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Walk with Wheels Week

Walk with Wheels Week encourages pre-school children, parents and carers to walk, wheel, scoot or cycle, all or part of their journey, each day they attend their setting.

The week-long initiative is designed to encourage and establish healthy habits. Travelling actively can not only help families achieve their daily level of recommended physical activity but is also shown to increase both physical and mental wellbeing. With time to talk and share quality time as a family, it is a great way to start and finish the day.

The challenge

Walk with Wheels Week takes place during National Walking Month each May and is open to all Hampshire nurseries, pre-schools, playgroups and childminders. This year's event saw 53 early years settings register to take part. These settings received resources to promote the event and encourage families to have fun walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling. Both settings and children could take part in the Walk with Wheels Week competitions for a chance to win some fantastic prizes.

Supporting information is provided to suggest ways to adapt the event to ensure all settings and families have the opportunity to get involved.

 

The competitions 

Settings' competition

Participating early years settings were invited to create a Walk with Wheels poster to celebrate active travel. Thank you to all entrants for their amazing posters.

The winning setting is, The Magic Tower at Andover Weyhill Busy Bees, who have chosen a new balance bike and helmet for their prize.

With less options for active travel to the nursery, due to its rural setting, The Magic Tower found other ways to promote active travel to their families throughout the week. This included learning walks around the nursery grounds each morning for the children and their parents/carers to find facts about active travel and nature as well as a treasure hunt. The nursery saw this have a positive impact on the children by having this special time with their parents before starting their day.

 

 

 

Our runner-up is St Anne's Preschool, Basingstoke who have received a road safety role play set for their prize. 

The Preschool noticed more families walking throughout the week, with some children riding their scooters and bikes too. St Anne's created a lovely window display with bikes, scooters and walkers decorated by the children. For Walk with Wheels Week, they took part in lots of physical activities, learnt about being active and keeping healthy and discussed road safety, including talking about their lollipop man who helps them to cross the road every day.

 

 

Children's competition

Children at participating nurseries, pre-schools, playgroups and childminders were asked to colour in and decorate Basil Bird, then take him on an active journey with them during Walk with Wheels Week. Thank you, and well done, to everyone who took part in the challenge and entered the competition. We received wonderful photos of Basil walking, scooting and cycling.

This year's winners are Maisie and Imogen from Ashurst Pre-School, who enjoyed riding their bikes, practising road safety and entering their Pre-School's 'bling your scooter' competition during Walk with Wheels Week. Their prize is a fun family day our at Paulton's Park.

Our runner-up is Ethan from Dimension Childcare. Ethan loves riding his bike and enjoyed taking Basil on his regular cycle to nursery. He has received a copy of Alison Farrell's book, Cycle City.

 

Other fun activities and ideas

Why not use some of these ideas and resources to learn more about active, safe and sustainable travel?

  • Families can make their active journeys even more fun by downloading our activity sheets. They could be used by settings while on a local walk too.

Activity sheet 1 - Getting to know your local area

Activity sheet 2 - I spy with my little eye 1

Activity sheet 3 - I spy with my little eye 2

  • Create a 'Walk of Fame' in you outdoor area. Use chalk or mud to create footprints and wheel tracks to represent all the children and adults who walk, wheel, scoot or cycle. 
  • Make or download flash cards to help identify different types of sustainable travel and features in our local area which can help us travel sustainably such as crossing points, bus stops, signs, etc.
  • Use tuff tray activities, role play and small world play with a road safety theme. Mrs Mactivity and Twinkl have resources which you may like to use but please note, an account is required.
  • If you have the space, set up a track or route to practice using scooters and balance bikes. Some of the information in our scooting guidelines may be helpful.

 

Read the online air quality story A Wild Walk to School at your setting or at home.

 

 

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