CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS WHILE STAYING HEALTHY

written by Gerry Cernicky

It doesn't matter where you are, the winter season can bring unwanted problems. From unfavorable early snow falls to unpredictable weather patterns, there always seems to be at least a few winter related events that initiate chaos in our lives. Despite unfavorable weather, the holidays are a time to be treasured with our families. A great way to spend part of this treasured time is helping our families to find healthy ways to stay engaged in every day fitness activities.

A very small percentage of schools provide daily physical education, which can lead to sedentary lifestyles among students. It is important to prepare students for a lifetime of being physically fit, and to encourage movement. The fitness calendar is one way to monitor activity and promote exercise on a daily basis during the winter months.

One way to keep the family healthy is to stay organized is by using a monthly Fitness Calendar. This calendar is a "take home" from the P.E. teacher, and is designed so that each day the planned physical activities can be arranged in any order to suit the equipment and facilities available. The students mark off each day with a crayon or marker to keep track of their physical activity. After the month is completed, the fitness calendar is sent back to the P.E. teacher, and in return a few students are chosen each month, and a fitness bag is sent home with those students and shared with the family. The fitness bag comes complete with skill-sheets, rubrics, and official P.E. equipment. The materials used for the fitness calendar are of the homemade or makeshift variety for ease of use and creativity.

The holiday season is a great time to teach children about nutrition and healthy food choices. In addition, the holiday season is a good time to teach about injury prevention and how to seek a balance between diet and exercise. The P.E. class should be a place where students are introduced to a variety of activities in order to help them find ways they can continue to be active for the rest of their lives. With the school and home working together, the student can be encouraged to exercise at least 30 minutes a day and hopefully for up to 60 minutes.

It doesn't matter what the cold weather conditions are; the main focus is movement. The holidays provide a time to experience fun activities such as biking, skating, kayaking, water sports, skiing, cross country skiing, and snow shoeing. It is important to include all safety lessons and orientations on how to use the equipment in lessons. In many instances, makeshift/homemade equipment can serve as an alternative form of resources for all types of weather and financial situations. The Holidays can provide both an abundance of ways to be creative, and the ability to be creative, when coming up with equipment that is both free and inexpensive:

• Cardboard container – bobsled
• Cardboard slats from appliances – skiing
• Homemade balls – juggling
• Wrapping paper – rolled up play balls
• Wrapping tubes - javelin
• Carpet squares – sliding /pushing/skating
• Shoe boxes - skating
• Styrofoam Christmas balls – throw and catch
• Parachute (coffee filter attached to twist ties, tape and a Popsicle stick) for throwing and catching
• Material at a craft store for juggling and rip tags
• Sock balls – throw into a container (inside or outside the house)

Here are some activities that can be used in elementary grades. These activities include Christmas musical selections, makeshift and regulation equipment, creativity by skill, and grade-level-appropriate games and activities:

SNOWBALL RUN: Place these objects around the gym in a scattered formation - frisbees with the bowl side up and adapted "snowballs" (wiffleballs, paper wads, etc.) Have half of the snowballs on the frisbee, and the other half off and sitting beside the frisbee. As an alternative, use a deflated play ball so they don't roll away easily. Divide the class between two groups, the Elves and the Grinches. One group will try to steal the snowball from the frisbee and place it outside, while the other group places the snowball from the outside into the frisbee. The frisbee may represent a "toy" or cookie tray for Santa. Take a few moments to count all those inside and outside the plate/toy. Switch positions often to try both tasks.

PARACHUTE EXPRESS: Arrange the class around the parachute, holding the edges up and off the floor. Underneath the parachute place 4-5 scooters or SLEIGHS. Give students numbers from 1-5. When their number is called those students leave their spot, run to a scooter, and sit on it. Then those students will have to make it back to their spots before the parachute comes down on them. For more fun, have the parachute be the IGLOO, the scooters are the SLEIGHS, and the students GRINCHES. Call a new number each time. Practice using the parachute safely with the command "DROP" - the only time the class lowers the parachute. It will be more effective if there is a contact circle or line for the students to get back to for a safe trip back to their places.

