Lethbridges Roving Gyms to incorporate Indigenous rhythm
The Lethbridge Sports Council has announced a new addition to its Roving Gyms program, adding Indigenous instruments and toys to the curriculum.
The program is a mobile exercise station designed to increase physical literacy and be sure children are active while staying safe. The program is aimed at kids aged five and under. It typically sees play sessions spaced out throughout the day, with up to four groups participating at once. Activity programs like this are typically promoted through tools like poster printing, with the goal of improving public health.
The new additions feature traditionally crafted drums, rattles and toys, designed to impart a sense of rhythm and improve balance and item manipulation in young children. A local Opokaa’sin group participated in creating the new tools and integrating them into the program, headed up by traditional games instructor Mary Ellen Little Mustache. The goal is to welcome a broader and more diverse group of kids into the program. Program co-ordinator Shawn Daye-Finley described the impetus for this:
“We were seeing the same people week after week and it didn’t matter where the location was. So we might not have been teaching the demographics we were trying to.”
The Roving Gyms program is currently open for sign-ups, and plans to continue for the rest of summer. It has had various homes over the years, but currently takes place behind the Nicholas Sheran Arena.
The program is a mobile exercise station designed to increase physical literacy and be sure children are active while staying safe. The program is aimed at kids aged five and under. It typically sees play sessions spaced out throughout the day, with up to four groups participating at once. Activity programs like this are typically promoted through tools like poster printing, with the goal of improving public health.
The new additions feature traditionally crafted drums, rattles and toys, designed to impart a sense of rhythm and improve balance and item manipulation in young children. A local Opokaa’sin group participated in creating the new tools and integrating them into the program, headed up by traditional games instructor Mary Ellen Little Mustache. The goal is to welcome a broader and more diverse group of kids into the program. Program co-ordinator Shawn Daye-Finley described the impetus for this:
“We were seeing the same people week after week and it didn’t matter where the location was. So we might not have been teaching the demographics we were trying to.”
The Roving Gyms program is currently open for sign-ups, and plans to continue for the rest of summer. It has had various homes over the years, but currently takes place behind the Nicholas Sheran Arena.