Ideals & Values For a Fit Lifestyle
What does it mean to be fit? For a lot of people, being fit means maintaining a healthy weight with diet and exercise. For me, being fit means being able to do things I love not just today but for years to come. My name is Yemi and I’m the wellness coordinator here at Walnut Acres Children’s Center. I’m trying to provide programs, activities, and games for the kids to not just play but to also learn skills that can help them later in their adult life. Our movement program is an additional component to the Enrichment Program which includes our 4-6-year old’s. During this time, they’re learning different skills each month such as, running, balancing, jumping and landing. All of these are known as gross motor skills. By learning these skills it’s believed this will help children with their self-confidence in playing sports or games with their friends such as tag, soccer, jump rope and so much more.
For the older kids in 1st-5th grade, there is a sports program everyday which incorporate different teachers. By including multiple teacher’s children can get different perspectives while interacting with their peers. With a variety of games played every day our kids still migrate to some of their favorites like tennis racket baseball, flag football, soccer and jail break. Outside of the daily sports program, there are bonus activities like the Kids World Series. Our World Series was played in early November where the Houston Astros won in extra innings off a walk off hit! Kids were pumped for the whole week playing a best of 3 series which got their parents involved and excited to watch the actual World Series games. Next up, kids Super Bowl in late January!
The most important part of my job I feel is, are the kids having fun? If I bring out a new game or introduce new skills to them there may be times, they don’t seem too sure about it. Often, I’ll ask the kids to try. You’ll never know if you like new things if you don’t try playing it first. It’s never forced and if they end up having fun then I’m doing my part in expanding their fitness knowledge!
