Keeping Children Engaged in Physical Activity - Essay Example

A recorded 61.5% of children 9-13 years old d not participate in physical activities outside of school, while 22.6% do not engage in any physical activity during free time; with this data it is more important that teachers classroom teaching style should inject games and other activity that would require physical movement so that at the end of the day, if you add the time spent in games, the time would amount to 30 minutes, which is the minimal amount of time that children should spend in physical activities.

Every school should take steps towards safeguarding child’s health through the promotion of physical activities similar to what the parents, teachers, and students association in Michigan did by promoting physical education opportunities – skip rope, biking, jumping, basketball, classroom games, and the likes – within the curriculum to positively impact the child’s mental, emotional, social, and physical growth ("Promoting of Quality Physical Education" 2004). Throughout childhood and high school, I was very active in sports.

I took dance lessons all throughout elementary school and was a cheerleader and lacrosse player in high school. My parents and coaches were always very supportive and urged that the most important thing was going out and enjoying ourselves. Dance classes such as ballet were much more structured while playing lacrosse taught me the importance of working as a team to work towards a common goal. I think these experiences were very important, as it allowed me to form many lasting friendships, participate in a social atmosphere, learn structure and commitment, and how to work as a team player.

I think every child should have the opportunity to have these experiences, and as stated above, even if they are not specifically sports, there are still many ways to incorporate physical exercise into a child's daily life.