SLEIGH RIDE: Use large tumbling mats as sleighs for students to transport their team to designation lines (two lines used for this). All teams start at one line, with one student on the mat while the others pull him/her to the other line. Once there, switch with another teammate and repeat the process until everyone has had a turn. Time the students, and then repeat the sleigh ride to try improving a previous score. Please note that the student on the mat should be in a kneeling position and not laying down. The "pulling" students should be arranged around the front of the mat and dragging safely. Any student who falls off the mat receives a 5 second penalty time.

HOLIDAY GUESS: Arrange two teams equally on each of two designated lines about 30 feet apart. Make another line about 6-8 feet away from one of the lines. One team will stand on one line in a side by side formation. The others will gather near the other far line around the teacher (huddle line). The teacher will ask them to "act out /mimic" a seasonal activity. These students will then walk down to the running line (the line about 6-8 feet away) from the team that must guess the activity. If wrongly guessed, the running team says NO. If correct, they will be chased back to their line. Give 3-4 chances before switching places. Here are some seasonal activities to MIMIC - throw snowballs, shovel snow, sled riding, skiing, skating, snow saucer ride, etc. One student chooses at a time until all have had a turn to guess.

CHRISTMAS FOCUS: Print out a set of Christmas cards and glue them to index cards. The objects are angels, stockings bulbs, and a manger. Color the cards. Turn cards over and mix them up, placing them under cones or frisbees. The object is to find pairs. Make it more challenging by printing multiple sets, and make the sets identical. Divide the class into 4-6 groups for more activity. The first person lifts the cone/frisbee and brings it back to their group. The next person repeats the process until a match occurs. "No matches" go to the end of the group line and perform a Holiday locomotor skill such as a gallop (reindeer), skip (elf), hop (grinch), run, slide and leap, etc. Continue until all objects on the cards are matched. Note: With smaller classes (or alternative), the students can go all at once, and give them a designated object to find. Set a time limit, and repeat to improve the previous score. Beware of the GRINCHES who will try to tag before the task can be completed. If tagged, start over from a designated contact line. Chose new taggers each time.

WHAT ELSE…

There are interactive and technological resources that can useful in getting information to help students understand how to stay healthy and to maintain a high level of fitness. These are helpful during the Holiday season. Exploratorium takes you on an interactive tour in sport science that includes a baseball demonstration and home run activity that is similar to homerun derby. Included are sports skills and descriptions in hockey, skateboarding and skiing.

"Fear of Physics" shows videos and animations on how to make a jump shot, speed and acceleration examples, and ball comparisons. "My Plate" uses an interactive game to keep track of fit choices and a plan for vigorous activity, food guide, and worksheets. "Kids Health" discusses staying healthy, and a link that examines the brain, digestive system, heart, lungs, and muscles.

"Integration" can play an integral part of celebrating the Holidays - which is a concerted effort by all teachers working together. Working together can be an exciting endeavor in all facets of education. The health teacher can instruct in vocabulary words and definitions surrounding making healthy choices, such as definitions for calorie and weight management. The social studies teacher can teach about food choices in societal terms, as in different ways food is prepared. Comparisons can be made and acted out to show (historic) comparisons in ways meals were prepared during different times.

Language Arts teachers are responsible for writing projects and reading materials to compare and record food choices in a daily blog or diary, keeping track of daily food choices. Math teachers can compute the number of calories in food and drink products from information on the labels.

There are many up-to-date resources such as a Smart Board, Wii system, and iPads that are hands-on techniques for instant information, interactivity, and having fun through games and demonstrations. All of the teachers will be involved in a game plan that meets the needs of the students.

There are many food temptations around the holidays, but here are ways to help make choices in regard to food. Remember to set realistic goals, don't skip meals, and exercise regularly. There will be the added challenge of eating away from home, and it’s important to limit portion size and eat in moderation. It is best to quickly walk away from food than to continue returning to the table. Taking a quick look at the obesity statistics may cause you to hesitate, but that’s not the answer to this epidemic. There will need to be a unified effort between home, family, schools, and the community to work on a wellness program for students.

