Sport Can Be Fun

In order to develop good habits of physical activities with children and young people between 2003 - 2004 the schools and day care centres in Kolding have decided to focus on physical activities in between the classes and in spare time.

Attempts are made to teach children physical exercises can be fun. Children get also instruction about nutritious food and health. Day care centres offer also a wide range of after-school sport activities.

The common catalogue of ideas will hopefully encourage better relations between the schools and sport organisations. The catalogue contains ideas such as sport clubs visiting the schools or activity days.

The 2003 research showed that there were already many physical activities on daily basis at schools. To develop this idea in the day care centres, sport-wise, well-educated staff will have to be hired.

One of good examples might be collaboration of schools with local sports clubs. The wrestling club invited the day care centres to a "wrestling afternoon" where they introduced sport to children and made a small tournament. Another example is a cross-tracking club offering a course to draw maps of the surroundings of the schools and education of teachers in cross-tracking. The administration has even purchased cross-tracking equipment.

The administration together with the cultural institutions in the city prepared an activity day for children at the age of 14-15. The children cycled between 3 sites and the swimming hall. At each place they were to solve a funny and different task related to the site.

On Trapholt, the museum of modern art, they got an introduction to sculpture. Afterwards they were asked to make a sculpture themselves. On each visit they got a part of a puzzle, which they had to use at the end of the day in the swimming hall. Each class chose one pupil to put the puzzle together in water. The aim of the project was to give children a cultural knowledge combined with physical activities.