This message is being forwarded by the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), NCCDPHP, CDC, on behalf of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO). Visit the DASH Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth and the DNPAO Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/index.html.
Subject: CDC Overweight and Obesity (Nutrition and Physical Activity) Update: Team Up to Improve Physical Activity in Schools
Did you …
For more information on bullying go to: stopbullying.gov

Peaceful Playgrounds Information on Bullying Prevention

How teachers should respond to bullying.

Bullying Prevention: Is Empathy the Key?

Bullying & Harassment : What Schools Can Do

Bullying Prevention: Life Lessons on Good and Evil

Why Bullying Programs Succeed or Fail
We were asked to pass on this information for Shane's Inspiration. They are a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children with disabilities through building accessible playgrounds. They are conducting a contest which results in supporting 6 communitites in building accessible play spaces.

Retiring teacher leads effort to combat bullying and obesity by organizing playground.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.
A Public Health Law & Policy Webinar

In many communities, the safest and most convenient places for children to play are school facilities like gyms, sports fields, and playgrounds – but districts often close their property to the public after hours, concerned about liability, security, and maintenance. We'll take you through the nuts and bolts of how to create contracts that expand access to school grounds with schools, local government,…
Peaceful Playgrounds is a Strategic Partner with Let's Move in School. Please share the information below with your schools and network.DID YOU KNOW that regular classroom physical activity breaks can improve attention, classroom behavior, and test scores? Find out more....Let’s Move in School (LMIS) for 60 minutes before, during, and afterschool to improve health and academic performance! Join more than 1200 schoo…
We are now posting timely information on our Facebook page daily. Yesterday the topics included:
1. Bullying Conference at the White House.
2. Health Needs a Hero Video link.
3. Story on Play Works and how play made a difference for a child.

We encourage you to go to the Peaceful Playgrounds Facebook page and click on the "Like" graphic. This will insure that you receive the daily feeds much like the blog feed you've been receiving …
You may have noticed that we are posting less to the blog and moving over to Facebook for announcements, articles, and information sharing.

Over the next couple of months that transition will continue.

Please take a moment to go to our Facebook page. If you click the "Like" button you will continue to get the daily RSS feeds from Facebook which will be replacing the blog feeds in the near future.
New from the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play

Upcoming FREE Webinar!

Play Everyday For A Healthy Brain!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

The brain NEEDS play! The human brain is an amazing and complex organ that allows each of us to think, feel, and act. The brain systems that regulate those activities are largely shaped by experience. Learn why play is essential for optimal early brain development and why …
As the weather gets warmer and we all start to spend more time outside it’s a good opportunity for us AND the children we supervise to ensure we are getting a healthy amount of physical activity.

Children need to be active every day to promote their healthy growth and development. We also know that people who establish a healthy lifestyle pattern at a young age will carry those habits with them into adulthood.

A healthy lifestyle is something we …
Download Canada's physical activity guides.

This resource is designed to help those who teach children and adults about healthy eating and physical activity. The Toolkit includes:

* The Eat Well and Be Active Every Day poster;
* Downloadable activity plans
* 54 healthy eating and physical activity images to complement the poster.
Let's Move in School (LMIS), a national initiative to increase physical activity before, during, and after school, was introduced by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and its National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) on February 1, 2011.

Take a look at the LMIS Promotional Video!

In support of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, the initiative helps yo…
The Let's Move Initiative should consider the power of playgrounds for combating the childhood obesity crisis.

A nearly free resource in the obesity crisis is the local school or park playground according to a study released by the Rand Research Corporation.

Girls who do not live within a half-mile radius of a school playground that is accessible when school is not in session have a 3-percent higher body mass index than girls who do have playg…
Tired of grant writing for your PE or recess equipment? Here's an opportunity using an e-script program to avoid those long hours of writing.

Fitness and good nutrition are important for a healthy life and a priority for Safeway.

With fitness and nutrition programs being reduced or even eliminated in schools, Safeway Inc. is asking that 20% of more than $20 million that it donates be allocated to fitness and nutrition programs.

Safeway's s…
Small steps matter.

Small steps can bring about positive effects on your brain—without an Olympic effort. How? Walking. A new study indicates that adult seniors who walked three or more times a week resulted in brain growth which enhanced memory. http://su.pr/2em7AD

So now we know. Exercise isn't only good for kids but results in similar benefits for young and old alike. Get walking.
The Head Start Body Start Center is offering a series of webinars.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

The brain NEEDS play! The human brain is an amazing and complex organ that allows each of us to think, feel, and act. The brain systems that regulate those activities are largely shaped by experience. Learn why play is essential for optimal early brain development and why it is vital for all parents and educators to be play partne…
Colorado lawmakers are starting work on mandatory recess / physical activity requirements for schools.

The measure approved in committee Monday afternoon requires all elementary school students to receive 30 minutes a day of physical activity. It now goes to a vote in the House.

House Bill 1069 would allow physical education classes to count toward the requirement, but recess couldn't replace P.E.

