Games days to boost children’s fitness

Come Ash Wednesday, March 6, president of the Rose Hall/Free Town Community Development Committee, Floyd Smith, will be launching a games evening in Rose Hall.

Smith said the motivation came on New Year's Day, when they held a treat for the children in the community and, because of limited resources, they were unable to afford a bounceabout. Instead, they opted for some games like skipping.

"That was the one (skipping) that caught my eyes. The children who could skip the longest would receive a prize and none of them could manage it. In fact, the prize winner could only skip for 30 seconds!" Smith said.

She said the children weren't fat, just unfit, and it had her thinking about what she could do to remedy that situation.

"That's how I came up with the idea for the games evening. My mission is to have it on a weekly basis, incorporating workouts and getting the adults involved," Smith told THE STAR.

Although the programme will be launched on Ash Wednesday, Smith said she plans to host it on Saturdays on the church grounds in the community.

There she will engage children in games of skipping, baseball, 'dandy shandy', tug of war, hopscotch, 'stuckie', and others.

"Some of the games they already know, and for the ones they don't, we will be teaching it to them. It will also be a great opportunity to have them intermingling with adults in the community," she said.

She expressed joy that Jamaica Moves is in schools, "as until the treat, I didn't realise how bad it (fitness level) was.

"These children are stuck on tablets and indoor entertainment, and it is not good for their health," Smith said, sharing her concern.

With their sole source of water coming from a standpipe between Free Town and Rose Hall, a good distance away, Smith said she would not mind having partners coming on board so she could have water to give the children along with some light snacks.