Studying one of the 50 great states in the U.S.? Take a tour by physically moving through the landmarks! For example, take a tour around Minnesota: walk across the Mississippi Headwaters in Itasca State Park, climb a white pine, walk tall with a moose, swim in one of the 14,000 lakes, play an instrument at Orchestra Hall, climb Eagle Mountain (the highest point in Minnesota), march up the steps at the State Capital and run around the Spoonbridge and Cherry in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Follow the curriculum for pictures and maps.
Students start in a squatting position, knees directly over ankles. On command, they jump up reaching both hands high into the air and slightly outward. At the same time their legs should come off the ground and then land in a jumping jack position. The burst of energy makes the body look like a rocket or star bursting in the sky. Have them return to squatting position, rest for 5 seconds and burst upward again.
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.
Place the hula hoops into six separate areas of the gym. If hula hoops are not available, choose four corners and two middle areas of the gym. Label each hula hoop or area of the gym with the five food groups, (fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, protein, plus one hula hoop for unhealthful food (to supplement the ‘Fast Food Alert’ lesson). Scatter the laminated food cards or photos throughout the gym. The goal is for students to run around the gym and sort the foods into the right food group.
For example, a photo of an orange goes in the fruit category. A photo of a steak goes in the meat category.
*For the Fast Food Alert lesson; have one more hula hoop labeled with unhealthful food and laminate fast food/unhealthful food for this hoop.
Tell the students to think of a name of a fruit and remember it. Then tell the students to move about the gym and find another person who has selected the same fruit as you have. When two students with the same fruits find each other they stop and do five jumping jacks, three push-ups or any other chosen activity. Once the two food items have found each other and the activity is completed, the students should think of a different fruit and start moving to find the new fruit item chosen.
For example: John and Marissa have each selected apple. They move around the room. When they whisper the word “apple” to each other, they find out that they have a match. They both do five jumping jacks and then each pick a new fruit and start looking for that fruit match.
This game could also be played with any other food group category as well as fitness activity (swimming, running, baseball, etc.).
Number youth off as 1’s and 2’s. Ask the 1’s to stand in a line facing the 2’s (like a mirror). Each student’s partner will be standing in front of him or her, as if a reflection. Ask the 1’s to tell the 2’s about something exciting, while the 2’s “mirror” their excitement. Switch roles and repeat. After each partner has had a chance to play each role, change the emotion of the story to mad, sad, happy, etc.
1. Introduce the pedometer and tell the students that the device is a battery operated step counter that tracks how many steps we take. On average, 2,000 steps equals one mile. We should strive to take 10,000 steps each day.
2. Demonstrate how to use the pedometer. The pedometer should be secured to the waist/pant line, straight up from either knee cap. It should be level and not tilted.
3. Help the students attach the pedometer correctly to their waist band. Spend four to five minutes per activity in the gym to allow students the opportunity to experience the fun and benefits of wearing a pedometer.
Pedometer activities could include: walking, running, hopping, and skipping or Choose MyPlate Chasers.
Equipment activities could include: jump rope, hacky sack or basketball.
• Ask the students which activity gives them the most/least steps in a certain amount of time?
• Have the students take a break from the activity to feel their heart beating faster.
• Remind them their heart is a muscle and it’s getting stronger and healthier with the activities they are doing.
Use a paper plate as a steering wheel. Each student should have their own paper plate and place their hands on either side of the “wheel.” The students will “drive” (walk) around the room, gym space or outdoor area.
The teacher will than say out loud different commands that will cause the students to change their pace or the way they “drive” their vehicle. These commands may include speed bump, stop signs, red/yellow/green light, speed of a police car or fire truck.
Create a chart with a list of the students’ names and each day of the month. (Instead of the student’s names, you could also use a “code name” that each student picks for themselves. Students could choose a healthier food item such as kiwi, mango, steak, etc., to use as their code name.)
Before lining up for lunch, have students stand up next to their desks, or if space allows have students spread out in the classroom. Have all of the students do 10 jumping jacks and 10 toe touches, alternating 2 times for a total of 20 jumping jacks and 20 toe touches. Have the students add a sticker to the chart under their name for that day if they participated in the class activity or did some type of physical activity outside of school.
When the students return from lunch, ask who ate a serving of a fruit or vegetable. For every day the student eats a fruit or vegetable, he or she can put a sticker on that day.
At the end of the month, tally up the food and activity stickers. See if the class can improve the tally each month.
Have students bring in one or two Nutrition Facts Labels from home or provide them with one. Have the student read the ingredient list. (If the student is too young to read, the teacher can read the list.) When reading the label, look for words that:
are hard to say
do not sound like whole food ingredients, for example, apple (foods that you eat that contain one ingredient)
sounds like chemicals are artificial colors or flavors.
Tell the students to jump up vertically for each number of words in the ingredient list (i.e. 6 ingredients=6 vertical jumps) and then have them jump side to side for every word that they cannot pronounce or don’t know how to say (i.e. can’t pronounce 3 words=jump side to side 3 times).
Note: Any other variations of body movements will work for this activity.
Compare these “foods” to foods that do not have an ingredient list, like apples or celery. The more ingredients listed on a food package and the more words that are hard to pronounce means that the food is likely more processed and may not be as healthful for us.
Another version would be to compare a homemade recipe, such as mayonnaise, to a store bought version. What are the differences?
