Teaching outdoor and adventure activities: an investigation of a primary school physical education professional development p

Conclusions and Recommendations 
Physical activities that children do must be fun and more appealing than alternative 
unhealthy sedentary activities. When we enjoy the activities we do, we want to do them 
more often. High personal involvement in the action, opportunities to affirm friendships 
(Coakley, 1993) and allowing children choice in activity selection (Weiss, 1991) are 
keys to activity enjoyment. Significant adults are primed to structure the environment 
and exhibit behaviours that enhance children’s physical competency beliefs, self-esteem 
and enjoyment of physical activity. In turn, these perceptions and emotions are the keys 
to solving the mystery of motivating kids in physical activity (Weiss, Corbin & 
Pangrazi, 2000). 
The social support from teachers in schools can offer many opportunities for 
children to be physically active. Free-play time, before and after school as well as 
break-times are key opportunities during the school day to promote and provide 
enjoyable physical activity experiences. This study showed that both boys and girls 
participate in moderate and vigorous activities during free-play activity with girls more 
likely to be vigorously active during the longer than shorter, free-play periods. To 
increase the likelihood of activity during free-play time, we encourage schools to invest 
in facilities, equipment and resources such as playground markings, small play 
equipment, play providers and increased space per child. Physical education class is an 
‘in school’ time which can be utilised better by teachers, although in Ireland the 
recommended time allocation is one hour, teachers may use discretionary time during 
the week to provide further ‘in-school’ opportunities for physical activity. A school 
ethos which promotes physical activity throughout the school day is invaluable and a 
Principal who will drive the ethos is vital. 
In order for children and youth to develop a lifestyle of regular physical activity 
to maximise the long-term health benefits, they need to be ‘turned on’ to physical 
activity by making it enjoyable (Weiss et al., 2000). This will keep children coming 
back because of an intrinsic desire to be physically active. Getting children to enjoy 
physical activity is not a hard sell. Children are built to move, they want to move, 
however it is not something that should be left to chance and opportunities for physical 
activity during the school day should be provided by schools. The majority of children 
in the study (93.8%) indicated a high level of enjoyment of physical activity. However, 

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even at this young age, boys indicated significantly higher levels of enjoyment of 
physical activity than girls. The key is to understand what promotes, this enjoyment, 
harness it and build it into our school experience for all children.