Description
Before taking a test, send youth on a short walk through the hallways of the school. Ask them to take deep breaths as they walk (and remember, no talking!). After 5 minutes, return to the classroom to take the test.
Topic: Be Active
Star Burst
Description
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.
Squats
Description
Have students stand with their feet shoulder width apart. Instruct them to squat down (as though they are pretending to sit down a chair), being sure to keep their stomach muscles tight and their backs straight to prevent injury. Using their arms for counter-balance, they can reach out. Tell them to slowly squat down until their knees are bent to 90 degrees, and knees do not go past their toes, hold for a count of 3 seconds and slowly stand back up. Do sets of 8-10 repetitions. You could encourage the students to also incorporate doing squats during a TV commercial, or doing a set of 10 here and there throughout the day.
Modification Option
- Poor balance: perform squats by holding on to the back of a chair or counter for balance
- perform with back against wall
- Impaired leg strength:
- decrease range of motion to 45 degrees
- if you do not have enough strength to come fully to standing, do a much as you can using your legs as much as possible and arms to assist (move to a partial standing position)
Sports Charades
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.
Sort It!
Description
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.
Song Strut
Description
Play one school-appropriate song and encourage youth to move! Make sure they have enough room to move around the room. Show youth how to do the twist, jump, lawn mower, wave, water sprinkler and high knees.
Secret Food and Fitness
Description
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.).
Race in Place
Description
Divide the class in half. Half of the students each write a word on an index card. The other half of the class each writes the definition. Shuffle the cards and hand one card to each student. The students walk around the classroom and match the word with the definition. For younger students, match up sight words, letters or numbers. Also works well with math problems.
Quick Posture Check
Description
Ask youth to stand up and clasp their own hands together. Then ask them to take a deep breath in, turn their palms out and breathe out as they stretch their arms away and in front of their bodies. Encourage them to stretch their shoulder blades apart while bringing their chins down to their chests. When they are ready to breathe in again, ask them to move their shoulders up, then roll them back and down, as they release their hands and bring them down to their sides. Continue breathing. Finish by asking them to raise their heads to look up at you and slightly tuck their chins in (as if their head is a drawer, sliding into a dresser). Repeat. Important: Make sure youth are maintaining a good posture. To do a posture check, ask youth to stand against a wall. Their heels, hips, shoulders and the back of their heads should all be touching the wall. Ask them to tuck their chins in slightly, hold the position and step away from the wall.
Q and A Stretching
Description
Provide students with index size paper at desk. Ask a Multiple Choice questions (answer A or B, works best) and student writes the answers on one sheet of paper and holds paper up, with two hands overhead to stretch. Teacher checks answers.
