Fun-For-All Challenge
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Promoting fun, active participation for all! What’s INPUOCT TOBER 2011 INSIDE Fun For All FUN-FOR-ALL Exercise Optimizing Brain Function Octoberfest Ideas What Level is This Game For CHALLENGE Picking Fair Teams Follow us on Twitter Intramurals and Supporting Various Great Causes Win $750 For Your School Want to Serve on the CIRA Ontario Board? CIRA Ontario Ambassadors HERE’S HOW... CIRA Ontario's April 2012 Conference DOWNLOAD the registration form at www.ciraontario.com/ehr/page/challenges . EMAIL [email protected] indicating that you are participating. s ’ t a HOST a fun, active event, for as many students as possible. h W UP! VIDEO TAPE the excitement and WRITE a 1-2 page report that describes the activity. SUBMIT your edited 45-75 second video clip of the activity, along with your report and the submission form to CIRA Ontario by 15 November 2011. "Use your brain." I guess we have all used this phrase at one time or another. PRIZES The first article in this INPUT shows First ($750) and Second ($250) place prizes how physical activity actually helps will be given for each of the following categories: participants to use their brain better. • Grade /Middle School (K-8) • High School (9-12) • Post-Secondary Then we put our brain to work to provide different ideas to help you. EVALUATION CRITERIA • 30% fun factor • 30% activity level • 40% percentage of school involved One “no-brainer” is entering our upcoming Fun For All challenge by NOTE: November 15 and making your school All activity descriptions will be compiled and posted as a free download eligible to win $750 – different prizes on the CIRA Ontario website. for elementary, high school, and post- secondary institutions). See the Entries should be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail to: CIRA Ontario, 790 Shaver Road, Ancaster, Ontario L9G 3K9 following article for more details. * * * Deadline for submissions is 15 November 2011. Mailed entries must be postmarked no later than 15 November 2011. * * * 1 EXERCISE OPTIMIZING BRAIN FUNCTION "Emerging research shows that physical activity sparks biological changes that encourage brain cells to bind to one another. For the brain to learn, these connections must be made; they reflect the brain’s funda- mental ability to adapt to challenges. The more neuroscientists discover about this process, the clearer it becomes that exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus, creating an environment in which the brain is ready, willing, and able to learn." Exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function. Sparking Life is on a mission to transform America’s sedentary lifestyle. To bring movement back into our lives – to improve our children’s learning capacity, to reduce the negative effects of stress, to manage mental health issues such as ADD, anxiety, depression, and to maintain our cognitive abilities as we age. We all know that exercise makes us feel better, but most of us have no idea why. We assume it’s because we’re burning off stress or reducing muscle tension or boosting endorphins, and we leave it at that. But the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its best. In today’s technology-driven plasma-screened-in world, it’s easy to forget that we are born movers – animals, in fact – because we’ve engineered movement right out of our lives. As we adapted to an ever-changing environment over the past half million years, our thinking brain evolved from the need to hone motor skills. In order to survive over the long haul the hunter- gatherer ancestors had to use their smarts to find and store food. Relationship between food, physical activity, and learning is hardwired into the brain’s circuitry. Sedentary character of modern life is a disruption of our nature, and it poses one of the biggest threats to our continued survival. Our culture treats the mind and body as if they are separate entities. However what neuroscientists have discovered in the past five years alone paints a riveting picture of the biological relationship between the body, the brain, and the mind. To keep our brains at peak performance, our bodies need to work hard. Science of exercise cues the building blocks of learning in the brain; affects mood, anxiety, and attention; guards against stress and reverses some of the effects of aging in the brain; and in women can help stave off the sometimes tumultuous effects of hormonal changes. If you had half an hour of exercise this morning, you’re in the right frame of mind to sit still and