School Paints Peaceful Playgrounds U.S. Map for geography lessons

The Express Star News
Story from the Chickashanews.com
October 30, 2009




Putting the Map on Grand

Teachers, students, and PTO members at Grand Avenue Elementary recently finished a Fifty Nifty United States project.

They produced a painted outdoor map of the United States.

The concrete was provided for this large outdoor map of the United States by the Grand Avenue PTO. Peaceful Playgrounds stencils and kit were made possible by the Chickasha School Foundation.

Teachers volunteered their time and talent to paint all the states and bordering oceans.

More on this story.....

When are we too old for play?

When are we too old for play? Never. At least that's the new philosophy catching on in Japan. They have found that age is just a number when it comes to having fun on a playground.

Every Friday, 79-year-old Saito and a class of senior citizens swing around on a jungle gym, made especially for the elderly, at a Tokyo park.

With fewer and fewer Japanese having children, it made sense for local governments to disassemble old children's playgrounds that need replacing and convert them into fitness parks for the retired.

Playground article with video.

Parents Support Healthier Schools

Survey for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation finds most parents willing to help schools improve food offerings and increase physical activity.

In fact, vast majority of parents want schools to limit students’ access to high-calorie chips, sodas and candy and to offer them opportunities for physical activity throughout the day, a new survey by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation shows.

The national survey, indicates that nearly eight in 10 parents are ready to get more involved to create a healthier environment in their local schools.

Further, the survey showed that 96 percent of parents believe that physical activity can boost their children’s classroom performance, and virtually all parents (99 percent) recognize that healthy eating also has a positive effect on learning.

More on the AKG Survey....

Sound interesting? Why not join the Healthy Schools Network at Join the Healthy Schools Network at www.HealthierGeneration.org for tools, tips and resources for creating a healthier school environment.

Healthy Fundraising Ideas from Healthy Kids Challenge

Are you receiving the WOWS Newsletter from the Healthy Kids Challenge?
It is a great resource and full of ideas and tips for keeping kids healthy. Below is a sample of a item that was included in this week's Wednesday Wows Newsletter.

....Easy HEAR-SEE-DO action tips each week

HEAR .... Provide a message to increase awareness of knowledge/skills
SEE .... Show people HOW to make healthy changes
DO .... Help people practice and make healthy changes

Fundraisers that Send a Healthy Message

HEAR

Raise school/program funds AND stay within wellness policies. Now you can have BOTH with the following suggestions!

SEE

* Healthy Kids Dance - Raise funds and GET HEALTHY with Dance for Health™. This unique fundraiser gets families and communities involved in healthy behaviors!

* Alternative Fundraising - Ideas of things to SELL or DO

DO

1. Provide a fun, physically active fundraising event, like Dance for Health™! HKC offers a Dance for Health™ kit that has everything you need to know -- ideas for a press release, how to collect money, equipment and space needs, healthy snack ideas, and getting local volunteer support. Check it out!

2. Reduce the emphasis on high fat, sugar and salty food gifts by selling healthier food choices like local fruit and nut baskets or a non-food line of products like school T-shirts or calendars.

3. Consider service-oriented fundraisers like holiday gift wrapping or community work days. Fundraising while helping others is a Win/Win!

Better yet, consider a Peaceful Playgrounds option. Why not earn money for a playground games make-over by painting 100 games and markings on the blacktop.
It is economical, fun and a great community building event.

Case continues to build on physical activity and academic performance

Advocates for school-based physical activity programs argue that allocating time for daily physical education does not adversely impact academic performance. In fact, according to seven studies reviewed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and released in a policy brief called Active Education, the effects of physical activity on elementary students resulted in improvements in academic performace, focus and classroom behavior.

Curran Elementary Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the 20th Anniversary of the school where I was principal. The school and community is similar in so many ways to school and community that I experienced. We were blessed with caring parents, dedicated teachers and wonderful students.

Curran Elementary holds a special place in my heart. I begin testing my playground theories, experimenting with playground improvements and looking at students interactions. We were an elementary school with 1225 students in a school build for 660. Needless to say, we needed solutions to problems and an organized playground which later formed the foundation of the Peaceful Playgrounds Program.

