bSAFE bFIT! Manual with Lesson Plans

When using the Manual, it is highly suggested to have children positioned where the Fitness Pal posters are visible. The lesson plans refer to the posters often to stimulate search for innate meaning.

The following lesson plans are "instructor and kid friendly." Instructors/Parents are provided with lesson plans and learning strategies that are clearly written, require no additional planning time, and are easily implemented into new or already existing programs and curriculums. Five to ten-minute sequential lesson plans meet the challenge of limited time which instructors face. Yet, the instructor has the option of spending additional time by expanding on presented concepts using the Additional Performance Outcomes section. Children are provided with fun learning activities that have been sampled, developed, and approved by their peers! The design of the bSAFE bFIT! Manual includes:

1. Content Standards. The National Standards for Physical Education and the National Health Education Standards are listed.
2. Meet the Fitness Pals! The 55 Fitness Pals are listed in alphabetical order.
3. Educational Products. The products offered are listed and described.
4. Lesson Plans.

a. Age appropriate. The lesson plans are grouped appropriately by age.

• Age 2 to Preschool 84 pages, 34 lesson plans
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade 100 paages, 38 lesson plans
• 3rd to 6th grade 104 pages, 38 lesson plans

b. Performance Outcomes. Outcomes represent children's behavior demonstrating progress toward achieving the content standards.
c. Instructor activities. Activities act as a guide when teaching health-related physical fitness.
d. Additional Performance Outcomes. Because the lesson plans are designed to be short and to the point, the Additional Performance Outcomes offer instructors/parents more ideas to enhance learning. They are separated into curriculum and multicultural infusion, inclusion, and family and community involvement.

5. Table of Contents, Appendix, and Reference. The Appendix section provides access to material which will supplement the presented information and includes assessment ideas.

Instructors/Parents want to teach information that reflects the most recent research and expert recommendations. The following information presented was obtained from sources available at the time the Manual was written. New research changes the information instructors/parents teach children. Instructors/Parents also face the challenge of judging which expert(s) to use as a reference source. Often times, experts in the same field disagree amongst themselves concerning reports representing their field of expertise. Therefore, the bSAFE bFIT! Manual with Lesson Plans is designed using a three-ring notebook to accommodate future changes in research. Updated lesson plan(s) can be inserted and outdated lesson plan(s) can be discarded.

It is important to keep in mind that the Manual is a "guide" for promoting children's wellness by focusing on physical activity and nutrition. Instructors/Parents should encourage children to continue to educate themselves for a lifetime, as research will continue. Children should also understand that the best qualified person to advise them is their family physician.

Let's be safe and be fit!
bSAFE bFIT!

To download a sample lesson, click here.

Fitness Pal Posters

Five 18 x 24 "colorful" posters excite children into learning about the five health-related components of physical fitness (Body Composition, Strength, Aerobic Fitness, Flexibility, and Endurance) and focus on physical activity and nutrition education. An acronym and acrostic sentence are used to help children organize information. The first letter of each of the five components is used to spell "bSAFE" ("b" -body Composition, "S" -Strength, "A" -Aerobic Fitness, "F" -Flexibility, "E" -Endurance). The acrostic sentence was constructed using the acronym "bSAFE" -"b" odies "S" taying "A" ctive "F" eel "E" nergetic.

Each poster highlights one of the five health-related components. The component name appears at the top of the poster with its definition written underneath. Each poster has fun food characters called Fitness Pals that illustrate physical activity. Fitness Pals are physically active foods that emphasize the importance of both physical activity and nutrition, while at the same time motivating children to get up and move! For example, Cauliflower Power illustrates what is known as a push-up. Fitness Pals excite children into active learning--active kids become active adults. When children are actively involved, they are more likely to learn. The Body Composition poster highlights the new MyPyramid for kids (USDA, 2005).

Education theorists and cognitive psychologists tell us visual learning is one of the best methods for teaching children how to think and how to learn. There are 55 Fitness Pals presented on the posters that visually stimulate children and are organized on the posters for the component to which they belong; however, the Fitness Pals may fall into more than one component category. The Fitness Pals are also organized for the MyPyramid for kids food group to which they belong on p. A-23 of the Appendix section. A variety of physical activities and foods (Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, Meats and Beans, and discretionary calorie foods) are introduced to a variety of educational experiences concerning child physical activity and child nutrition.

The posters can be placed strategically within the children's environment to provide continual visual stimulation and reminders about the importance of both physical activity and nutrition (addressing two concepts with one character).

To see a sample of the Fitness Pals in action, click here.

Fitness Pal Activity Cards Fifty-five Fitness Pal Activity Cards are supplementary products to enhance learning. Each card shows one of the 55 Fitness Pals, names the food group and physical fitness component to which the Fitness Pal belongs, and has a written description of the physical activity.

 

bSAFE, bFIT! Instructor DVD The DVD provides assistance for instructors/parents to visually see strategies for implementing the bSAFE bFIT! Program for kids. The creator and a classroom teacher will show instructors firsthand how they utilize the lesson plans. Along with implementation ideas, visual demonstrations of exercise routines from "Move N' with Fitness Pals "CD will be shown and each Fitness Pal will be demonstrated.