Let’s Get Active!
Staying healthy and enjoying ourselves
by Penny Hollander (revised, originally published in 2008)
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider our responsibility to be healthy and enjoy ourselves at the same time.
Preparation and materials
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Gather some images of different types of physical activity and have the means available to display them during the assembly. Examples include:
- running, available at: http://tinyurl.com/j5lsl6n
- cycling, available at: http://tinyurl.com/hu2cr5u
- skipping, available at: http://tinyurl.com/z8v2otb
- swimming, available at: http://tinyurl.com/zqtuno5 -
You will also need a copy of the fitness quiz that is used in the ‘Assembly’, Step 1, or some questions of your own about exercise.
Assembly
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Explain to the children that you are going to start the assembly with a quiz to find out how much they know about the importance of taking exercise. Each of the four questions has four possible answers.
- If they think that the answer is (a), they should put their hands on their head.
- If they think that the answer is (b), they should fold their arms.
- If they think that the answer is (c), they should put their hands on their shoulders.
- If they think that the answer is (d), they should put their hands on their knees.Ask the following questions.
How many days a week should you try to do physical activity?
(a) One day a week
(b) Five days a week
(c) Seven days a week
(d) Three days a week
The correct answer is (c).What kind of exercise should you do?
(a) Swimming.
(b) Running.
(c) Football.
(d) Any, as long as it’s exercise!
The correct answer is (d).What type of activities should you do?
(a) Watching TV.
(b) Lying on your bed.
(c) Playing on the computer.
(d) Anything that gets the whole body moving.
The correct answer is (d).How should you feel after exercising?
(a) Absolutely exhausted and unable to stand.
(b) Fine – bring on some more!
(c) A bit out of breath, but able to recover.
(d) Like eating a huge meal and several bars of chocolate.
The correct answer is (c). You shouldn’t feel too relaxed because this means that the exercise hasn’t been hard enough, but you shouldn’t feel absolutely exhausted either. -
Ask the children what types of exercise are available to them in school and outside school.
Listen to a range of responses.
Show the images of different types of physical activity.
Explain that exercise doesn’t have to be only one type of activity – we can all find some form of exercise that we enjoy.Ask the children what happens if we don’t exercise. Explain that it can lead to all kinds of health problems, either now or later on in life.
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Point out that it has been proved that involvement in physical exercise helps us to think more clearly and encourages a healthy mind. Happiness and health are closely linked.
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Christians believe that God created human beings in body, mind and spirit. Psalm 139 celebrates this and the amazing job that God has done with us. A paraphrase of a verse from Psalm 139 says, ‘I praise you for the wonderful way you made me. Your ways are strange and wonderful – I know this with all my heart.’
Time for reflection
Let’s think about our bodies and how amazing we are! Let’s remind ourselves of our responsibility to keep ourselves healthy in every way we can so that we can enjoy life to the full.
Think about how we can use exercise to keep ourselves healthy and happy. Maybe we enjoy lots of sports, or maybe just one or two. Exercise can take many different forms. It doesn’t matter what we choose; it’s up to us to find something that we enjoy doing. Maybe we could do more walking, either to school or out with our families. Let’s think about how healthy, exercised bodies can also stimulate or help our minds so that we learn better, too.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the way we are created.
Thank you for our amazing bodies.
Thank you that we all have so many gifts and abilities.
Help us to appreciate this and do all we can to keep ourselves healthy.
Amen.
Song/music
‘You’ve got to move’ (Come and Praise, 107)
