March 2019…Kindergartners at Whitehall Elementary School in Norristown recently learned that exercise is healthy for their hearts.
Amy Deahl-Greenlaw, a registered dietitian nutritionist who works with Healthy NewsWorks, read the book Get Up and Go! with the students and taught them how to play the game “Stick Figure Moves.”
“We thought it was fun,” Janet Goodwin, the classroom teacher, said. “All agreed we should teach the rest of Kindergarten.”
One student, John, said he liked the game because “it makes my heart get faster.” Two others, Journey and Camila, liked it because of the fun moves.
The lesson and activity are part of the Hearty Kids Initiative, a Healthy NewsWorks project to promote heart health awareness for 5- to 7-year old student reporters in kindergarten through second grade.
The young reporters gather facts about heart health and work with their classroom teachers and Healthy NewsWorks staff to help write and illustrate a “junior” section for each school’s respective health newspaper.
Hearty Kids is being offered this year in 16 classrooms at four schools in Philadelphia and Norristown.
