By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Childhood obesity is on the rise. But one local trainer has a creative approach to fight it: teach children "physical literacy," a process that promotes balance and agility, instills confidence, and develops physical coordination skills that will help them stay fit throughout their lives.
Doreen Bolhuis, owner and founder of Gymco, an award-winning Grand Rapids-based physical fitness company, has teamed up with Cynthia Kay of Cynthia Kay and Company Media Production to produce Gym Trix, a ground-breaking physical fitness video product for ages six months through adult.
"We have a large population of sedentary children," Bolhuis says. "I like to put tools in the hands of parents and caregivers to start physical literacy training in infancy just like we do academic literacy. Parents read books to their children, teach them letters and words and it becomes part of their lives. The same thing happens with physical literacy."
Physical literacy is a brand new concept, and these videos show parents, teachers, and caregivers how to teach it and even learn it themselves.
The videos are not just a bunch of kids jumping around, flapping their arms. They feature fun skill-based activities that result in balance, hand-eye coordination, eye-foot coordination, and agility.
For example, "Batter Up" on the video for babies shows adults how to teach 6- to 18-month-olds to "bat" a "ball" using a paper towel tube and balloon. Other activities are entitled Jammy Jump, Twist & Roll, Balancing Act, and Locomotion.
Gym Trix is available online, and will soon be at Schuler Books & Music.
Source: Doreen Bolhuis, Fitsmart Productions, LLC; Elisabeth Veltman, Blue Pearl Strategies
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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