With the Kids

Heart Healthy Exercise Game

On Valentine’s Day there is a lot of “heart” talk, so I thought it would be fun to come up with an exercise game to keep our hearts healthy. Throw the bean bag onto the board to see what exercise to do, then pick out a red card with the number of sit-ups to do. Then have fun performing that exercise. My kids love this game, not really knowing that it is “exercise”.

Heart Healthy Bean Bag Game for a Classroom Party @makeandtakes.com

Heart Healthy Exercise Game

You can make your poster just like ours pictured above, or you can download our FREE Heart Healthy Game printable to use for your game time!

Heart Healthy Exercise Printable – FREE!

For the Game:

You will need some sort of stuffed heart to toss at the poster board. I made a heart bean bag which I like because it’s heavy and stays put when thrown.

1. Make a Heart Bean Bag:

  • red felt pieces
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun – or tacky glue works well if dried overnight
  • dry beans

1. I used a half sheet of red felt and cut 2 hearts out, about 4×4 inches.

2. Hot glue along 3/4 of the heart and stop.

3. Fill the heart with beans as full as you can get it, without it spilling out.

4. Hot glue the rest of the heart together.

You could also sew this heart together as well, but I love a “no-sew” option!

Making No-Sew Bean Bags for a Tossing Game @makeandtakes.com

2. Make a Heart Healthy Poster Board:

  • white poster board
  • red or black marker
  • printed out sheets of “healthy” exercises – optional
  • red paper and scissors

1. I divided it up into 9 squares, just with a red marker.

2. Label each square with some sort of exercise by printing out pictures off the computer of that certain exercise. You could draw the exercise, but I am no artist. I like to have both the word and the picture on the board to help my kids learn the words too.

3. Make a set of small numbered heart cards with number values on them. Children can choose a card and it will tell them how many of that certain exercise to do.

Playing a Heart Healthy Game for Exercise with Kids

Now the kids are ready to get their hearts healthy!

28 comments

  1. This was the best idea. I was fourth grade room mom today and the kids loved it. It wasn’t messy like crafts or cookie decorating, which I think the teacher appreciated. My daughter thought it was the best Valentine’s activity ever.
    I used simple multiplication flash cards to determine the reps for each exercise. I held up the cards, called out the problem, the kids had to get the correct answer and everyone did the exercise, including the teacher. It was great! Thank you for this wonderful activity!!

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  3. thank you so much for this! my sil referred me to this site, and i can’t wait to do this tomorrow for my daughter’s preschool v-day party!

  4. Hi Marie! We loved your exercise game/activity and featured it at our blog, Kindergarten Lesson Plans!

    You can find the full feature here:
    http://kindergartenlessonplans.org/1501/exercising-for-heart-health/

    We were sure to give idea/photo credit, as well as a link back to your site, but we’d love for you to take a look at it. If there are any problems, we’ll be sure to take the feature down immediately!

    Thanks so much,
    Kayla Johnson
    tristro.com/kayla

  5. Thanks for the great idea. I am hosting my kindergartener’s v.day party Friday and was searching for something to get their bodies moving.

  6. I have thought that this idea would be fun in a classroom setting. I know there are teachers or room moms who need ideas for a Valentines party and this would be a great activity.

  7. Marie, you are unbelievable. This is such a great idea. I’m an exercise fan (I have my masters in exercise physiology) so I think starting young is the best way to instill a healthy lifestyle.

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