focus on the copy on this page, and your brain is far more equipped to remember it. For more information go to: sparkinglife.org 2 One World Indestruct-a-Ball The Ball That Never Goes Flat or Never Needs a Pump lief supplies arrived, children gathered, and one of their most common requests was for . VRFFHUEDOOV +RZHYHU ZKHQ DLG ZRUNHUV SURYLGHG VWDQGDUG LQÁDWHG VRFFHU EDOOV WKH\ IRXQG WKDW WKH\TXLFNO\ ZHQW ÁDW³XVXDOO\ ZLWKLQ D GD\ One World Indestruct-a-ballsIndestruct-a-balls KDYHEHHQ GHOLYHUHG WR QXPHURXV SURMHFWV LQ +DLWL³DV ZHOO DV other countries around the world. In all these places, it is helping VXVWDLQSOD\ DQG WKH PXOWLSOH EHQHÀWV SOD\ SURYLGHV IfIf this ball can survive devastated landscapes and Triton WKH/LRQ·V DFWLYLWLHV LW ZLOO EH DEOH WR VXUYLYH your school too! Indestruct-a-BallIndestruct-a-Ball Cost: $22.95 each Colour: UN Peace-keeping Blue Also available: Flying Discs made from the Indestruct-a-ball material. Cost $5.99 Colours: Blue and YYellowellow Lettuceettuce Make Thyme (P) 416 781 2338 (E) [email protected] 3 What level is this game for? AS CIRA PRESENTERS , one of the most frequent questions we receive is a simple question that conjures up many emotions among our executive. “ What level is this game for ?” If you have ever attended our workshops you may have heard a common analogy about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this common children’s story Goldilocks is so focused on perfection that she only had the porridge that was just right. With a little ingenuity and creativity, she could have had all three bowls, instead of one. Heating up the cold bowl and cooling down the hot bowl, would have given her three bowls of porridge. Games are similar because you can spice up any game to make it suitable for your level or tone it up or down to create a plethora of material. The lesson here is that games may appear to be designed for a specific grade level, but with a little tweaking can be used at any level. Here are a few examples: Making a game more difficult is usually easy. For example, “Duck, Duck, Goose” is a common game that is used by primary teachers everywhere and loved by younger children. In this game, players sit in a circle and one player walks the outside touching each head and saying duck each time. When the player says goose, that player gets up and races the tagging player around the circle. A simple variation has the player on the outside of the circle using a sponge with water. Instead of touching heads, the player drips a drop of water on heads until they want to race someone. The D r i game is referred to as “Drip, Drip, Drop.” At this point, the p , player drops the sponge on their head and the race begins. It D r i can also be made more difficult by turning it into a fitness p , D activity. Players in the circle get into the “plank” position with feet r o towards the inside and head facing out. Players still tap p heads and all players will develop their core strength. This variation is called “Plank,Plank, Thank” ...you for letting me get out of this plank position. Simplifying games is a little more difficult. “ Sepak Takraw” is a difficult game that is best described as a volleyball game where you can only contact P the ball using your legs or feet. The net lank , Plan is about the same height as k, Th ank badminton net and is often played in sand. An easy simplification is to use a large ball that has more air time. A beach ball works very well. The game can be further simplified by lowering or eliminating the net. Finally, you can increase the numbers on each team and have players lie on their back with feet in the air. With these raw basic cool downs a very difficult game can Tak ak be played by younger players. Sep 4 IDEAS Pass the Pumpkin Pass the pumpkin is similar to Hot Potato and can be played using polka music to keep the German feel to a school Oktoberfest game. The children sit in a circle and pass a pumpkin around the circle. When the music stops, the person left holding the pumpkin is out if the game. The winner is the last student left in the game when it ends. Pumpkin Penny Toss A pumpkin will need to be carved out to play this game. Place the carved pumpkin an appropriate length away from the students. Each student gets a handful of pennies. The students will take turns trying to toss the pennies into the carved out pumpkin. Barrel Race A barrel race can be done with wooden barrels, plastic barrels or even decorated trash cans. The students will divide up into teams and then the teams will separate into two groups that stand across from each other.