The purpose of this resource is to encourage students in Kindergarten through Grade 8 to walk or wheel to school on a certain day of each week (e.g., Walking Wednesday).
Description
The idea of a Weekly Walking/Wheeling program is to designate one day per week to encourage walking or wheeling to school. Some schools opt for a less frequent schedule, e.g., bi-weekly or monthly. Having a regular walking and wheeling event keeps the importance of physical activity top-of-mind for students throughout the school year. Weekly Walking/Wheeling also complements other programs like Walking School Buses/Bike Trains or special events such as Walk and Wheel to School Days.
Some ideas for encouraging students to walk/wheel on event day:
- Provide stickers to each student who walks/wheels that day
- Create a highly visible collective art piece that celebrates the students who walked or wheeled to school, e.g., a Greening Tree
- Hand out a certificate, award, or some kind of prize to the class with the greatest number of students who walked or wheeled
To make a Weekly Walking/Wheeling program inclusive to all students, even those who drive to school, you could count students as walkers/wheelers if they park at least five minutes away from school and walk for the last part of the school journey (Drive to Five). Some schools also run group walking activities during recess to give bused students the opportunity to participate too.
What you will need
Materials and content for program promotion, e.g., supplies to make posters, content for the school newsletter, and morning announcements. You might also need stickers, certificates, awards, and/or prizes.
Who can help
It works well if a teacher, school administrator, parent, or community member takes on a lead coordinator role and works with other school staff, parents/caregivers to organize and promote the event each week. Students can help with designing posters, writing announcements, and graphing a tally of the number of people who walked and wheeled.
Key words
Walk, pedestrian, active transportation, school travel, safety, walking, encouragement, wheeling, cycling, walking Wednesdays.