Healthy Hearts Week - 11th to 14th September 2006

“Elementary School Runs to Bagamoyo”

As part of Healthy Hearts Week, students at the Elementary School were set the challenge of running from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo, a distance of 72km. After a week of huffing and puffing, with every child in the school taking part, children in Grade 2 managed to run the last 12 kilometres to make it to Bagamoyo.

This was a week when students in Grades 1 to 5 spent time thinking about their bodies and how to keep them healthy. There were numerous physical activities before school and at recess times that the children (staff and parents too!) were encouraged to take part in. All children also kept an exercise diary to record of the amount of exercise that they got during the week. Here are some of the activities

Morning Fun Runs: Meet on the field at 7.00am, parents and children invited along for a recreational run, different times/distances for each grade level – what a great way to start the day!
Run to Bagamoyo: An activity that take place during first break, children run short distances, the total distance is added together to see if as a whole school we can run from Dar to Bagamoyo (90km)
Aerobics: Another activity that takes place during first break. Exercise to music is great fun and a good way to raise your heart rate.
Jump Rope Activities: This activity will take place at second break. Great for the heart and for strong leg muscles too!
Fitness Circuit: Ladders, skipping, shuttle runs, push ups, sit ups – a whole body work out.
Exercise Diary: All children will keep an exercise diary during the week to see if they can achieve our objective of 30 minutes of exercise every day.