Youth Health Lesson Series Facilitators Guide Hard-Working Hearts Objective: This lesson will give children a basic understanding of the role of the heart as a muscle and activities they can do to improve heart health. At the End of This, Lesson Participants Will Be Able to Answer the Following Questions: What is the main purpose of the heart muscle? What kinds of activities can you do to improve health? What are the categories of the activity pyramid? Key Teaching Points: We need to keep our hearts healthy because it works to pump blood throughout our body. A healthy lifestyle should include many different kinds of activities. All physical activity is good activity. The activity pyramid is a good tool to follow for getting a healthy amount of activity. Lesson Preparation and Suggestions: Start the meeting with the lesson activity/icebreaker to incorporate physical activity. It can be done in a large, open room indoors or outdoors in a grassy area. Use the activity pyramid as a tool for discussion. Have children volunteer some activities they are involved in, and include the group in deciding what category the activities fit into. For more information on heart function, heart health, and the importance of physical activity, go to the American Heart Association s Web site http://www.americanheart.org. Materials Needed Lesson Activity A large area where children can be seated on the floor or ground in a large circle is needed for the activity. Handouts My Activity Pyramid Hard-Working Hearts Take-home Handout Evaluation Answers 1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
Hard-Working Hearts Lesson Evaluation Mark the following statements as True or False. Please give this form to your lesson leader when you are finished. 1) Activities that involve a lot of sitting around (sedentary activities) help to make our hearts healthy. 2) Including a warm up when you exercise will help your body get ready for exercise and reduce the risk of injury. 3) You should do recreational exercise two times a week. 4) Playing video games and watching television are leisure time, or playtime activities. 5) Playing outside, picking up your toys, and helping around the house are everyday activities. Get Moving Kentucky! Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
Youth Health Lesson Series Hard-Working Hearts Hard-Working Hearts Youth Health Lesson Begin this lesson with the icebreaker activity (see lesson activity). Make a fist with your hand and hold it out in front of you. This is about the size of your heart! You may be surprised to learn that such an important and hard-working body part is so small. Now hold your fist up in the air. Place your other hand on your heart. Each time your heart beats, squeeze the hand making the fist in the air. Now put your hands down and everyone march or jog in place. Now repeat the same thing one hand on your heart and one hand making a fist in the air. Squeeze each time your heart beats. The children s hearts will beat faster and will cause their fist in the air to tire quickly from the constant squeezing. Is your hand getting tired? What do you do when your hand gets tired? You probably quit squeezing. Can your heart quit? No, it has to keep pumping. When you do physical activities that make your heart beat faster, you make your heart stronger and healthier so it can keep pumping. The heart is a muscle that pushes blood throughout your body. The heart will contract, or squeeze, and push blood out so it can be used by the rest of the body. The heart will then relax, and fill back up with blood. The heart is the strongest muscle in your body, and it pumps blood through your body every day of your life. This squeezing, and relaxing is the heart beat. The average heart beats 100,000 times a day! You should aim to include 60 minutes of activity into your day most days of the week. There are different types of activity. All activities that get you moving are good and should be included in your day. Some help to keep your heart healthy, some keep your muscles strong, and others keep you from sitting around too much and help you to have a healthy, physically active lifestyle. Try to include a variety of physical activities into your day. Everyday Activities There are little things you can do to stay active throughout the day. We call these everyday activities. They help you to have a physically active lifestyle. Try adding in a few new everyday activities each day. Here are a few examples: Play outside whenever the weather allows. With your parent s permission, walk or bike to a friend s house, school, or the store, instead of having someone drive you.
