Our school is an OPHEA certified school- which means, “Healthy Schools Certification gives your school the tools to promote and enhance the health and well-being of students, school staff, and the broader school community.” More information about being an OPHEA certified school can be found here
Last year, our focus was on physical activity and this year, our focus is on wellness. So, our OPHEA team (which consists of ten teachers and over 40 students) planned a day called “Winterfest”. This day ran during school hours and was planned completely by our OPHEA student leaders. They planned activities indoors and outdoors for the school- students in grades 1-6. The intermediate students ran each student or led a group around the school to each station. Stations included:
- Bobsleigh: students on a mat guiding their way through a course of pylons
- Biathlon: a fake skating activity where students have to bowl to hit some cones at the end
- Hot chocolate: students enjoy some hot chocolate while a fake fireplace sparks in the background
- Ring Toss: an outdoor activity
- Directed Drawing: a mindful activity indoors
- Box Igloo Building: students compete to build an igloo against other students with boxes
- Cooperative games: students work with their classmates to reach a common goal (silent line up, octopus, parachute)
- Spoon & Egg relay: students race again their classmates to not drop the ping pong ball off the spoon
- Obstacle Course: students run through a ground ladder and around pylons to race to the finish
- Capture the flag: class vs. class style, two classes play a game of capturing the other teams flag
- Ball Hockey: students compete against their classmates to score goals outdoors in a Canadian favourite
These activities were 25 minutes long in length and were a combination of indoor/outdoor games. The day went off without a hitch as intermediate students received compliments all day long for their excellent leadership skills! Thankfully, it was 8 degrees so the weather was not a negative factor. We look forward to doing another wellness day similar to this in the Spring. Try it out with your school!
