"Laps For Lungs" Activity Format

Laps for Lungs is a simple activity to run for students and can be held as a single day event or as a lower key activity that can take place over a period of a week during regularly scheduled gym periods.

The activity itself takes approximately 25 minutes from start to finish as an indoor event held during gym time. Students come down to the gym and line up behind the identified Laps for Lungs leader (can be a teacher, student or volunteer helper). The leader will begin slowly warming the children up by circling the gym five times. Then begin to run in a series of patterns around the gym. Skipping, hopping, ball bouncing, or arm movement variations can all be incorporated into the running to add variation. Run for 12-15 minutes. After this is complete, have the children move to the bubble station where they will blow their bubbles. Help the children understand that the feeling of shortness of breath while trying to exhale, as they blow their bubbles, is how someone with asthma feels when they have an asthma episode.

As a single or two day all school event, students are called down to the gym by class to participate in their activity. The gym is blocked off for one to two days to allow for classes to rotate through the activity period.

If the event is to be held outdoors, the entire school participates together in completing their activity. A track is marked off with pylons and students run collectively around the track.

^* Upon registration schools will receive a detailed activity guide to help organize and implement their "LAPS FOR LUNGS" event.