Get Moving Kentucky! Youth Health Lesson Clean your room. Dust, vacuum, and put things away. Volunteer to help with household chores. Help wash the car, rake leaves, or weed the flower garden. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take the dog for a walk. Get your family s help. Ask them to park in the last spot at the grocery store so you can walk farther. Recreational Activities Recreational activities can help to make the heart strong. It is best to do these activities three to five times a week for at least 20 minutes. These activities can be done alone or with a group. Here are some examples: Relay races Basketball Volleyball Kickball Soccer Walking Swimming Skipping Hiking Jumping rope Biking Jumping jacks Skating Running Leisure Playtime Activities When we participate in activities that involve a lot of moving but don t work the heart as hard as recreational activities, we call these leisure, or playtime activities. Try to do these kinds of activities two to three times per week. Below are some examples of leisure, or playtime, activities: Miniature golf Canoeing Tumbling Swinging Fishing Four Square Strength Flexibility Activities Strength and flexibility activities are important parts of a physical activity program and healthy lifestyle. You should do strength and flexibility activities two to three times per week. Here are some activities that can improve strength and flexibility: Martial arts Rope climbing Ballet/dance Stretching Pull-ups Push-ups Sitting Around Activities There are many activities that involve a lot of sitting around. These activities are also called sedentary activities. If sitting around, or sedentary, activities are done too much and replace physical activities, they can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and an unhealthy heart. Here are a few examples of activities to do less often: Sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time Playing video and computer games Surfing the Internet Watching television 258
Youth Health Lesson Get Moving Kentucky! Activity Pyramid: Where Does It All Fit? As we mentioned before, there are all kinds of activities that are good for your heart. It is best to do a combination of different activities throughout your week. The activity pyramid shows you examples of different kinds of activity and breaks down how many times a week you should try to do them. Try to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week. Activity Pyramid Sitting for more than 30 minutes Playing video games computer games Watching television Do Less Of Sitting Around Miniature golf Canoeing Tumbling Swinging 2-3 Times a Week Leisure Playtime Strength Flexibility Pull-ups/Push-ups, Rope climbing, Ballet/Dance, Martial arts Skateboarding In-Line Skating Jump Roping Swimming Walking Running Biking 3-5 Times a Week Recreational Activity Relay races Basketball Volleyball Kickball Soccer Skiing Every Day (As much as possible) Play outside Ride your bike or walk to the store Pick up your toys Help around the house Take the stairs instead of the elevator Take the dog for a walk Get at least 60 minutes of moderate activity everyday. Planning Physical Activities When it comes to doing physical activities, it is important that your body is well prepared for the activity you are getting ready to do. It is also important that when you are finished with the activity that your body gradually gets back to the resting state it was in before you started. In order to do this there are two things that should be included with your activity: a warm up and a cool down. 259
Get Moving Kentucky! Youth Health Lesson Warm up Before you begin your activity, your muscles should be warmed up. It allows your body to ease into the activity and reduces the risk of pulling a muscle. It is really easy to warm up. If you are skating, biking, walking, or jogging, start out at a slow pace for about five minutes. Then your muscles will be warm and you can speed up and go at your normal pace. You can also warm up for most activities by marching in place. Once your muscles are warm, you can continue the warm up with some light stretching. It is important that you have done some light activity before stretching. Stretching cold muscles can increase the risk of injuring the muscle. Cool Down When you are almost finished with your activity, cool down. This can be the same as the warm up. Simply, slow down the activity you are doing for about five minutes before you stop, or march in place. Stretching can also be done after your activity. When you aren t doing physical activity, the body is in a resting state. A cool down will help your body return to that resting state in a gradual and healthy way. Once you have covered the lesson body in a manner that meets the specific needs of your group, you can give each child the lesson handout to complete. The lesson evaluation can be used to assess how well the children retain the information taught from the lesson body. Depending on the age of your group, the evaluation can be filled out by the children, or the questions can be asked verbally by the instructor and answered by the children as a group. Sources: American Heart Association Heart, How It Works at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4642. Michigan State University Extension Jump Into Foods and Fitness Kangaroo Jump 1: Pyramids for Health pg. 17. Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension The Kids Activity Pyramid at http:// pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uk076.pdf. U.S. Department of Health Human Services National Institutes of Health: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute How the Heart Works at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/diseases/hf/hf_howheartworks.html. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Nutrition and Physical Activity. Physical Activity Pages, available online at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/index.htm. Rice, Carol, Walk Across Texas, Health Breaks, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas AM University System, 2001 Edition. Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. 260
