NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
2006
How to Instill the Love of Fitness in Children
By Mindy Mylrea
Variety is the key when selecting games and activities for our youth fitness classes. Designing and programming an assortment of activities so that each child feels successful is the way to excite all participants, not just the most athletic ones. It is easy to teach children who are eager, able and willing, but what about the kids who are not physically fit, who feel unsuccessful at sports and movement and who are always hanging out on the sidelines waiting for it all to be over? These are the kids who need our diligence and the uppermost attention. These are the kids we need to keep in mind when programming our fitness curriculum.
Why are some children so eager to play sports and physical play while others treat it like a jail sentence? Many factors come into play including:
Lack of skill
• Teacher's lack of creativity
• The winning and losing factor
No one, child or adult, enjoys and participates in an activity that they are not proficient in. Hockey players enjoy hockey because they have a level of skill. They may not be the best but they are good enough to play at some level. When a child participates in a fitness class, it is the job of the instructor to choose a diverse grouping of games and activities to showcase all the children's strengths. Choosing games that include creative movement, drama, dance and sport involves all children and allows all participants a place to "hang their hat"?to feel successful. A few suggestions and creative play ideas are listed below.
Physical education teachers face a monumental task?they must entertain, educate and provide a plethora of varied games and drills to excite the student at every turn. In a half hour time block the instructors need to have a multitude of activities up their sleeves to whip out at a moment's notice. A major mistake made by fitness instructors is to rely on one game or activity for an entire teaching session. Knowing when to change activities is paramount to the success of a fitness program. It is important to watch the group with a keen eye and change activities well before the group tires of that activity. The instructor's goal is for the group's last memory of the game to be that it was a lot of fun. The instructor will then be able to bring that game back time after time without any moans or groans from the group?"Not that game again!" The last impression from every game introduced should be, "When can we play that game again?"
Downplay winners and losers and incorporate cooperative play throughout each session. Many children fear sports because of the winning and losing factor. Choose activities that foster team effort and cooperative learning. There are so many opportunities in life for children to experience both winning and losing. Let your class be the one that works together and that let's every child feel like a winner.
Below are age appropriate games and activities. Most games and activities though can be used all age groups depending on the willingness of the group. Many of the games even work well with adult classes.
Two- to Five-Year-Olds
These children are starting to learn how their bodies move. They are solo players and need games and activities that focus on learning basic motor skills, i.e. running, leaping, hopping, twisting, turning and bending. This age group will benefit from games that are individually based, set to music, played in a circle or a line. They require boundaries and controlled play. The following are a few individual and group games for this age group.
Newspaper Catch/Newspaper Run
(Equipment needed?one half sheet of newspaper per child)
• Throw the newspaper into the air and try to catch it on a specified body part.
• Place the newspaper across your chest. Let go of the newspaper and at the same time run across the room fast enough so that the wind resistance created holds the newspaper in place.
Bubble Gum
(Equipment needed?just imagination)
Body Bubble
• Reach into your pocket and take out your imaginary gum, unwrap, put it into your mouth and blow an imaginary bubble. Carefully take the imaginary bubble out of your mouth and place one foot, then the other, then your whole body into the bubble. Your entire body is inside the bubble. Pretend that the bubble is floating slow and fast moving all around the room making sure not to bump into anyone else's bubble (this activity teaches special awareness).
Sticky Gum
• Take the sticky gum and place it under foot. You can move every body part but the foot that is now stuck to the floor. Pretend to place the gum on the hand, put the hand on the floor and proceed to move every body part except the hand that is stuck to the floor. Repeat with other body parts. Add music to dance to while stuck.
Six- to Nine-Year-Olds
This age range progresses from individual play to cooperative play. Parallel play occurs around age six. By age seven these children are working with partners. They are enjoying relationships and appreciating the interaction. This group will benefit from games that include partner play, small groups and continued basic motor skill development.
Partner Line
Partners face each other eight to 10 feet apart. They walk in and shake hands with their partner and walk back to the start line. Partners now jog in and shake hands, clap hands together in a high five overhead, low five clapping low and jog out. Continue adding activities performed by the partner pairs.
Pass the emotion
Children sit in a circle and one child is chosen to begin. He or she looks at the person on the right with an emotion on his or her face?happy, sad, confused, etc. The second person then passes the same emotion to the next in the circle. This is repeated until the emotion gets back to the start position.
