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Basic Benefits of Physical Education to Our Children

Today more than ever we are all very busy with the day to day tasks of our lives. We have so many things to do with our jobs and our families it is a miracle that we don’t all go crazy.

And now this type of lifestyle is starting to effect our children in negative ways. Today children are increasingly becoming more like adults. Most adults don’t get proper exercise or nutrition. Our children learn from us and out society. Today they spend many hours in school and in after school activities that take up a large majority of their time.

That is why it is so vital that kids get physical education in public and private schools today. The physical activity is a much needed change of pace. From sitting in the class room all day at some desk or going home after school and sitting in front of a computer screen playing video games.

Today more than any other time in history children in the United States are overweight. And some are seriously overweight and considered obese. This can lead to all sorts of problems such as diabetes, hormone imbalances and other negative physical outcomes.

So this is why I believe that it is vital to have good physical education programs which require our kids to get active. That way they can get some exercise that is so vitally needed by them. Another reason too, is because not only are our children not getting enough exercise they are not getting proper nutrition. They are eating the wrong things that promote weight gain and health problems.

So, make sure your child is enrolled in a good physical education class to ensure that he or she gets some much needed physical activity. The benefits can be monumental and your children may one day thank you for it.

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School-Based Physical Education – Five-Step Leadership Program

“Take care of our children and show them the way.”

We live in a culture of sedentary living and overeating. Our children are watching, listening and learning about life and how to live from us adults, their leaders. They are not interested in what we have to say. They are carefully watching how we live.

Schools, parents and local, state and federal governments all have a leadership role when it comes to educating our children and keeping them physically fit. What kind of message are they sending our kids?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), twenty percent of our children ages 6-17 are overweight. In 1980, only 6 percent of our children were overweight. Our children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes was once considered a disease for adults.

In a local newspaper, I read a dismal report. Physical education, music and art are being eliminated from our schools because there is no money to pay for them. The budgets have been slashed and teachers are being let go. This trend has been going on sometime now. Funding for our education system is not expected to increase.

Are we really talking about money and jobs? The primary mission of our school system is to educate our children. Physical education, art and music are just as essential for growth and development of our children as reading, writing and math.

The CDC has determined there is a causal connection between academic performance and school-based physical activity, according to the report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 2010, The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance. These findings combined with the state of health of our children make it imperative to find a way to – with or without additional funding or teaching jobs – to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day back into our schools. We will apply the lead-by-example approach and show our kids how important physical activity is.

If the schools do not have the funds to hire additional teachers to implement physical activity of 60 minutes per day, a volunteer corps of certified personal trainers needs to be established to institute the physical activity program. No child should be left behind when it comes to health and academic performance.

Cut through all the planning committees and trial periods, and take the program out of the bureaucracy and put it to work. There has been enough planning and enough programs readily available. See the federal programs President’s Challenge at http://www.presidentschallenge.org.

Here is a highly effective five-step program to achieve and maintain school-based health and fitness of our children and those who are their leaders.

Step 1: Find-a-way Mindset

Step 2: Assess

Step 3: Train

Step 4: Sustain

Step 5: Again

Step 1: Find-a-way Mindset

Parents, teachers, administrators, school boards as well as local, state and federal governments must maintain a find-a-way mindset to implement 60 minutes of school-based physical activity at least five days per week. The vision, mission and core values of our public schools are student focused. The vision is to provide the highest quality education for all students. We, as the leaders and role models, of our children are accountable and responsible for the development and education of our children. The CDC findings of a correlation between school-based physical activities and academic performance make it imperative to eliminate all excuses for not finding a way to institute this fitness program in all our schools.

Step 2: Assess

All teachers and school administrators are to set the example by taking a fitness test to determine what the true state of their wellness really is. Then, they are to do the same with the help of all those decision makers to establish one hour of daily school-based physical activities for the children and themselves. The program will begin with a physical fitness test of every child to determine the status of fitness. Establish goals for every child based on the fitness test results and other relevant input.

Step 3: Train

School staff and children will train for the next fitness test approximately eight weeks from the first one. Training will be activities based and not academic. Any academics are to be shouted out on the ball field during all other physical activities. We are to put the physical back into physical education and keep it there.

