The use of cross-curricular activity on interactive playgrounds to supplement school-based physical activity: an exploratory study

Abstract

Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are serious threats to the health and wellness of our schoolchildren. Research has shown that play and physical activity are important in development, behaviour and academic achievement. Through the efforts of coordinated school health program and a Physical Education for Progress grant, a county school system in a southern state was able to construct multiple innovative playground systems at schools and combine them with various academic units in a cross-curricular effort to address the wellness needs of students. Exploratory research using pedometers, accelerometers and an observation method examined physical activity intensity levels during cross-curricular sessions. Results indicated that this type of physical activity might be a viable supplement to daily school-based physical activity needs.

Keywords:

• physical activity
• cross-curricular
• playground
• accelerometer
• pedometer
• observation

Acknowledgements

This article contains information from a 2011 dissertation titled Pedometers, Accelerometers, and Observational Methods: A Comparison of Measurements of Physical Activity, authored by A. Greene of East Tennessee State University. This article is an extension of the dissertation in which the author seeks to focus specifically on cross-curricular physical activity in an effort to shed light on the importance of keeping students active during the school day. The author wished to offer information to educators about utilising cross-curricular activity as a means of reviewing subject matter through various types of physical activity. This dissertation offered data and data analysis specific to cross-curricular physical activity and measurement of activity while students were utilising cross-curricular methods. The author used information derived from the dissertation study to enhance this article.