Green Button

How many times have you been in a checkout line and heard the phrase, "green button?" Even if we pay for our purchases with cash, we probably hear the cashier say it to the people ahead of us in line.

The other day I commented to a checker on the amount of exercise she must get by moving thousands of things from one side of the cash register to the other. "Yes," she replied, "it is a lot of exercise, but not where it's needed."

"Don't you also do a lot of bending and squatting when you do things like stock shelves?" I asked.

She patted her tummy and told me that was the place where she needed the exercise. As I paid for the things I'd bought I suggested that if she did one tummy squeeze every time she said the words, "green button," she'd get plenty of exercise in that part of her anatomy.

While unloading the groceries at home it occurred to me that I could do the same thing. While I don't say, "green button" hundreds of times every working day, I do hear it often and can use it as a reminder to exercise my own abdominal muscles, which certainly need it. And that sort of exercise can easily be done whenever I'm standing in a line, waiting for something to load on my computer, or in any situation where I must wait for something. From now on, I'll try to remember to do that.

I hope my belly button doesn't turn green. ;-)

Martha Swirzinski on Exercise

Building Better Bodies and Brains.

What is the one thing you can do for yourself and your child that will have the biggest impact on your body and brain? If you said exercise, you were right. We all know that getting your body moving is great for your health but did you know it is just as important for good brain health? That's right, when you and your child get up and moving it actually helps increase learning.

Advances in brain research show that most of the brain is activated during physical activity. Eric Jensen, author of Brain Based Learning and Teaching, tells us that after 10 minutes of sitting our brain starts to shut down. The learner gets sleepy and learning declines. So what is one to do? Yep, that's right get your body moving. Moving “increases blood vessels that allow for the delivery of oxygen, water, and glucose (“brain food”) to the brain” (Pica, Rae)

A few facts to ponder:

o “Aerobic exercise just twice a week halves your risk of general dementia. It cuts your risk of Alzheimer's by 60 percent.” (Medina John)

o “Being active grows new brain cells.

o Balance improves reading capacity.

o Movement can help reinforce academic skills for all students.

o Play can increase attention.” (Blaydes, Jean)

The holder of a Bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation from Clemson University and a master's from the University of Maryland in Kinesiology, Ms. Martha Swirzinski has more than 15 years of experience working in the field of movement with children. She is also a certified personal fitness trainer. She currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her husband and two daughters.

“More and more research is being developed about the rise of obesity in children,” notes Ms. Swirzinski, who teaches movement education in a local pre-school and offers teacher training workshops and customized consultations. At the same time, numerous studies continue to link increased brain function and movement, she explains. “Being active grows new brain cells!”

Ms. Swirzinski believes that every child should be afforded structured movement opportunities every day to promote an active, healthy lifestyle and become part of a lifelong regime.

It is along this vein that Ms. Swirzinski has published three children's books focused on movement. Using entertaining rhymes and charming pictures, these developmentally based books offer fun and creative ways for children to move while also providing mind stimulating activities on each page. By following the suggested activities, children can engage in 30-60 minutes of their recommended structured daily movement, as well as enhancing other mind/body skills. Designed to be enjoyed again and again, the pages of these books are filled with laughter, learning, movement and more.

To learn more about Martha and her work with kids please go to

www.wholechildpublishing.com or www.movementplus.com

Games

When I was a kid, and for many generations before that, kids entertained themselves and each other by playing games like tag, hide and seek, jump rope, hopscotch, having races, etc. The rules were passed down from older children to younger ones with no need for adult intervention.

Now lots of kids don't even know what those games are unless they've been taught to play them in school.

Instead, they play electronic games. Is that a bad thing?

Some people say violent electronic games, like devices used for training new military recruits, can make kids comfortable with the idea of hurting or killing other people and blame the games for increased violence in our society. But I remember when people said the same thing about children playing with toy guns. Of course the old fashioned violent play was much less realistic, so the modern games might have some negative influence, especially if played excessively.

On the other hand, many of those games teach children good things like how to solve problems, and help improve their manual dexterity.

The biggest problem with electronic games is that children tend to spend too much time playing them when they should be getting exercise, but today most kids in our society can't go out to play in their neighborhoods without adult supervision like we did anyway.

Instead of considering computer games to be evil, it would make better sense for parents to control which games their kids play and how much time they spend playing them, and make sure plenty of physical activities are also included in their children's lives.