United Kingdom

In the UK, the Joy of moving programme is designed to teach children how to enjoy getting active through the medium of play, and to encourage them to lead active lifestyles in the future. It is this ethos of moving through play that sits at the heart of Joy of moving.
For over 10 years, we’ve proudly delivered our Joy of moving programme to children in schools across the country, in partnership with the EFL in the Community and SPFL Trust.

The unbranded in-school programme consists of two elements: the Joy of moving Project and the Joy of moving Festivals.

• The Joy of moving Project is a mixture of in-classroom and activity-based learning, delivered to children aged 9-10. Over a six-week period, each child gets 9 hours of dedicated learning about the importance of getting active, the connection between the body & mind, the importance of hydration, meal planning and balanced diets – all through fun games and activities inspired by the Joy of moving methodology.

• The Joy of moving Festivals, which are similar to a traditional sports day, encourage children of all ages and abilities to move through play with simple and fun games that are delivered over a half, or whole, day during the summer term. At the Festivals, children play specially designed Joy of moving games and activities which help them to develop key skills including communication, empathy and teamwork.

We have also developed an online Resource Hub for parents, which contains free Joy of moving games, and activities that families can do right from home.
This year marks a milestone for Joy of moving UK in terms of encouraging children and families to get active. To date, we have inspired over 730,000 children to get active in the UK and delivered over 3.5 million hours of learning about activity, nutrition, and hydration in schools.

As we always say – whatever the game, let joy win!