Youth Health Lesson Get Moving Kentucky! Youth Health Lesson Series Hard-Working Hearts Lesson Activity Icebreaker: Am I the Only One? As a lead in to the lesson of how important physical activity is to heart health, start this session with an icebreaker that involves a lot of moving. For this game, children should sit in a big circle on the floor. One person should be designated to start the game (it might be a good idea for the instructor to start). This person stands in the middle of the circle. The person standing in the middle thinks of something about him or herself, for example, eye color, color of shirt he or she is wearing, the name of a family member, or a pet. The person then says Am I the only one that? Here is an example. Person in Middle: Am I the only one that has green eyes? Now, everyone sitting in the circle who has green eyes, as well as the person standing in the middle, must find a different place to sit within the circle. The person left standing without a seat is designated to be in the middle. Rules: You cannot go back to the same place you were sitting in. You must sit in a place where someone else had previously been sitting. No forming new spots within the circle! If no one moves from their spot in response to the standing person s question, the person must think of another question. The game can be as specific (Am I the only one with a brother named Bob) or as general (Am I the only one wearing blue jeans) as the children choose to make it. Continue the game for several rounds, as time will allow. Now you can lead into the healthy heart lesson by asking the children if all of the moving around made their hearts beat faster or made them breathe heavier. Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. 261
Youth Health Lesson Series Hard-Working Hearts Handout My Activity Pyramid Look at the pyramid below. Think back to a day this week. It can even be today. Think of all the activities you did on that day and choose where they would fit on the pyramid. Sitting for more than 30 minutes Playing video games computer games Watching television Do Less Of Sitting Around Miniature golf Canoeing Tumbling Swinging 2-3 Times a Week Leisure Playtime Strength Flexibility Pull-ups/Push-ups, Rope climbing, Ballet/Dance, Martial arts Skateboarding In-Line Skating Jump Roping Swimming Walking Running Biking 3-5 Times a Week Recreational Activity Relay races Basketball Volleyball Kickball Soccer Skiing Every Day (As much as possible) Play outside Ride your bike or walk to the store Pick up your toys Help around the house Take the stairs instead of the elevator Take the dog for a walk Get at least 60 minutes of moderate activity everyday. Now turn the page over and fill out the blank pyramid with your activities. Sources: Michigan State University Extension Jump Into Foods and Fitness Kangaroo Jump 1: Pyramids for Health pg. 17
Do Less Of Sitting Around 2-3 Times a Week Leisure Playtime Strength Flexibility 3-5 Times a Week Recreational Activity Every Day (As much as possible) Get at least 60 minutes of moderate activity everyday. What activities do you think you need to do more of? Are there any activities you should do less of? Write your answers on the lines below. Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
Hard-Working Hearts The Family s Part Physical Activity and Your Child It is recommended that children get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Physical activity has many benefits for your child. It can aid in weight control, reduce blood pressure, and reduce the risk of diabetes and some cancers. In addition to physical benefits, increased physical activity can also improve mental well-being by increasing self-confidence and self-esteem. When the activity involves being part of a team or takes place in a group atmosphere, it can also help with your child s social development. All children, regardless of ability, benefit from physical activity. The key is trying a variety of activities and allowing your child to find one he or she enjoys doing. Often, doing the activity with your child will encourage him or her to stick with it. Sitting for more than 30 minutes Playing video games computer games Watching television Skateboarding In-Line Skating Jump Roping Swimming Walking Running Biking Miniature golf Canoeing Tumbling Swinging Do Less Of 2-3 Times a Week Leisure Playtime Sitting Around Strength Flexibility 3-5 Times a Week Recreational Activity Every Day (As much as possible) Pull-ups/Push-ups, Rope climbing, Ballet/Dance, Martial arts Relay races Basketball Volleyball Kickball Soccer Skiing Play outside Ride your bike or walk to the store Pick up your toys Help around the house Take the stairs instead of the elevator Take the dog for a walk Get at least 60 minutes of moderate activity everyday. Sources: Michigan State University Extension Jump Into Foods and Fitness Kangaroo Jump 1: Pyramids for Health pg. 17 Contact your local county Extension office: American Heart Association Exercise (Physical Activity) and Children AHA Scientific Position at http:// www.american heart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4596.
Hard-Working Hearts Kid s Club A Daily Dose of Exercise Aerobic exercise and recreational exercise are the types of physical activity that make our hearts healthy and strong. Be sure to follow your activity pyramid and do at least 20 minutes of this type of activity three to five times per week. If you like sports, ask your parents if you can join a recreational team or league, or start a game in your neighborhood If going solo is more your style, ride your bike, jump rope, or go skating. Do you have a hard time coming up with games for you and your friends to play? Here are a couple examples of some games you can play with a group. You ll be having fun and getting your daily dose of physical activity all at the same time! Race to the Finish You will need at least 2 people to play. Choose a start line and a finish line. All players should line up on the start line. To begin, choose a person to pick what type of race it will be. Here are some examples: run backwards, crab walk, cart wheels, crawl, skip, run forward, hop forward Players then race to finish line doing the chosen movement. From this point on, the winner chooses the next type of race. If you have enough players you might want to pick someone to referee the finish line and yell start for each round. Color Tag You will need at least 3 people to play. Choose someone to be it and set boundaries for the area players can run around in. The person who is it tries to tag the other players to make them it. To be safe from a tag, a player must yell out a color and sit down. Once a player is safe, the person who is it must move on, and try to tag someone else. The safe player then stands back up, and continues with the game. If a player gets tagged, they are now it. A color can only be used once in a game, so you must yell the colors loudly so everyone can hear. You must yell the color before you sit down to be safe. Sources: Scott Strother. Forgotten Neighborhood Games: Get kids back outside and loving it! Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.