JumpSTART Program

JumpSTART is a school-based program that offers elementary school teachers a series of fun, field-tested activities to promote active, healthy lifestyles for grades three to five. The program suggests ten specific activities that teachers can incorporate into existing curricula to involve the children in learning about the importance of physical activity and heart-healthy eating. Realizing the importance of parental involvement in adopting heart-healthy lifestyles, JumpSTART also includes activities and materials for children to take home to share with their parents. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Recreation and Park Association developed JumpSTART in conjunction with Scholastic Inc. to provide teachers with accessible tools that make physical activity and heart healthy eating fun for children and their parents.

The program has two components (all document in Adobe Acrobat format):

1. A letter of introduction to teachers which includes a one-page reproducible to be sent home to parents with ideas for active family play.

2. An 8-page teacher's guide integrates physical activity and heart-healthy nutrition into language arts, math, social studies, and science curricula. Includes a section on where to find additional resources. Also provides a 2-page backpack stuffer, "Home Connection" to encourage parent involvement.

JumpSTART is based on activities from two field-tested programs developed under grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. These programs are CATCH (Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health) and SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids).

JumpSTART is one component of NHLBI's Cardiovascular Health Promotion Project (CHPP). CHPP is a collaborative effort with the National Recreation and Park Association to promote the adoption of heart healthy behavior among American children and their families by putting proven health promotion methods into practice through schools, community organizations, and recreation facilities.

You may obtain these documents in the following ways:

View online (in formats below)

[Letter of Introduction, 123 K, need Acrobat Reader to review]

[Teacher's Guide, 558 K, need Acrobat Reader to review]

[Home Connection, 254 K, need Acrobat Reader to review]
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Printed Copies

Printed copies are not available