60 Minutes of Exercise Per Day: A Magic Number for Students

Official exercise guidelines are set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an organization within the Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC recommends that children engage in 60 minutes of physical activity every day. That’s 60 minutes total for the day—the activity does not have to take place all at one time. A 5-minute jog in the morning, 15 minutes of basketball during recess, a 20-minute bike ride in the afternoon, and a 20-minute walk after dinner—all of this activity adds up.

A great advantage of the 60-minute recommendation is that it’s such an easy figure to remember. Tell your students that they should exercise 1 hour a day and most of them will remember that figure the next day and beyond.

Encourage your students to meet this important fitness guideline!

 

Introducing a PE Resource for Classroom Teachers, Grades K–5

I’m passionate about children’s fitness. I’m an elementary school physical education teacher in Northern California, and I want to help classroom teachers feel confident enough to teach physical education.

I know firsthand how crucial PE is for kids. Children need to participate in physical education classes frequently—to let off steam, to build strength and endurance, to learn about fitness, to create good exercise habits that can last a lifetime. Most states require their public elementary schools to teach physical education, but many schools struggle to meet this goal. Some schools have too few dedicated PE teachers; some have none. Classroom teachers must often cover the gap.

The thought of leading a PE session is daunting to many classroom teachers, but I know they can meet this challenge and succeed. They do at my school, and I enjoy teaching them how to incorporate fun, easy to administer physical activities into their schedule.

I’m committed to creating top-quality resources to help elementary school classroom teachers teach physical education and encourage their students to lead healthier lives. That’s why I wrote PE by Design: The Classroom Teacher’s Physical Education Program, Grades K–5 (published by Student One Education). And that’s why I’m starting this blog.

In the coming months, I will use this space to post original essays regarding children’s health, fitness, and physical education. I’ll also share links to resources that I think are useful for elementary school classroom teachers. Additionally, I will use the blog to announce the release of new materials I’ve created for Student One Education.

Thank you for reading, and please stay tuned!