Physical Activity at School • Back to the Main Page • Curriculum Guidelines • Resources for Teachers • "TV Turn Off Challenge Screen Free Week" Curriculum Guidelines As stated in the Ontario Curriculum Health and Physical Education, grades 1-8: "This curriculum requires that students participate in vigorous physical activity for a sustained period of time each day". The degree to which an activity is vigorous is directly related to its ability to raise the heart rate and maintain this increase for a sustained period of time. Vigorous physical activities are aerobic in nature, enhancing the health of the heart and lungs. The amount of time required for vigorous activity depends on the students' age and stage of development. Students need to be active for enough time on a daily basis to develop fitness levels so that they can participate in continuous aerobic activity without undue fatigue. The times required in the curriculum expectations for daily-sustained aerobic activity are as follows: The Daily Physical Activity (DPA) requirements for grades 1-8 are that all students be given an opportunity for a minimum of 20 minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity during instructional time. This DPA break should include a warm up and cool down. For more details see the following: Daily Physical Activity in Schools: Guide for School Boards Daily Physical Activity in Schools: Guide for School Principals Or explore further resources on the Ministry of Education website Making physical activity a part of a child's day is fun and healthy. Encouraging kids to build physical activity into their daily routine helps create a pattern that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Consider the following facts: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is suggested that a sedentary lifestyle is one of the 10 leading global causes of death and disability According to the latest Neilson rating, children spend 25 hours a week watching network television, and this does not include time watching movies, using a computer or playing video games 40% of Canadian children have at least one risk factor for heart disease due to an inactive lifestyle 24% of Canadian children are obese What are the benefits of daily physical activity? Stronger muscles and bones Increases flexibility Better posture and balance Achieve and maintain a healthy weight Strengthens the heart and lungs and improves circulation Enhances healthy growth and development Increases self-esteem Improves concentration Improve task performance and problem solving skills Helps children meet new friends Improved sleep habits  Reduces stress Improves mood The education system needs to provide the leadership and the opportunity to ensure that our children are active, and that they develop the physical activity habit needed to live a healthy life. To the top Resources for Teachers OPHEA'S Health and Physical Activity Curriculum Support Documents Grades K-10 Heart Healthy Kids resource Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Youth Games Kids Play contains descriptions of a multitude of games children love to play Active 8 contains tons of ideas on how to get kids active The Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) website provides resources for quality physical and health education programs Canadian Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA) website provides ideas on how to promote active living, healthy lifestyles and personal growth through intramural and recreation programs Human Kinetics provides a listing of textbooks and other resources for teachers and coaches to promote physical activity Sport Quest is an information database of sports resources The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute contains tips for being active as well as research information on the physical activity patterns of Canadians To the top