Poor nutrition, over eating, and the lack of physical activity are the reasons obesity rates are out of control. PE CENTRAL has many holiday activities that students will enjoy, learn from, and be active using. These activities include fitness games, working together, and Winter Holiday stations. For a great number of holiday activities check out more Holiday Games including dance, spatial awareness, and cooperation.

One final addition to Holiday celebrations is the stress produced when making holiday related plans and decisions, along with the decisions of food preparation. How you deal with stress is of major importance, and also finding ways to handle it. Adjusting attitudes to stressful situations will ultimately lead to healthier choices. Taking control of your diet and sleep habits will help with task related stress levels that can lower your immune system and lead to sickness.

Volunteering will provide an outlet for stress, and may help you forget about Holiday related problems or family issues. Don't forget to exercise. Exercise is a great stress reliever! It will help protect the cardio-vascular and immune systems from the consequences of stress. Share your stress related thoughts and feelings with others instead of bottling them up. This will help keep you from becoming overwhelmed.

There are many organizations that promote activity, such as the YMCA and Venture Outdoors, to help keep students and their families healthy for a lifetime. Included are specialty walks in parks, geocaching, wellness and leadership programs, snowshoeing, skiing, an annual Christmas Tree hike, and safety/first aid courses. When the weather permits, students can even engage in water sports (kayak and canoe). There are wilderness navigation and survival classes, and scavenger hunts that provide healthy food choices after the activities have been completed.

FUN INTEGRATED GAME

During the Holiday season, ask the art teacher to challenge students to make artwork displays and do projects involving healthy food choices as the model. Students draw, paste, color, and arrange a healthy meal, and then bring the projects to the physical education class for a game activity called, "Refrigerator."

Refrigerator: Arrange the class on one side of the half court line in four quadrants/corners. The students are evenly numbered in each quadrant. Each quadrant (refrigerator) is marked off with traffic cones, frisbees, poly spots, or any safe markers. The teacher calls out a food choice that was on the students art work (celery, carrots, fish, chicken, turkey, cake candy, French fries, etc.). If the teacher calls out a choice that is high in calories or not a healthy choice, and a student runs, the class yells out, "EWW!" and the student must return to their place. Call out the food choices in a rapid fashion to encourage more activity.

As an alternative, choose a few students to be the Refrigerator Magnet, whose job is to either tag or stay close (magnet) to anybody who makes a bad food choice. Use some of the art projects as examples, which may include soda pop and food labels that can be discussed during the activity. Take a few moments to discuss the labels, and have them be aware of the fat content, grams, calories, trans fat or sugar levels. To keep with the Holiday theme in this activity, use various family meals and desserts that may be eaten at the dinner table - yams, corn, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, bread, soda pop, ice tea, coffee, tea, or any vegetables that they may not have tried (asparagus, brussel sprouts, peas, etc.). Make this more interesting by letting a student be the "caller" rather than the P.E. teacher. You will get a wide range of choices, and find a lot out about their eating habits (as a veteran, retired teacher, I remain surprised by their choices).

Editor note: Please know that as physical education teachers, we are under constant pressure to validate teaching physical education and to validate whether physical education teachers are a viable asset to the school district. The time is now to produce results. The obesity epidemic is a great time to convince that teaching physical education is crucial. It is our job to demonstrate our knowledge and skill in an enlightening way and let teachers, the administration, the school board, and parents and the community know that physical education has changed dramatically, and is no longer a class that just "throws out the balls." Advocacy plays a key role in our survival. Yet, within our ranks there are many teachers who have no clue about the New P.E., brain gym and technology, or brain based learning.

Recently, many P.E. teachers have used Facebook, or other social networks, to advocate physical education, such as PE1 and PE Central. Also, John Hichwa has continued to moderate the new Naspe-Talk, which was the old pe-digest. These discussion groups have helped thousands of teachers, and spread the word about physical education. This comes at a time when the budget crisis and sluggish economy has seen hundreds of teachers (PE) laid off and programs cut. Now is the time to proclaim that what we do is the best medical insurance money can buy, and it's free.

What we teach saves lives, and through our efforts a lifetime of health and fitness can be achieved.

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