Today's generation learns about the importance of being healthy a lot later in life. Many of us wish we were taught to do so earlier. Even though we were told by our elders - to eat healthily and exercise, we never took them seriously because of course, we refused to listen!
This is exactly why we started this project: ‘BPLiving @ NEXT.’ At NEXT School, we wanted to teach students about why it is so important to infuse the Big Picture Living measures into daily life in a fun way where all students - no matter their age - could relate to what we were saying and actually make a difference in their routines and habits.
The Set Up
Along with our classmates, about 10 of us set up the first of many sessions. We split ourselves into 3 groups and worked on three segments of this presentation: Food and Nutrition, Physical Health and Movement, and Mental Health. We planned the sessions to be informative as well as filled with fun and interactive activities. Our audience was aged all the way from 10 year olds to 15 year olds.
It was the day at last!
Students gathered in a meeting room and it was filled with electric energy and constant chattering. The warm and fun, post-lunch mood was a huge confidence boost for some of the presenters. The audience of 50 students from the grades 6-10 were divided into 3 break-out rooms.
What happened next blew our expectations!
There were several discussions and interactions amongst the learners. All of them were keen on learning about the different ways to keep their body healthy and most importantly - it felt great to know that some of them were already regulating and conscious about their health. This act of sharing definitely motivated a lot of students to keep in check with their health and introspect about their own lifestyles.
The children shared some really interesting insights:
“I learned that everything needs to be moderated, too much of anything can be harmful”
“I found out that exercising can mean very different things, I am going to cycle from now on”
“I can’t eat chips whenever I want?!!!?!?!”
The children have discovered new ways to change their lifestyle, now it's your turn. Here is a small recap of the 6 measures:
Make sure to incorporate them for a healthy, sustainable life!
Nourish: Balanced nutrition and veggie-full foods!
Move: Exercise and move your body!
Recharge: Sleep, rest and refill your battery.
Social: Interact, connect, learn, spread love and enjoy :)
Chill: Take a break, focus on your Mental Health!!!
Caution: Healthy addictions (like sports or a hobby) and positive affirmations.
The entire opportunity was not only exciting for the participants but also helped us reflect on our own lifestyle and gave us an entirely new perspective on how we approached the measures.
Bringing together children helped us gain a completely new perspective on how we approached healthy living!
To learn more about how you can bring the Big Picture Living program to your school, contact: teams@bpliving.org or check out our Educator Resources.