Joy of Movement Challenge Kit

A Real-World Problem From Ophea

In 2021, I-Think partnered with 5 organizations for a series of Challenge Kits on well-being. Ophea offered students 2 challenges. This Challenge Kit is one of them.

Physical health is one of 4 aspects of well-being (with social, emotional and cognitive as the others). Unfortunately, too many people don’t find joy in physical activity.  

Physical education is often a class where students have to put themselves out there and be vulnerable - from the change room, to the court, to the field, there are plenty of opportunities to feel uncomfortable, scared or out of one’s element. As well, not everyone has equal opportunities to participate in physical activity outside of school, which can affect how comfortable they feel participating in physical education at school. As a result, many students don’t enjoy Physical Education, whether because of peer pressure, their sense of self, or the physical environment that creates barriers. For some, this makes participating really hard.

Research tells us there are two perspectives that people have when it comes to physical activity:

1. Some people need to feel accepted by their peers before they feel comfortable participating in physical activity 

2. Participation in physical activity is a means to being accepted by their peers  

But without trying different activities, student may never discover which ones bring them joy. Finding joy in movement is a gateway to developing good life-long physical activity habits.