Fun With Fitness

I (Jen) just met with a coworker about promoting our after-school program, Fun With Fitness. I can't believe we're already to the point that we need to be thinking about school, but it is around the corner. In fact, registration for Grinnell schools is tomorrow. (I know all our teacher members just stopped reading out of disgust.)

I talk a lot about how much I enjoy my job and this is one of the many reasons. I meet such a wide variety of adults throughout my day, but Fun With Fitness gives me the chance to play games with kids after school. Not a rough gig, I say. My degree is in education and here is where I can still get that kid fix. We play games, learn about nutrition and fitness and our bodies, and just have so much fun. There's typically not a large number of participants, so I get the opportunity to spend more one on one time with each kid.

I really get behind the whole philosophy of Fun With Fitness. There are some phenomenal sports-related options for kids in town. However, not all kids are interested in sports. There are also those children that have reached the point where they don't feel successful when they are participating with other kids their age. This gives those individuals the chance to have a positive experience with fitness. We are looking to create an environment in which they learn how to stay healthy for their whole life in a fun way. We talk about choices and the effect our decisions can have on our health. Yes, you can have that one piece of candy, but not the whole bag and here are some other, healthier foods we need to eat as well, here are some activities we can do together while Mom and Dad are at work, here's why we need to be mindful of diet and exercise... You get the jist.

I have such a great time every year, it makes it worth the challenge of driving the bus (something nearly everyone has heard me jokingly grumble about on a routine basis.) It doesn't matter, bring on the school year. I'm getting excited just writing about it.