Have Fun Outdoors with Hooping

f e a t u r e Have fun outdoors with hooping

ula Hoops® sold like crazy at calorie burn,” said John Porcari, a benefits for children. It helps them Hthe height of the fad in the University of Wisconsin research- develop gross motor skills, bal- 1950s. Although they never really er who conducted a study of a ance, body awareness, muscular went away, hoops have begun small group of women for the coordination, and rhythm. Apart reappearing more often recently American Council on Exercise from its physical benefits, hoop- in children’s games and adult fit- (Holthusen et al. 2011). Hooping ing is great fun for children—and ness classes. The activity, now burns approximately 210 calories their teachers. commonly called “hooping” or in a 30-minute session, making it The activities below offer games “hoop dance,” has genuine merit an effective way to lose weight for the outdoors. Three-year-olds as physical exercise. when combined with a limited- will enjoy the simpler games, but “Hooping compares pretty calorie diet. Hooping also contrib- children need to be 4 or 5 before favorably with most other group utes to cardiovascular health. they can spin a hoop around the classes, in terms of heart rate and Playing with hoops offers many waist for more than a minute or

z two. You’ll need at least six hoops t for children. About the hoops by susan gae Hoops are basically rings of plas- oto

ph tic tubing, often in bright colors or patterns. They are available from school supply houses at $5 to $6 apiece. Lakeshore Learning, for example, sells hoops in sets of three for $16.99 for 24-inch hoops and $19.99 for 30-inch hoops. By contrast, adult hoop used in fitness activities are 37 to 45 inch- es in diameter and cost $17 or more apiece. They typically are weighted, varying from 1 to 4 pounds apiece. Heavier hoops rotate around the body more slowly, which makes hooping a bit easier while potentially burn- ing more calories and gaining more fitness benefits (Livestrong. com).

© Texas Child Care quarterly / spring 2013 / VOLUME 36, NO. 4 / childcarequarterly.com Learn to hoop Take turns to ensure everyone a leg, head, whole body) inside the Give each child a hoop, and space chance at moving through the hoop. children at a safe distance apart to hoops. Variations: Younger children avoid running into each other. may lay the hoops on the ground Encourage children to move the Ride in a hoop while singing the Hokey Pokey hoop in some way, such as: Invite two children to get inside a song. Attach streamers to the ■ laying it flat on the ground and hoop, one in front of the other. hoops and invite children to move jumping from outside to inside One child whose chest presses the hoops and dance to music. and back, over and over against the hoop is the driver, and ■ rolling it upright along the the other child whose back presses Shoot into the hoop ground against the hoop is the passenger. Use a rope to hang a hoop on a ■ tossing it in the air Encourage the children to take tree limb or roof overhang. Invite ■ spinning it around the waist turns, driving each other around children to toss a lightweight ball To help children learn how to the playground. Children can through the hoop. spin the hoop around the waist, pretend to be driving a car, truck, have them first rotate the hips boat, or stagecoach. Toss the hoop right and left without the hoop. Place a plastic milk jug filled with Dance a hokey-pokey sand on the ground. Invite chil- Tunnel through hoops hoop dren to take turns tossing a hoop Have children stand in a line, Invite children to each hold a at the milk jug target. Start close each with a hoop upright and hoop upright and sing the Hokey to the target, and gradually touching the ground to form a Pokey song. As they sing, they increase the tossing distance. tunnel. Invite other children to place the appropriate body part crawl or run through the tunnel. (right arm, left arm, right leg, left Do the hoop relay

z Have children form two lines, six t or eight children in a line. At a signal, give a hoop to the first children in line. They pull the

by susan gae hoop over their heads and down oto

ph the body to the ground and then go back up again, handing off to the second child in line. This action continues to the last child. The group that finishes first wins the relay.

Jump the hoops Lay six or more hoops flat on the ground in a circle, with edges touching. Invite each child to stand in a different hoop. At a given signal, the children jump into the next hoop going clock- wise. At another signal, they reverse direction. Variation: Children may pretend they are frogs, jumping from one lily pad to another.

© Texas Child Care quarterly / spring 2013 / VOLUME 36, NO. 4 / childcarequarterly.com Re-use a hoop website describes a nonprofit Foundation, www.livestrong. Got an old, cracked hoop that has organization whose mission is com/article/187009-how-to- seen better days? Instead of to “bring joy through the teach-children-to-use-a-hula- throwing it in the trash and add- importance of play to children hoop/. ing to the landfill, tie fabric or around the world.” The group Laskowski, Edward. July 9, 2011. paper streamers to it for dramatic has set Oct. 5, 2013, as World “Do weighted hula hoops pro- play outdoors. Make a wire or Hoop Day this year, encourag- vide a good workout, or are string hanger and hang it to a tree ing communities to create a they just a gimmick?” Mayo or roof overhang. Children may more peaceful world through Clinic, www.mayoclinic.com/ pretend it’s a rain shower, water- play and giving back. health/weighted-hula-hoops/ fall, chandelier, spacecraft, giant AN01638. octopus, or forest. References Livestrong.com. n.d. “Hula Hoop Holthusen, Jordan; John Porcari; Exercises,” www.livestrong. Do a hoop marathon Carl Foster; and Scott com/hula-hoop-exercises/. n As children gain proficiency in Doberstein, with Mark Anders. spinning a hoop around the waist, January 2011. “ACE-sponsored set up a marathon activity to see Research: Hooping—Effective who can hoop the longest. Workout or Child’s Play?” American Council on Exercise, Skip the hoop www.acefitness.org/certified- Instead of a jump rope, use a newsarticle/1094/. large hoop to skip around the Ipatenco, Sara. July 28, 2010. playground. Encourage children “How to Teach Children to Use to recite nursery rhymes or skip a Hula Hoop,” Livestrong

chants as they jump. For more z t chants, see www.todaysparent. com/skippingsongs and www. gameskidsplay.net/jump_rope_ ryhmes/. by susan gae oto ph Learn more about hoops Encourage school-age children to learn more about hoops via the Internet, library reference books, and interviews with parents and grandparents. Here are two resources to get them started: ■ Townsend, Allie. Feb. 16, 2011. All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys: 1950s, Hula Hoop. Time.com, www.time.com/time/specials/ packages/article/0,28804, 2049243_2048654_2049245,00. html. This article acknowledges the successful patent marketing of the Hula Hoop® in the 1950s but states that hooping has actu- ally been around for centuries. ■ www.worldhoopday.org. This