It is amazing to reflect on the fact that Peaceful Playgrounds began at one elementary school in Southern California 15 years ago and today has spread to over 8000 schools across the nation and through out the world.

I'm proud to say that Peaceful Playgrounds is still in existence today at Curran Elementary.

Here's a link to an article on the 20th Anniversary Celebration at Curran Elementary.

First Lady Promotes Healthier School Challenge

Image from Washington Post Oct. 21, 2009


The White House rolled out "The Healthy Kids Fair" this week in Washingtion DC with First Lady Michelle Obama jump roping her way to good health.

The First Lady has lead the way in promoting healthy eating and exercise for children. Remember the White House Garden? The event this week is part of a new initiative called, "The Healthier U.S. School Challenge".

And the goal of this challenge is to "find schools who are going to commit to making fresh healthy food available -- we want them to pledge that, that's part of the challenge -- but in addition to making healthy foods available, getting rid of the junk food in the school, making that pledge, get rid of it, but also to be sure that they're setting aside time for physical activity during the day in the curriculum and teaching kids about healthy food choices during the day".

If your school is not part of the Healthier U.S. School Challenge sign up today at :
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html

New Stop Bullying Now Resources

Stop Bullying Now has a new website with additional resources.

You may be interested in their chart which gives you current laws and legislation in regards to bullying.

You may also be interested in their new page on major research and studies on bullying.

Other articles on bullying:

Bullying Prevention: Life's lessons in good and evil.

Why Bullying Programs Succeed or Fail.

Dr. Oz weighs in on Recess

Dr. Oz swings through Detroit with opinions on fitness, health policy and Oprah.

A version of this story appears on page 14A of the Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, print edition of the Detroit Free Press.


Dr. Oz the new TV personality with his own show launched from Oprah appearances weighed in on the topic of Obesity in children: "The most important thing we can do is make it easier for kids to exercise," says Oz. He's in favor of fitness-promoting games at recess. "Right now, recess is 40 minutes, but 20 minutes of sitting around." He also advises keeping high-fat, low-nutrition food out of your kitchen. "Make the difficult decisions at the supermarket. Don't make them at home. Once the food is in the home, you've got to let the kids have it, because otherwise, you create a fictitious battle between you and them."

Edible Playgrounds Initiative

Edible Gardens are all about teaching kids to grow and cook. On their website you can download a number of free programs, competitions and hot tips for developing your own edible playground. The initiative originated in the UK and is similar to the School Garden Movement here in the U.S.

Here is a couple of samples of some free information from the website:



Part of the sow it grow it set of activities, students grow grass seeds in a tube and measure and trim "green hair" as it grows.

Grow seeds in a jam jar creates a green house like effect to visually watch seeds sprout.

Other activities link.

Take it Outside! Week

October 19-23rd

HSBS will hold its inaugural Take It Outside! week on October 19 through 23 encouraging Head Start programs across the nation to get outside, connect with the natural world, and increase physical activity. HSBS will provide programs with ideas to celebrate Take It Outside! week including activity ideas, tips for facilitating play, and suggestions for enhancing the environment. Information is available in both English and Spanish. Click here for more.......

An example of a downloadable list of outside activity suggestions includes: 15 Simple Ways to Get Moving

October Grants Newsletter Released

Did you miss the October Grants Newsletter that went out yesterday? If you missed it sign up here.

Link to October Grants Newsletter.

Healthy foods maybe not so healthy?

This posting is from a new blog I've discovered called Fooducate Blog. It has interesting information for those interested in nutrition.

The consumer watchdog group CSPI published [PDF] a provocative list of 10 healthy foods that have been involved in large scale contamination in the past few years:

1. LEAFY GREENS: 363 outbreaks involving 13,568 reported cases of illness
2. EGGS: 352 outbreaks , 11,163 illness
3. TUNA: 268 outbreaks , 2341 illness
4. OYSTERS: 132 outbreaks , 3409 illness
5. POTATOES: 108 outbreaks , 3659 illness
6. CHEESE: 83 outbreaks , 2761 illness
7. ICE CREAM: 74 outbreaks , 2594 illness
8. TOMATOES: 31 outbreaks , 3292 illness
9. SPROUTS: 31 outbreaks , 2022 illness
10. BERRIES: 25 outbreaks , 3397 illness

The group is not trying to scare us away from these foods, it is simply pointing out a fact that the FDA must do a better job of enforcing safety regulations on growers, shippers, and manufacturers.

