Teacher: “This is why my class participates every year!”

Primary school teacher Jaana Tolonen from Maaniittu School in Nurmijärvi, Finland has been using the Muuvit Adventure for 15 years, so knows exactly what it is and why she has participated each year. This is how Ms. Tolonen justifies the Muuvit platform and philosophy:

“The philosophy is extremely effective at forming a class togetherness and team spirit”


“Muuvit Liikuntaseikkailu (Adventure), modified and developed into its current form, brings much hoped-for variance to our daily class routines. Although our school regards exercise / moving positively and our school’s indoor facilities and recess areas support children moving, the adventure makes us think through the Muuvit process; and how we can truly employ the environment around us to make it possible for increased movement during the school day. The objective is to move for at least an hour every school day!”
 
During the adventure, Ms. Tolonen’s groups always do something extra, “we take into consideration different class levels; PE-classes and breaks are extended with more shared physical activities during these recesses. During (non-physical) classes we might, for example in geography visit the internet-adventure destinations and pupils can recommend information packages to each other for destination cities, in Finnish-classes we could look into dialect vocabulary. Ms. Tolonen emphasises that “general learning during these classes are made more active through utilising the Adventure-material’s play and game tips.”
 
“The philosophy is extremely effective at forming a class togetherness and team spirit”, assures Ms. Tolonen.  Explaining that “in the future I can see Muuvit Liikuntaseikkailu being linked with a more complex entity, such as a new teaching program.”

Physical activity with friends and family
 
“Pupils decided to continue movement outside of the classroom with friends, and I believe that this is the way we are able to inspire families. The healthiness and equality of movement that is brought forward in this national project, offers schools a good way to remind parents of the importance of moving”.
 
Tolonen also states that, “based on the completed tasks and points, pupils clearly increased physical movement, at least during the observation period.”

 

*Photo is taken at Jyränkö school in Heinola, Finland