Ball toss
Using a partner, practice core basic passing and catching skills with a twist. When a child tosses the ball, he or she calls out a colour, the partner then returns the ball while calling out another colour. Keep the passing and calling of the colour going until one child can't think of a new colour. Vary by using animals, foods, cities, etc.
British Bull Dog 1-2-3
One to three children start in the middle of the playing area (these are the bull dogs) while the remainder of the group stands at one end (these children are the poodles) facing the children in the middle. Each child on the end has a tail (e.g., a large sock, a football flag or a piece of cloth) tucked into the back of their pants with the majority hanging out like a tail. The children in the middle yell out "British Bull Dog 1-2-3!" Hearing this, the children at the end try to run to the other side without their tails being pulled by the middle children. If a tail gets pulled that child becomes a bulldog with the other bulldogs. Repeat the whole process back and forth across the field until there are about four to five poodles remaining. To start a second game, ask these poodles if they want to start as bulldogs.
Parachute Sharks and Lifeguards
All children sit in a circle around a parachute holding the edges with their legs out straight underneath the parachute. Choose two children to be sharks and two children to be lifeguards. The sharks crawl under the parachute getting ready to pull the legs of the seated children. The lifeguards stand and circle the parachute ready to save any children being pulled under by the sharks. When leader calls "shark attack" the sharks try to pull the legs of the seated children, pulling them under. If a seated child feels the pull, he or she needs to let go of the parachute, raise their arms in the air and yell "lifeguard!" A lifeguard runs to the child and tried to pull him or her out from the grip of the shark. If the shark pulls the seated child under past his or her chest, then the seated child now becomes a shark and the original shark takes the seated child's place. But if the lifeguard gets to the seated child in time in pull him or her out then the shark has to go to another seated child to try to pull that one under.
Ten- to 14-Year-Olds
This age range understands and benefits from strategic play. Incorporate games that require thinking and reacting. Group cooperation and team effort is key with this group. Provide information about proper warm up and cool down and the importance of balances in exercise and diet. Teach respect for their teammates and good sportsmanship. Below are cooperative play games and activities. Keep in mind that the process is much more important then the outcome so downplay the winning/losing element.
Willie/Billy/Joe/Mo
Four children are grouped together. They decide who is Willie, who is Billy, who is Joe and who is Mo. Willie, Billy and Joe holds hands to form a circle. Mo is out of the circle. Mo tries to tag Joe while Willie and Billie try to protect Joe from Mo. Mo will run around the outside of the circle trying to tag Joe. The threesome runs in a circle as well trying to keep Mo away from Joe.
One-two Pass the Shoe
All form a circle and sit facing the centre of the circle. Everyone takes off his or her right shoe. On count one everyone slaps a shoe on ground in front of them and yells one. On count two everyone lays down supine slapping the shoe over their head on the ground and yells two. On count three all sit up, lift a left leg off ground while passing shoe under left leg to partner on left. At the same time everyone is now getting partners show at right. Pattern continues until each person gets his or her own shoe back. This is a fun way to do sit ups.
True/False
Partners line up facing each other. One line is designated as "true" and the other line is "false". The teacher then makes a statement that is either true or false such as 6x7=42 (which is true). Because the statement is true the true team will chase and try to tag their partner. Tag only in a straight line so that children are not running all around the room.
Ham and Cheese
Partners line up facing each other. Ask them to choose a pair of matching items; for example, salt and pepper, black and white, peanut butter and jelly. They then determine which of the items they are and which one their partner is. They then go to opposite ends of the room. You then ask all the children to turn away and scramble up. When they turn around again they need to keep their eyes closed and call out their partner's name (item name) while at the same time they are listening for their name.
Fifteen- to 18-Year-Olds
This age range is keen to the current trends of fitness but they don't necessarily follow the trends. They see through media, their parents and their peers what is hip and what is not. Educate this group on the importance of proper diet and balanced exercise routine. What works best with this group is to offer choices and listen to their specific needs and desires. . Activities that work well include circuits, dance-based programming, boot camp and kickboxing.
For more great games and kids' fitness programming and play check out Mindy's new kids' fitness library, including Best Games for Fun and Fitness, Parachute Play and Ball Play, Fun Fit Blasts and Rainy Day Classroom Games and Gliding for Kids. All are available at www.mindymylrea.com
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