With Toronto’s Vital Signs 2016 Report showing that Toronto kids are now more likely to be overweight or obese, helping kids lead active, healthy lifestyles is more important than ever. That’s why at Moorelands BLAST we make sure that participants get 50 minutes of physical activity every day. However, learning and playing a sport or game can be nerve-wracking for some kids who have no experience. So that’s where Moorelands’ Physical Literacy Program comes in.
Physical Literacy = giving kids the skills necessary for an active life
At Moorelands we know that sports and active games have always been a great way to:
- Exercise
- Learn a new skill
- Make friends
- Build confidence
- Develop good character
- Have fun
- Learn how to work in a team
Our physical literacy program, led by physical literacy experts Andrew and Amber, follows the principle that when teaching a sport, it’s important to focus less on the game itself and more on building the participants’ confidence, skills and on having fun. Just like learning to read, it is important to break a skill down into manageable steps. So first, we teach participants the steps and skills they need to know before putting them all together in a game-like situation.
Getting active with B.E.E.F.
Each month at BLAST focuses on mastering the skills related to a specific sport and this month, BLAST Thorncliffe are focused on Basketball. In these pictures, they are learning about B.E.E.F.:
B= balance
E= eyes on your target
E= elbow straight
F= follow throughOur budding leaders just love having fun playing active games. And we know that the skills they learn in these sessions will set them on the right track to be healthy for life.
So all in all, it’s a win-win scenario!
