Overview
Students look into the ways they spend their free time, learning how to find balance between active, learning, and media activities. Learners distinguish their activities and reflect on their daily screen intake compared to other types of activities.
NB Curricular Connections
Personal Wellness
- Strand: Wellness – Big Idea: Healthy Lifestyle
What You’ll Need
- Balance Your Time Handout (included)
- Whiteboard/ Chart Paper
- Markers
Instructions
1. Ask: Think about things you do before and after school. This can include focused activities (piano, hockey, homework) and casual activities (tv, video games, ride bikes).
Invite students to respond and create a list as a class. This can be used as a resource later.
2. Draw: A large circle on the board and divide into thirds. Tell students each part of the circle stands for a different kind of activity: Active Time (included moving and exercise); Learning Time (learning or creating new things); and Screen Time (tv, video games, movies).
3. Ask: Students for one example of an activity to put in each part of the circle.
4. Discussion: Impact of different activities on a person’s life. Questions may include: Why do we choose certain activities? Are there things about media activities that might make us spend more time than other activities? Are any of these activities better than others?
5. Balance your Time Handout: Have students write down or draw pictures representing their entire Active, Learning, and Screen time activities for the last week.
6. Give examples of activities that fit into more than one category (going for a nature hike is active/learning, learning how to dance while watching a music video active/screen).
7. Balancing Time: Ask students to see where they have the least number of activities. Have them write (using a different color/way to distinguish) things they can do and would enjoy doing that helps balance their lives.
Reflection Activity
Please see the attached PDF for several choices on how you and your learners can reflect upon today’s activity.
Extension Activity
- Have students represent a well-balanced day in which they accomplished activities of all three types that they enjoyed.
