A “Physically Active Experience” – Setting the Stage for a New Approach to Engage Children in Physical Activity.

Abstract

Despite the multiple health benefits that come from engaging in physical activity, data suggests that children are moving less. Novel approaches to engaging children in physical activity are needed to address this public health concern. Recently a new definition of physical activity was proposed which emphasises, amongst other things, the fact that physical activity is deeply affective, emotional and situated in spaces which shape the experience. With the need to increase engagement in physical activity, and this new proposed definition, this paper presents a more novel approach to addressing this problem through staging a physically active experience. The idea draws upon the well-established area of experience economy, which aims to engage those partaking in an educational, (e)aesthetic, escapist, and entertaining way. By staging physical activity as an experience, it is proposed that children can actively partake in physical activity in a way which is focused on the experience offered. This paper explains the notion of experience economy and provides examples of how it could be applied to children’s physical activity. Future research should examine the staging of physically active experiences for children and evaluate the practical implementation and effectiveness of this new approach to increasing children’s engagement in physical activity.