With a new school year soon upon us, let’s take a moment to highlight a few resources that may assist in the planning of elementary and secondary physical education programs.  Consider how you may use and/or modify these resources to fit your needs and those of the students.  GYM works to provide supports to educators, physical activity leads, and community leaders.  Please connect with us through social media to receive future posts or to request further support. 

Planning            ...

This past week in #epe300 I had the opportunity to engage in a terrific conversation with physical education pre-service teachers around assessment and in particular the notion of encouraging engagement via a participation mark.  It was evident from the experiences shared as students, putting a number towards how one participates in physical education was the dominant story.  Perhaps as much as 50% of ones mark would be calculated on criteria that more often than not came down to having...

As part of The Healthy Kids Community Challenge, the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health developed a series of short instructional videos on various traditional activities.  The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health is an award-winning charity that is a leader in community-based, holistic health care, bridging Aboriginal cultural practices with Western medicine to combat poverty and illness in Canada's First Peoples.  Traditionally Inuit games were created to keep the body strong and agile....

The following video clip provides a number of experiences that engage youth in movement.  With little equipment or set-up time required, these instant activities challenge participants to move to achieve specific goals.  Connections can certainly be made to both skill-related and health-related components of fitness.  These are fantastic challenges which can be implemented indoors and outdoors for both elementary and high school youth.  Included with this post is a list of reaction ball...

Spikeball is a game that can be incorporated into your physical education program to help connect to tactics and strategies involved in net/wall games.  The many skills involved Spikeball allow opportunities for youth to develop movement skills such as volleying and striking with hands.   This video create with the help of University of Regina H.O.P.E. students, demonstrates a variety of lead-up activities that can be used to progress to full game play.  What happens if you do not have a...

Rookie rugby or flag rugby is a safe, non-contact game that can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels.  Regina Catholic School’s physical education consultant Graham Hayes provides an overview of this game as well as a number of considerations for teachers and/or coaches.  

"Our kids are ready to move....and YOU can help them take the first step:

- to discover the joy of moving and playing - to be inspired to try new activities - to be a successful participant in sport - to become a lifelong mover

The Partners for Physical Literacy have developed a series of infographics for use by Families, Educators, Coaches and Community members. These infographics provide great information on:

What is Physical Literacy? Why is it important? What actions can I...

On November 14th and 15th, over 100 participants gathered in Regina for the Mini Summit for Developing Physical Literacy, presented by the Partners for Physical Literacy.  The participants represented a wide variety of sectors including education, sport, recreation, community and health.  Dr. Dean Kriellaars, from the University of Manitoba, facilitated an energetic and information rich two days on the area of Physical Literacy.  Participants left with a better understanding of what Physical...

The Elements of Dance website was shared recently on twitter by Dr. Lee Schaefer (@Schaef9).  As stated within the website, the elements of dance are the foundational concepts and vocabulary that help students develop movement skills and understand dance as an artistic practice.  Each of the five elements, Body, Action, Space, Time, and Energy are described and key vocabulary are included for teachers and students.  Be sure to download the graphic organizer.  A great resource to help expand...

Bound Ball is a terrific game that will help youth develop volleying skills, enhance court awareness, and encourage movement.  Change up the court size, number of players, and how rallies start to ensure all participants are engaged and seeing success.  A great game for both novice and advanced movers, Bound Ball helps one understand some of the key concepts of net/wall games.