Buntús

Buntús Start is a comprehensive physical activity programme for children aged 2-5 years old. It has been designed for use in pre-school settings so that pre-school and playgroup leaders can provide a wide range of learning opportunities for young children to develop their fundamental motor skills, manipulative skills, co-ordination and balancing skills and develop a positive attitude to physical activity.

Buntús Start is a National Initiative of the Irish Sports Council and is being rolled out locally by Longford Local Sports Partnerhsips (LLSP) in partnership with Longford County Childcare Committee.

The Buntús start programme offers:

  • A large resource pack of equipment
  • Resource cards that offer a range of skill developmental and fun activities
  • Training to assist childcare practitioners implement the programme

Longford County Childcare Committee have scheduled 6 training sessions throughout the year (2009). The training will be six hours in total – this is run as a four hour session and then approximately six weeks later the service takes part in the final two hours of training where they are given the final pieces of equipment – this follow up time also gives the service the opportunity to run through any questions they might have.

Cost: €100 per service (includes Buntús bag and resources on completion of training). Buntús bags are valued at €230 – part subsidised by LCCC, LLSP & HSE.

If your service is participating; EACH member of staff working with the pre-school age group must attend to avail of the resource pack. Both training session must be attended.

Benefits of Physical Activity for Children

Young children love to play especially actively. Physical play is good for them in a number of ways; it benefits their growing bodies gives them a healthy outlet for their abundant energy, and when they play with others, encourages positive social development. Parents and care providers should encourage children to be active right from the start and by the time that they are three years old, children will begin to develop a confidence in their bodies, their growing physical capabilities and develop lifelong healthy physical activity habits.

There is very strong evidence that physical activity helps children and young people to:

  • develop healthy bones, muscles and joints
  • develop a healthy cardiovascular system (i.e. heart and lungs);
  • develop coordination and movement control
  • maintain a healthy body weight.

Physical activity has also been linked with mental health benefits in children by improving their control over symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participation in physical activity can assist in the social development of children by providing opportunities for self-expression, building self-confidence, social interaction and integration. It has also been suggested that physically active young people more readily adopt other healthy behaviours (e.g. avoidance of tobacco, alcohol and drug use) and demonstrate higher academic performance at school.

Recommendations for Physical Activity

National Physical Activity Guidelines for Ireland were developed in 2009 (see www.getirelandactive.ie) and recommend:

All children and young people should be active, at a moderate to vigorous level, for at least 60 minutes everyday.
Remember to include muscle-strengthening, flexibility and bone-strengthening exercises 3 times a week.

Moderate to vigorous activity includes everything from active play, sport, physical education (PE) and formal exercise and other physically demanding activities such as dancing, swimming, skipping, climbing, jumping or skateboarding. It also includes everyday activities such as brisk walking and cycling.

The full amount of activity doesn’t all have to be done at once.  You can build it up over the day – but you will need to be active for at least 10 minutes each time.

Expression of Interest/ More Information

If you have not sent in your Expression of Interest or you need further information on Buntús Start please contact:
Eimear Carron 043 3343175