Those of you who have children in Danish schools will no doubt have been told that next Friday (13th Oct) is the Skolernes Motionsdag. For those without kids you may be surprised to see hordes of children running around parks, the lakes and other open spaces on the day. But what is it all about?
The day start with a mass warm up session before the entire school goes and runs circuits around a local open space.
98 percent of Denmark’s primary schools participate in the Schools’ Day of Activity with about 355,000 active students. It is estimated that 700,000 children are participating annually. Together they run what corresponds to around the earth around 35 times.
The School’s Day of Activity is part of the Sunde Children Movement School program , which is a collaboration between TrygFonden and Dansk Skoleidræt. The overall goal of the program is that more children and young people move more and establish healthy habits early in life.
The School’s Day of Motivation was first held in 1982. The idea was fostered by a group of sports teachers who wanted to create a joint exercise event in Funen. Initially, the students only ran , but over the years the event developed to include other activities.
This year schools have been given frisbees a couple of weeks before and there is an associated leaflet encouraging healthy habits in children around eating, exercise and screen time.
It seems odd to have the day when its is a bit cold but all the kids seem to love it. You can watch 2015’s warm up video here – still a big hit in our house!
Dejlige Days 