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Active Kids Challenge

Teaching Resource - Unplug & Play with Fit Habitz Week 4

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Learning

Electronic entertainment often exercises reflexes at the expense of imagination. Unplugging and playing outdoors requires experimentation, imagination and creativity. By unplugging we access our creative intelligence and plug into a range of untapped abilities.

• Creative Intelligence: we use it to invent unusual solutions in new and unfamiliar circumstances. The need for creative thinking certainly exists in today’s world because the churn of constant change requires us to think, feel and act in new ways and to have those new actions work well.
• Creative Problem Solving starts with a feeling that an unusual new solution is possible. By freeing our imagination from the restrictions of normal thinking, judgments and assumptions we are able to foster creativity similar to a curious child who is playful, open minded and filled with wonder and awe about the world.
• Creative Thinking allows us to have a perceptual observing way of looking at the world. By being open minded and not judging the many things that happen around us as right or wrong, good or bad allows us to absorb and saturate our mind with information which we can draw upon at a later stage if a challenge develops and a solution is needed.
• Positive Emotions broaden a person's cognitive skills. Positive emotions make you more aware of the many things happening around you. You notice small details and can remember many tasks that have to be done.
• The Benefits of experiencing many positive emotions such as enjoyment, satisfaction, contentment and appreciation include enhanced problem solving skills, improved health outcomes and reduced stress.

Fit Tips

• Reframing our language… and asking ourselves is this a challenge rather than a problem. Allows us to move forward with energy and enthusiasm, look at the challenge with new eyes and ask the following questions.
• What would be a different way of looking at this?
• What if I were to do the opposite of what I have been doing?
• What would be an outrageous solution?
• What is amusing about this?
• Is there a unique way to handle this?

Fit Corner - Class Activity

Tap into your imagination to create as many ideas as you can for your sports equipment. Work in small groups.

• Provide each group several pieces of sport equipment of the same kind.
• Task each group to come up with as many ideas that they can for that equipment. Write them down so that they can share those ideas with the whole class.
• Encouraging the students to have fun with the equipment will allow them the opportunity to come up with a new purpose or solution for the equipment, no matter how outrageous, which will be both fun and enjoyable for everyone involved.

Examples of equipment that you could use:

• Marking cones
• Balls
• Tennis balls
• Skipping ropes
• Pool noodles
• Hoola hoops
• Small bean bags

Fit Qs

• What are your favourite outdoor games? Why do you like them?
• Describe the emotions (feelings) that you feel when you play these games?
• Everybody knows how to play chase! Can you come up with a new fun name for the game of chase?