Express your opinion on this issue

View opinions expressed on this issue

Forward this issue to a friend

Forward this issue to a friend

With schools in the United States cutting back on physical education in order to meet the goals of "No Child Left Behind", studies are starting to show that this is a move in the wrong direction. For example, a study involving 163 overweight children in Augusta, Georgia, reported in Education Week (February 13, 2008; www.edweek.org) supports the cognitive benefits of exercise:

"For that study, a cross-disciplinary research team randomly assigned children to one of three groups. One group received 20 minutes of physical activity every day after school. Another group got a 40-minute daily workout, and a third group got no special exercise sessions.

"After 14 weeks, the children who made the greatest improvement as measured by a standardized academic test and a test that measured their level of executive function — thinking processes that involve planning, organizing, abstract thought, or self-control — were those who spent 40 minutes a day playing tag and taking part in other active games designed by the researchers. The cognitive and academic gains for the 20-minute-a-day group were half as large."

---

Exchange has over 60 Out of the Box Training Kits to help directors and trainers organize training sessions on a wide variety of curriculum topics including the following ones related to getting children outdoors and active...

• Using Your Senses to Adapt Environments
• Supporting Constructive Play in the Wild
• Designing and Creating Natural Play Environments
• Great Places To Be a Baby: Infants' and Toddlers' Learning Environments
• Using the Power of Nature to Help Children Heal