Students who are physically active experience many benefits including:
- Improved academic performance (especially in areas of executive function, memory, and attention)
- Improved focus
- Improved sleep quality
- Reduced risk of certain mental health concerns (depression and anxiety)
- Improved social and problem solving skills
- Improved physical health (cardiovascular health, muscle strength)
How can I enhance physical activity within my classroom?
There are many ways to enhance your student’s physical activity, these include:
- Exercise breaks throughout the day, especially between subjects or before settling into desk work
- Creating a movement friendly environment (creating space for movement, making movement stations around the classroom)
- Incorporate movement into classroom learning (associating movements with lesson components has been shown to increase learning/ memory)
- Promote extracurricular activities that incorporate physical activity like intramural sports, track and field
- Being active is an important part of staying healthy and feeling good
- When possible move classroom activities outside or to other parts of the school
When incorporating physical activity in classrooms it may be helpful to keep in mind that physical activity breaks don’t have to be long, and they should be easy/ accessible. The best movement is the movement that happens consistently.
What initiatives exist to help improve physical activity at my school?
There are many programs and initiatives that can help to improve your student's physical activity. Here are just a few: