Strong Women, Strong Girls is excited to announce the launch of the Get Active campaign to build lifelong healthy habits in girls and young women. The Get Active initiative integrates components of a healthy lifestyle into existing Strong Women, Strong Girls curriculum activities. Don’t have Strong Women, Strong Girls in your community yet? No problem! You can still Get Active with us. Just visit our website each week to discover new and engaging ways to Get Active! You can even share the fun and creative ways you made the activity work for you on our blog!
Week 1 – Building a Strong Foundation
Physical Activity
During the first week of the “Get Active” series, Katina and friends emphasize the importance of building a strong foundation through exercise, which means warming up your body before starting physical activity. They will instruct children how to properly warm up through a dynamic stretching routine, which means keeping the body moving while getting the muscles loose and ready for activity. Katina also provides helpful tips for all children who engage in exercise. Remember, exercise and eating healthy are the foundation for a happy, healthy body. Have fun and Get Active!
Healthy Hint
Question: Do you know how much physical exercise you need a day to be healthy?
Answer: You need at least 60 minutes of activity each day. Remember to check out the Strong Women, Strong Girls website each week to learn a new fun physical activity.
Components of the integrated Strong Women, Strong Girls’ Get Active initiative:
The Get Active initiative leverages existing Strong Women, Strong Girls’ resources. An integrated health and wellness message that is appropriate for the girls’ age and developmental stage is delivered. By engaging girls in these activities on a regular basis and in a safe setting with their strong and trusted mentoring relationships, girls build lifelong healthy habits! There are four components to the Get Active initiative:
1) Exercise: Strong Women, Strong Girls has partnered with Katina Taylor, Vice President and co-founder of the Jason Taylor Foundation to create a series of ten-workout fitness activities to get girls moving. Each week, mentors kick off and end program time with a Get Active video by Katina Taylor and friends. In the video, Katina and friends teach girls and mentors a new exercise, dance, cheer, or active game for girls. These activities engage the girls with the topic of the week in physical way, helping them to internalize the skill and provided them with an opportunity to work towards their daily recommended allowance of physical activity. Girls learn that there are a diversity of ways to be physically active, both competitive and noncompetitive. By engaging in physical activity in a safe and supportive setting with peers and mentors, physical activity becomes more fun and achievable. Girls develop positive attitudes and behavior skills for a lifelong commitment to physical activity.
To encourage everyone to get active, Strong Women, Strong Girls and the Jason Taylor Foundation will post the video each week on our websites!
2) Healthy Foods: Each week, girls receive a healthy snack and healthy fact each week during program time. By providing girls with health and nutritious snacks, as well as modeling behavior about eating healthy foods, Strong Women, Strong Girls mentors help the girls to build healthy eating habits. Additionally, by exposing girls to new foods that they may not have been previously familiar with, Strong Women, Strong Girls broadens their understanding and awareness of food options that are available to them.
Along with the Get Active video, Strong Women, Strong Girls will also post a Healthy Hint on our website to share with the entire community. Remember to bookmark our homepage!
3) Community Education: Building on this foundation, during the second half of program, girls further engage with health and wellness activities through the implementation of a service project. Projects with a specific focus on health include Healthy Lifestyles, in which girls learn about healthy lifestyles strategies including oral hygiene, fitness, stress management and nutrition; Healthy Snacks, in which girls learn about nutrition and healthy combination foods; and Supporting a Cause, which sees girls learn about making smart decisions about healthy personal care products. Each service project closes with a formal community presentation. In presenting to peers and adults, girls witness their power for change and create a ripple effect, spreading knowledge of healthy life strategies.
4) Public Recognition & Celebration: The Get Active initiative culminates with the organization’s annual Jump into Spring event. Jump into Spring is an annual jump-rope-a-thon that brings together SWSG girls, mentors, and community partners for a day celebrating health and physical activity. By celebrating health, wellness, and physical activity, the SWSG girls recognize that these are valued and an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Mark your calendars for April 14, 2012!