Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Making Fitness Fun in After-School Programs
Exercise is an essential part of a healthy childhood and young adult life, and after-school programs are encouraging America’s youth to get moving and build healthy lifestyle habits. While working out and exercises are crucial for a child’s well-being, it can be challenging to find activities that kids actually enjoy. After-school program directors have to work extra hard to create an exciting and unique curriculum for kids. In this article, we dissect the reasons that exercise is so critical fo...Read More
Our Kids Are Stressed Out – 5 Ways to Empower Youth To Find Their CALMM
Focus, Pay Attention, Sit Still, Listen, Follow Directions… Just a few phrases youth are bombarded with on a daily basis whether it’s coming from their parents, teachers or other adults in their lives. As adults it can seem as if our words go in one ear and out the other and that children lack attention, motivation and behavior is something they have immediate control over or is an intentional response. Our kids Are Stressed Out – Empowering Youth the find their CALMM In my years as an education...Read More
Tips And Tricks To Make Exercise Fun For Kids
There is nothing like the feelings of elation and accomplishment after exercising, but too many people never get there because they never get started in the first place. If exercising is daunting, then often, it gets avoided. When kids fall into this category and avoid exercise, then you may need to breakthrough resistance and find ways to overcome obstacles. How do you reach these kids so that they experience the joy and benefits of exercise? Make it fun. If You Build It, They Will Come Made fa...Read More
5 Move and Groove Breaks for the New Year
Are you ready to add some movement and joy to your trainings and meetings this year? If so, this short article is for you. As programming and conferences have shifted to virtual formats, many of us are spending a lot more time in front of our screens. In the digital world, it can be extra challenging to feel connected and engaged. So, how can we create impactful learning experiences while also working towards daily physical activity goals? Add a “move and groove” physical activity break to your ...Read More
Getting Your Students to Fall in Love with Physical Activity
Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day celebrates love, and it doesn’t always have to be romantic. Love boils down to a passion for something (or someone!), and so we can celebrate the holiday by sharing the love for physical activity with students in your expanded learning program. When you feel passionate about something, it shows. Your enthusiasm, energy, and enjoyment are palpable, visible as the expression on your face, gestures with your hands, and the sound of your voice. When you talk about...Read More
Games! Games! And More Games: Five ACTIVE Indoor Games For Winter!
Winter weather can prove to be a significant challenge for keeping kids physically active, particularly when indoor space is relatively confined or not readily available. While large format activities and games may not be ideal in this situation, there is still a wide variety of simple physical activities that can be included in stations, circuits, and other formats to get kids moving. Below are five fun physical activities for kids that require little to no space or equipment and are ideal opti...Read More
The Science and Art of Helping Kids Love Physical Activity
Creating a physical activity program for grade schoolers that engages all children involved is both a science and an art. The science of child development, motivational psychology, and human behavior help us create an enriching program. The art of creating a fun, play-like, inclusive environment gets all kids excited to participate. Using imaginative, play-based activities to introduce critical developmental skills is a perfect culmination of the art and science behind getting kids to enjoy bec...Read More
An Instant Activity Blueprint to Get All Kids Moving
It’s a fact. Kids need physical activity. Frequent physical activity has been linked to a variety of positive developmental outcomes for kids, including improved health, cognition, and even behavior. As “fitness mentors” it’s important we provide kids ample opportunities to be active throughout the day. While this sounds good in theory, the time, space, and equipment we have available to inspire kids to be active may be limited. Not to mention, we can quickly run out of ideas as little bodies an...Read More
#GirlsAre Builders, Explorers and Adventurers
This month the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the Clinton Foundation are joining forces to inspire a new generation of strong active women. Girls are fierce, but we know that by age 14, girls drop out of sports two times faster than boys and less than 50% of 12-15 year old girls get the recommended amount of physical activity. To celebrate #GirlsAre, I reached out to nine leaders who are helping to flip this script. This group of nine are builders, explorers and adventurers, stretching ...Read More
How More Play Leads to More Learning (Part 3)
In this 3-part series we will explore how more play, creative expression, and movement can lead to more cognitive development. The link from body to brain is powerful, so getting kids to move more and study a little less throughout the day may seem counterintuitive, but it may actually lead to better grades and even improve behavior! In part 3 we will discuss how specific forms of exercise affect brain development. If you missed them, see Part 1 and Part 2. The idea of stepping back from acade...Read More
3 Ideas to Develop Healthy and Active Role Models this Fall
Our last blog featured 6 Ideas to Make Your Next Staff Meeting Fun and Healthy this Summer. Did you try one of them? Maybe you made “Silly Water” for a retreat or added some physical activity to your regular staff meeting. Building on those tips, here are a few ideas to help you continue to develop healthy and active role models this fall. Let us know how it goes by tweeting to @HealthierGen. Developing Healthy and Active Role Models this Fall 1. Do you have a fall festival or family...Read More
No Children Left on Their Behinds
One of the powers of play is that it gets us to exercise our bodies as well as our minds. – David Elkind Childhood is becoming increasingly sedentary. Tragically, many afterschool programs are becoming increasingly sedentary as well. Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors, watching television, playing video games and working the Internet. When children do go outside, it tends to be for scheduled events – soccer camp or a fishing derby – held under the watch of adults. In a typical ...Read More