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Teacher: Erik Myer who teaches at Warnsdorfer Elementary School in East Brunswick, NJ. Erik Myer can be contacted at emyer@netzero.net.

Name of Best Practice: Family Fitness Night

Rationale/Purpose of Event: To highlight some of the physical fitness tests we use at school and to provide other fitness activities to challenge the students and their parents.

Suggested Grade Level: 3-5

Materials Needed: Cones, Pull-up bars, Water coolers and cups, Directional arrows and signs, Registration table, Map of activities, score sheets, pencils, outline of activities, Mats, Tape measure, sit and reach board, vertical jump board

Family Fitness Night

Family Fitness night was an outreach to the third and fourth graders of our school. It was designed to encourage fitness with their family members along with promoting and informing parents about our physical fitness testing.

Parents and children could pre-register for the night. Upon arrival they received a packet that included a map of the school showing the location of activities, an outline describing what would take place that night, score sheets to keep track of their scores and a pencil. (You may want to make the score sheets optional to complete.)
The night was a free flowing night of various activities. Here is what we had:


  • 3 shuttle run areas

  • 2 flexed arm hang areas

  • a large sit-up testing area

  • A graffiti wall where you could write your name and your definition of physical fitness

  • An indoor walking course (8 laps = a mile).

  • Fitness monopoly game

  • Computer lab with various fitness Web sites bookmarked

  • Vertical jump test area

  • Standing broad jump area

  • Sit and reach area

  • Height, weight and blood pressure checks by the school nurse


The event lasted 2 hours and everyone was active for the duration. As students and parents completed an event they would move on to the next. If they wanted, they could go back and attempt other events again. The night was received with great enthusiasm from all involved and the principal has decided that it will become an annual event.

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Posted on PEC: 10/9/2001 and has received 72 votes.

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