Nine states and the District of Columbia enact…
As you know, this week marks the first anniversary of the launch of the First Lady's Initiative called, Let's Move! An important part of this week is the unveiling of multiple resources that are designed to let you work within your community on solving the problem of childhood obesity

Watch the video.



Check out the Let's Move in School Resources here.

Peaceful Playgrounds is pleased to be an organizational supporter of Let's Move i…
Contributed by Andrea Bossenmeyer


Studies show that play reflects more of who you are than your work. When you're engaged in activities of "personal expressiveness," ones that are self-chosen and that reflect intrinsic goals, you're operating from the "true self," says Alan Waterman of the College of New Jersey.

As a self titled seeker, I love hearing about anything that helps me discover more of the truth. The trut…
The latest news supporting recess comes from a survey of 1,951 principals or deputy, assistant, or vice principals polled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It found that:

* Recess has a positive impact on academic achievement.
* Student listen better after recess and are more focused in class.
* Recess has a beneficial effect on children's social development.
* Recess improves children's well-being overall.


Find out more…
2020 GOAL: THE HIGHEST PROPORTION OF COLLEGE GRADUATES IN THE WORLD

President Obama has established a goal that, by 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Meeting this goal is vital to our long-term economic security and to preparing young people and adults to be active citizens. In order to track progress towards this goal he has instituted a Data Dashboard.

The dashboard is part of…
Ohio leave no child inside video urges teachers and parents to see to it that all children play outside at least once per day.



Need some outdoor game ideas? Check out the Peaceful Playgrounds instructional games DVD's.
I saw these dogs playing tetherball in a utube video and realized it they were playing on a Peaceful Playground. Notice the tetherball marking with the safety zone? The Freeze Out court in the background also gave it away.

Dogs need exercise too.

The School Wellness Recognition Program is sponsored by the American Cancer Society in collaboration with the California State PTA and is designed to recognize and applaud schools that are making significant improvements in their school environment related to healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco free lifestyles.

ACS and PTA want to motivate and empower California schools to "step up" and create healthy school environments.

To r…
The government has issued new standards for the school lunch and breakfast programs. They are accepting feedback for 72 days, which ends April 13, 2011. These new rules were created so that schools are serving meals in alignment with the 2005 “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” as required by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.

What changes will we see?

More fruits, veggies, lowfat/nonfat milk options, whole grains, and reduced sod…
The recorded copy of the Let's Move in School Webinar and the Webinar slides are now on the Let's Move in School website. Almost 800 people participated in the Let's Move in School Webinar according to NASPE the event coordinator.

Why not sign your school up to celebrate Let's Move in School during National Sports & Physical Education Week, May 1 - 7. Sign up here: National Sports & Physical Education Week.
Contributed by Andrea Bossenmeyer









First Lady Michelle Obama is making more progress with the Let's Move campaign. A presentation was made at the Conference of Mayors, 470 Mayors decided to make their town or city a Let's Move City.

Want to know if your city is one of them? Let's Move Cities & Towns. I'm very pleased to see that all 3 major metropolis' that I've lived in have joined. Riverside, San Diego and Los Angel…
Tomorrow, February 1, 2011

Join the movement by leading your school in stretching, calisthenics, and/or then implementing 51 Jumping Jacks (to commemorate the year Jack LaLanne’s television show first aired - 1951)!

Morning Stretch - 8:45 am EST & 5:45 am PST.
“LaLanne Moment of Movement” in Memoriam Event (Jumping Jacks) - 2:15 pm EST & 11:15 am PST.

Following the “LaLanne Moment of Movement,”
Cate Dill will launch an unprecedented 5,246 mil…
Title: LET'S MOVE IN SCHOOL - IMPROVING HEALTH AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Date: February 1, 2011

Time: 1 - 2 pm EST

Webinar Presenter: AAHPERD/NASPE and Strategic Partners


Peaceful Playgrounds is pleased to announce our support of Let's Move in School - a new initiative hosted by the American Alliance for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and its National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).

We encourage…
For those of you who read this blog for recess information, I discovered a new website full of interesting information about recess.

It was started by a handful of parents in the Beacon City School District who have children in all four of the elementary schools in Beacon. Each parent individually had become concerned with the number of days our children spent inside a classroom rather than going outside for recess.

The website is called a plac…
The Association of Staff and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has a " Whole Child Blog" and their themes often cover physical activity and physical education and why they are critical to educating the whole child.

A recent discussion covered the topic of : Why Do We Need Physical Education in Schools?

Healthy School Communities Director Sean Slade illustrates the two sides of the debate in his blog post on the Whole Child website. Althoug…
Watch this 3 minute video on how exercise promotes learning. John Raney author of SPARK explains 3 ways that brain grow occurs and why.

Watch 3 minute Video
CBS in Canada ran a 19 minute documentary on an alternative high school and their exercise program based on Dr. John Raney's SPARK book and research known as Brain Gain Theory.

New research and pilot fitness programs in schools are showing positive results that exercise helps the human brain learn.

Video: Brain Gains