School Wellness in Action: Programs That Rock (Part 2)

As a member of the PTA’s Wellness Committee at my son’s school, I help plan programming and events that encourage kids to eat healthier and move more. This is the second of three posts highlighting the wellness activities at our school. I hope you’ll get ideas and inspiration from these programs. I’m also hoping you’ll share info about your school’s programs in the comments section, so we can all be inspired!

The Family Fun Fit Fest

In the Spring, one of our amazing parent volunteers puts together a health and wellness festival at the school, and the Wellness Committee helps her organize it. It’s a free evening event designed to promote wellness and get students and families excited about eating healthy foods and being active.

Last Spring’s Fit Fest was so big, there were activities on all three floors of the school–plus a climbing wall on the playground.

We had martial arts and yoga for the kids to do, an inflatable obstacle course, a hula hoop challenge, and chair massages for the grown-ups.

Though we had a budget to rent the rock wall from the city rec department and the inflatable obstacle course from a local shop, the rest of the vendors all donated their time and expertise–and in many cases, brought food (like fresh fruit) and giveaways (like toothbrushes and frisbees) for our families.

Some of the other highlights:

We asked families to enter their best vegetable-based dishes in our “Veggie Chop-Off” contest. The two winners (one award for a sweet dish, one for savory) won gift certificates to our neighborhood farmer’s market.

Local farmers were there, and they brought along some furry friends…

and some bees…

and talked to the students about farming and gardening.

We partnered with two local markets, who brought make-your-own trail mix with popcorn and dried fruit, handed out apples and bananas, and brought a food craft for the kids to do: Green Apple Frogs.

Our other partners included a healthcare company that donated jump ropes, a big box discount store that brought bottled water, and dietetics students from the local university who played a nutrition game with the students and handed out small prizes. The school’s Nutrition Club, also run by local dietetics students, had a table with different lettuces to try and compare. We had a parent doing face painting, a dairy giving away cups of local milk, and a skateboard instructor talking to the kids about skating and giving away free lessons.

To raise money for more wellness programming, we also held a raffle at the Fit Fest. Our prizes (which were all donated) ranged from gift cards to local shops and restaurants to wellness-themed prizes like a pool membership, gym membership, bike helmet, and skateboard.

Does your school host a health fair or wellness festival? I’d love to hear all about it, so please leave a comment!