And the initiative is working well, according to questionnaire responses from over 3,000 schoolchildren who took part in the program.

Not so long ago, a “grammar gym” was used by a teacher in France to help primary school children learn grammar by getting them moving.

Meanwhile, an initiative running in Denmark since 2016, has helped teach over 25,000 pupils age 10 to 13 about health through soccer.

In a collaboration between the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Football Association, the 11-week program involves giving schoolchildren practical advice on ways of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, while encouraging kids to have a kick about on the soccer field.

To evaluate the program’s effectiveness, 3,117 pupils involved in the scheme were asked to fill out questionnaires before and after taking part in the initiative, with the aim of determining their knowledge about health and understanding their experience of the program.

And the scheme appears to have proved a winner, according to the findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Participant responses showed that the children’s knowledge about health increased in the areas of diet, exercise, hygiene and well-being to a greater extent than the control group, with a difference of more than 10 percentage points in certain key areas.

“The idea that children learn best if they can connect the learning to relevant activities is not new, but it’s rare for such large studies to be carried out in real-world schools – and with such unambiguous results,” said Malte Nejst Larsen, Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, and lead author.

Another notable finding was that girls rated the program just as highly as boys, despite the fact that girls generally had considerably less experience of soccer than the boys.

“It is great that [the program] is able to have a broad reach and spark an interest in football in all children, both boys and girls, beginners and experienced players,” said Bent Clausen, Vice President of the Danish Football Association.

According to the study authors, the results demonstrate that it’s possible to combine health learning with exercise that is fun, motivational and inclusive for all children – even those with very little experience of sport.

Although the program was launched well before the onset of Covid-19, the researchers are even more pleased with the results in light of current challenges around health, fitness, physical activity and well-being.