Let’s Move!

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Discuss the benefits of exercise.
• Experiment with different exercises and ways to exercise.

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Materials

For the group:

• Various sports equipment, such as soccer balls or Frisbees (for outdoor use), or ping-pong tables and medicine balls (for indoor use)
• Drinking water

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Preparation

• Read and familiarize yourself with the activity steps.
• Secure a place to conduct the activity. In good weather, exercising outdoors is ideal. Otherwise, conduct the activity in the school gym or any space with a large, flat floor.
• Tell students in advance that they will be exercising in the activity. They may wish to dress appropriately and may need to wear gym shoes.

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Activity Steps

1. Start a conversation with students about exercise and its benefits. Have them suggest different exercise routines and explain why they are enjoyable and healthful to do. Examples of exercise include sports and physical activities, such as running, swimming, skiing, and games such as soccer and baseball. The benefits include:
   • Maintaining good health
   • Gaining muscle strength and coordination
   • Improved sleep and concentration,
   • Social connections.
2. Tell students that today they will be exercising in various different ways, each session lasting only a few minutes. Encourage students to compare each of the exercise sessions and decide for themselves which they prefer.
3. Before beginning, remind students to pay attention to their bodies during the session. They should stop exercising if they feel overexerted and want to rest. They also may elect not to participate in any of the exercise routines.
4. To begin, lead the whole group together in stretching exercises. As you model, have them stretch and flex their arms and legs and then rotate their necks and shoulders.
5. Next, lead the whole group in a round of calisthenics, such as jumping jacks or running in place. Then have students form partners to take turns performing sit-ups and push-ups while the other partner assists and counts.
6. Allow a short break for students to rest and drink water.
7. Divide the students into small groups to play a team game of their choice, assuming that the proper equipment is available. Good games include soccer, touch football, basketball, and dodgeball.
8. For the third routine, allow students to exercise in any way they choose, either alone or with a partner. Discourage the continuation of the game that students had been playing. Useful exercises for this routine include ping-pong, Frisbee, one-on-one basketball, or running laps. Encourage students to exercise quietly during this time.
9. Reconvene the whole group, if feasible, to discuss the activity. Ask:
   • How were the 3 sessions alike? How were they different?
   • Describe the benefits or possible benefits of each of these different forms of exercise. Also identify any drawbacks you see. Each helps move the body and maintain health. Playing games might be the most fun, but they also can be stressful and require a lot of organization. Stretching and doing calisthenics as a group is not as much fun but feels good for the body. Exercising alone or with a partner is easy to do, and generally can be done anytime without much planning.)
   • What did you learn in today's activity? (Lead students to recognize that they have many options for exercise, and each has benefits to offer.)

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Variations

1. Many people are interested in being more flexible. You can have the students make and play with a model of their connective tissue with any silicone putty, such as Silly Putty™. You can inexpensively make putty for the whole group by making a solution of 1 tablespoon of Borax in 4 cups of water, then, while stirring with a knitting needle or chopstick, add a stream of white craft glue until the putty piles up in a ball around the stir stick, as in the video below.
   
   Our connective tissue is similar to Silly Putty™ in that if you stretch it out slowly and patiently, you can make your body flexible and limber. (Silly Putty can stretch VERY long if you stretch it slowly.) However, if you try to rush stretching out, you can injure yourself. (Silly Putty breaks when you try to pull it too fast). You can use this to discuss why stretching slowly before doing sports can help to prevent injuries.

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DIY: How to Make Silly Putty