HEALTHY Schools Lesson Resource Bank

First Level – Eat Smart, Play Smart

Interdisciplinary Learning Project – Healthy Me

Planning Framework Context for Learning – PEPAS

Active Lifestyles Module – 60mins Physical Activity Per Day

HEALTHY Schools

60mins Physical Activity Per Day

Contents

Theme / Topic / Suggested Learning Activities
Physical Activity Recommendations / 60 minutes physical activity per day / How much activity per day?
Physical Activity Recommendations / 60 minutes physical activity per day / Why should we be active for 60 minutes per day?
Physical Activity Recommendations / 60 minutes physical activity per day / How to meet the 60 minute target
Physical Activity Recommendations / 60 minutes physical activity per day / Be a 60 minute kid!


60mins Physical Activity Per Day

Theme: Physical Activity Recommendations

Topic: 60mins Per Day

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
How much activity each day
Explain that we are about the do a lesson which looks at how much physical activity we should be engaging in each day of the week.
Questions:
·  How many days are there in one week? (7 days)
·  How many hours are there in a day? (24hours)
·  How many minutes are there in an hour (60 minutes)
Let’s think about how long one minute actually is in real time.
Ask the class to sit in silence counting what they think is one minute in there head, when they think they have reached a minute they should stand up silently.
Ask the class to perform the task again, this time stop them at 1 minute!
Now ask how many of these they think they should spend each day being active.
Reinforce the message “we should be physically active for 60 minutes each day of the week”
Explain that this does not need to be carried out all at once, you could be active for 10 minutes on 6 different occasions.
Ask the class to offer other ways the 60minutes could be broken up:
·  Before school
·  After school
·  School breaks
·  Weekends
Ask the pupils to talk you through the activity the engaged in yesterday. Set the class a challenge of reaching 1 hour per day before our next session.
In this final whole class activity use the measures of previous physical activity to make the challenge to reach 60 minutes of activity more attainable. Children could use graded tasks or goals, whereby they gradually build on the measurement of how much physical activity they have done the day before. If some children are not normally achieving close to 60 minutes of physical activity each day, then a graded, gradual approach could be more effective and also personalise their individual goals.

60mins Physical Activity Per Day

Theme: Physical Activity Recommendations

Topic: 60mins Per Day

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Why should we be active for 60 minutes per day?
This lesson is about the importance of being physically active for at least 60 minutes per day on most days of the week.
Why do you think it is good for your body to be active each day?
·  Develop healthy muscles
·  Develop healthy cardiovascular system (heart and lungs)
·  Coordination and movement control
·  Maintain a healthy weight
·  Social development (confidence etc)
Take the class into the gym hall and empty some mixed bags of sports equipment onto the floor at one end of the room.
Here the class teacher could take a moment to ask how happy children are feeling one a scale of one to 10, prior to the physical activity task. Then this could be rated again afterwards so as to highlight the immediate positive benefit to mood.
Set the teams up in a relay format opposite from the emptied equipment;
·  In a relay style the pupils take it one at a time to run and collect ONE piece of equipment
·  When all equipment has been collected the teams should be spread around the room.
·  With the equipment they should be asked to create an art attack picture of a body part which benefits from physical activity
·  While creating the picture they should consider how this part of the body will be affected by activity.
Each group should showcase their art attack with one nominated pupil explaining;
·  What the body part is
·  Why they chose it
·  How it is affected by the 60 minutes per day


60mins Physical Activity Per Day

Theme: Physical Activity Recommendations

Topic: 60mins Per Day

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
How to meet the 60 minute target
Explain that we are about to do a session which considers the different types of physical activity which could help make up our 60 minutes per day.
Include discussion about less obvious forms of activity such as walking the dog etc.
Split the class into groups and give each a specific topic to consider;
·  Activity at school
·  Activity before school
·  Activity after school
·  Activity with the family
Remember they do not have to be sport specific activities! Any moderate to vigorous bodily movement counts.
Ask the groups to feedback their ideas and create a class poster titled
“Different ways we can be active”
·  Walking to school / walking the dog / walking to the shops / taking the stairs
·  Playing tig at lunch time/ P.E. in school / football / dance, swimming, skipping or community classes
·  Going to the park / washing the car / clearing the garden etc
Re-enforce the idea that activity can come in many forms and should last for 60 minutes each day. This hour does not have to be continuous and can be broken up throughout the day.
As an extension the class could keep an activity diary, recording their activity levels daily to see If they are meeting the 60 minute recommendation!


60mins Physical Activity Per Day

Theme: Physical Activity Recommendations

Topic: 60mins Per Day

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Be a 60 minute kid!
Explain to the class that this lesson will be about them trying to be a 60 minute kid. They should do this by being active for at least 60 minutes on most days of the week. They will be able to use the information they have learned from previous lessons about why it is important to reach the 60 minute target and how they can do this to become a 60 minute kid.
Barriers and Solutions
Throughout this lesson it is important that pupils attempt to identify some potential barriers they might come across which could make achieving the target difficult and come up with solutions that would help them to overcome these barriers and achieve the target.
Personal Activity Plan
Pupils should have discussions in small groups about different ways people can be active in different places and situations. Each group should come up with a list of examples.
For example:
·  Playing playground games with friends at lunchtime
·  Playing football at a club
·  Swimming with their family
·  Walking the dog in the park
·  Cycling to school
Now pupils should identify a couple of examples that they can try themselves in the next week. These examples will form their Personal Activity Plan and pupils should attempt to try to take part in these activities in the coming week.
Pupil’s progress in meeting the goals in their Personal Activity Plans should be followed up in a week. Pupils who achieve the targets in their plans should progress this creating a new plan. However, those who do not meet the goals can be given another opportunity to try the following week or set more achievable plans.
Overcoming Barriers
Children could be asked to identify the sorts of barriers which can prevent participation in physical activity and generate ideas of how these can be overcome.
For instance, if children suggest bad weather keeps them from going outside to engage in physical activity, options for indoor activities can be generated. Similarly, if children say they struggle to find the time to engage in physical activity, ways of making their normal routine more active can be discussed.
Some ideas from the overcoming barriers activity can be used to support children to achieve their Personal Activity Plans from the previous activity.
The closing activity will recap the topics covered in the lesson within this unit and give pupils an opportunity review these topics.
Pupils should be asked open questions which will allow them to demonstrate that they are aware of the 60 minutes of physical activity per day target, why it is important to meet this target and give examples of ways in which they can be active and how they can overcome any potential barriers to being active.

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