Article continued at Fooducate Blog.

Related Posts:
Schools Teaching Organic Gardening

Healthy Food, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Nutrition in Schools - Childhood Obesity

General Mills Foundation: Champions for Healthy Kids

The General Mills Foundation Champions for Healthy Kids grant program encourages communities in the United States to improve the eating and physical activity patterns of young people, ages 2-20. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations and agencies working with communities that demonstrate the greatest need and likelihood of sustainable impact on young people's nutrition and activity levels through innovative programs.

Maximum award: $10,000.

Deadline: January 15, 2010.

http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/commitment/champions.aspx

How to get people to be physically active? Make it fun.

How do you get people to be more physically active? Make it fun! View short video.


Related posts:
Physical Education Case Study.

Low-Cost High-Activity Playgrounds

City Council Bans Private School Kids from Park

The "all or nothing" methods of problem solving never fails to amaze me. Here's the latest example. A private school in Maryland used the adjacent park for recess. It seems that preschool parents complained that the older school kids were taking over the park, playing inappropriately, and leaving trash.

The result was to ban the school kids from entering the park between 9-4.

Why not ask the school to increase supervision? Students who are supervised are less likely to leave trash or stand on infant swings as alleged.

Better yet, how long can recess last anyway? Does it make sense to ban the school from using the park when they most likely use it for only 30 minutes maximum per day. Isn't that what parks are for? Isn't more better in terms of park usage? How about suggesting to the preschool moms to avoid the park for 30 minutes a day during the lunch recess period?

Banning kids from the park all day everyday seems like an over reaction. What do you think?

Here's the article on the topic.

Teachers. Are You Paying Attention?

Teachers. Are you paying attention video?

10 unusual playgrounds from around the world

Continuing with the playground theme from yesterday's blog....... Here's 10 unusual and unique playgrounds.


Thanks to the mental floss blog.

Playground Pictures from the 70's

I remember some of these playground structures from the 70's. Do you?
Great pictures provided from Dahlia Rideou's blog called Devine Caroline.

New Online Playground Supervisor Training Course Released

The Peaceful Playgrounds Online Playground Supervisor Training is designed to introduce administrators, teachers, substitute teachers, physical educators, parents, after school personnel, and playground supervisors to the responsibilities and techniques associated with keeping children safe on a playground.

VIEW Playground Supervision Course VIDEO

This online course will serve as a certified professional development experience.

This course details playground surfacing, play structure safety, and playground supervision.

The course highlights legal supervision responsibilities and "how to keep kids safe".

Playground supervisor competency is an important factor to ensure good supervision. Adults do not automatically have the skills necessary to appropriately supervise students at play on a school playground. Well trained playground supervisors who know how to do the right things the right way at the right time are the best defense against litigation.

NJ Governor Kicks Off Nutrition and Fitness Challenge

The Governor of NJ kicked off a statewide Nutrition and fitness challenge with students on Friday. The statewide fitness challenge to kids, their parents and school leadership across New Jersey today, urges them to take steps toward better children’s health by exercising more and making healthy food choices. The Governor’s Nutrition and Fitness Challenge invites kids between the ages of six and 17 to register at www.nj.gov/health/fitnesschallenge and track their daily progress in meeting four goals: exercise an hour a day; eat healthy; eliminate sugary drinks; and reduce computer and TV screen time.

October Play Nice Newsletter Released

October Play Nice Newsletter.

This month we cover:
Can Physical Education Make you Smarter?

Peaceful Playgrounds Weekly Support Webinars
Friday, October 2 2009 - 10:00 AM PST - Free registration for this date!
Friday, October 9 2009 - 10:00 AM PST - Free registration for this date!

Online Playground Supervisor Training and Certification
View Video of Training

National Take It Outside Week- Head Start Body Start

General Mills Box Tops for Education and Campbell Soups Labels Equals Equipment for Playground