Step 4: Sustain

It’s not enough to start a physical fitness program. The program needs to be ongoing. Fitness testing should be every three to six months after initial introduction of the program.

Step 5: Again

Do it again. Again emphasizes a repeat of the previous steps of assess, train and sustain. The program never ends. It is indefinite and physical activity is maintained. School-based physical activity of at least 60 minutes daily is now well established.

Everything we say, do and do not do has an impact on how we live as well as how our children live. Waves of influence have been pouring out to lead a sedentary lifestyle and overeat along with other unhealthy behaviors. It’s time to turn this trend around and change our culture from a sedentary one to one that is activities-based and healthy. We owe it to our children. We are their leaders and role models. Take care of our children and show them the way.

Publishing Rights: You may republish this article in your website, newsletter, or book, on the condition that you agree to leave the article, author’s signature, and all links intact.

The author of this article is Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret., boot camp fitness instructor and personal trainer.

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Six Physical Education Games and Activities Your Elementary Students Will Love

The physical education games that are described in this article can be played at the beginning of gym class as part of a warm exercise, during the period wholly or partially devoted to games or physical education activities or at the end of class as part of cool down exercises. In addition to the obvious benefits of providing good exercise, combating obesity and developing motor skills, the other skills that I wanted my students to demonstrate when they play these games are co-operation, sportsmanship and enjoyment.

Here are 6 examples of physical education games that my students and I enjoyed.

1. Face to Face

Scatter formation (possibly in a large circle) with partners. One odd player stands in the center and alternates between calling “Face to Face” and “Back to Back”. The students take the positions accordingly. When he calls “All change” the students must find new partners and the center player tries to get one too. The student left without a partner goes to the center and gives the commands. If there was no “odd student” then I played too.

2. Partner Tag

All of the students but two hook arms in couples. Of the two that are free one is “it” or the chaser and the other is the runner. The runner tries to avoid being tagged by locking arms with either member of any couple he chooses. When he does, the third student of the group becomes the runner and must avoid being tagged. If the runner is tagged the runner and chaser change positions. To make the activity interesting, the couples should run and twist to elude the runner. For a large number of students there can be more than one runner and chaser.

3. Catch the Cane

Have the students form a circle or divide the class in two and make two circles. Each student has a number from 1 to the end. One student is “It” and stands in the middle of the circle holding a cane or yard/meter stick with one end on the floor. This student calls out one of the numbers and lets go of the cane. The student whose number was called, must catch the cane before it falls to the floor. If he fails he becomes “It”.

4. Overpass

Divide the class into 2 even teams ( or 4 for a large class and run two games simultaneously). Team 1 forms a circle and each member of team 2 stands between two members of team 1. A team 1 member holds a ball (volleyball, soccer ball, football, etc.) and a member of team 2 holds the same type of ball (differentiate the balls, colour, etc.).

On the word “go”, each team member passes their ball to their team member on their right (or left). The team that completes the full circle with their ball gets a point.

The teacher can vary the game by calling out, “circle” (the student with the ball must run around the circle before passing the ball) or “zig-zag” or “bounce the ball”, etc. I’m sure you get the idea. It’s great fun.

5. Pass and Change

Arrange all the students in the class except one in a circle of about 40 feet in diameter. The student who is “it” stands in the center of the circle with a large (soft) ball.

To start, “it” calls the names of two students in the circle and at the same time throws the ball to a third student. The two students whose names were called, run to exchange places in the circle. The third student, upon catching the ball, throws it back to “it”. “It” then throws the ball at one of the two students, trying to hit one before they manage to change places. If “it” succeeds in hitting one, the student who was hit becomes “it”.  The game starts again with the new student being “it”.

6. Fish Net

This game is played with two teams. One team is the NET and the other team is the FISH. To begin, each team stands behind a goal line at opposite ends of the field. The NET team chooses a Captain and joins hands in a line. The FISH team runs free. At a signal, both teams run forward and the NET team tries to make a circle around as many FISH as possible. The FISH may not duck under the arms of the NET, but if the NET drops hands, the FISH may escape.

When the NET team has made its circle, the Captain counts the number of FISH that were caught. The other team now has a turn to be the NET. These are only a few of the elementary physical education activities and games that my kids participated in during their gym periods. You’ll find many more by visiting my website. I hope you enjoy teaching these games because your students will love them.

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