Post 5;

Physical Fitness

Victoria Salinas

EDUC-1005

April 7, 2013

Physical fitness is so important to teach at a young age because it lets children know how that exercise can be fun. It is also something that if we start at a young age we can get the children to stick with it and will continue to do it. Some children don’t get the exercise because their parents just by them toys so they tend to stay inside. Having at least 60 minutes of physical/outside play is the best. Everyday should be like this, there are websites that offer different activities to do with children to encourage physical fitness. Another thing is extracurricular activities which can help with the exercise and fitness of children.

Explain what can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities. Be sure to consider the impact on children of being overweight or obese, including implications for health and self-esteem.

            When children do not get active they can become overweight or obese. This can be a danger to them because it can cause health problems and it makes their heart work harder which can lead to a heart attack. Even at a young age children should know why we need to exercise and the factors of not exercising. It can cause the children to have low-self-esteem because of other children making fun of them and being teased because of their weight.

            Being teased can lead to children doing poorly in school, dropping out, eating more, or even committing suicide. “A study from Stanford University found that a father's attitudes and comments about his little girl's weight can put her at risk for developing eating disorders in adolescence.” http://www.myoverweightchild.com/dos-donts-for-parents.html

Indicate how adults can help children develop good fitness habits. Describe at least two activities, such as specific games or movements, which are appropriate and enjoyable for children of this age. At least one of the activities should involve gross-motor (locomotor) skills, and another should involve fine-motor (manipulative) skills. Remember, the activities you recommend should be developmentally appropriate, which includes noncompetitive.

                The first activity is having the children do as I do, it’s a game were the children copy what the teacher does. They enjoy this because it can be from running, skipping, hopping, leap frog, to bear crawl, running backwards and just about anything you can think of. At work the children do this every day before getting the chance to run and play on the toys. We do it for about 5-10 minutes. Then they can play on the toys and ride the bikes or whatever they please.

            The second activity is musical chairs. It uses their legs and hands. The children enjoy this and once they learn the game it becomes a game they want to play all the time. They don’t even realize that they are exercising while doing it. So it is enjoyable unless you lose. The children laugh, play and enjoy it that sometimes when we have to stop, they cry but we reassure them we can play again either another day or the next day.

Based on your readings, include at least one inspirational, thought-provoking quote that captures your attitude and/or philosophy about fostering children's healthy growth and development.

            “The important thing is to begin to infuse regular physical activity in every classroom every day. Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are clearly major concerns these days, and everyone in the educational community needs to be part of the solution.” (Goodway, J. D., & Robinson, L. E, 2006)

For your fact sheet, draw on the information in the fitness articles from this week's Required Resources and your own research to provide evidence about the positive impact that physical activity has on children's health, both now and in the future. Be sure to cite your sources.

            According to Goodway while children are young we should teach them to be physical so they enjoy it when they get older. We should encourage it by modeling the positive eating and physical fitness we want the children to learn. By helping the children develop the physical skills it will them in the activities of sports and being competitive.

            Make the physical fitness part of the day a fun and “learning” experience for children so they can get healthy. Having them try new activities helps in this and making it a daily activity. We should do it daily and even if we have to do it inside, there should not be any excuse to why we are not doing it. Children enjoy just running and playing and we should do it with them.