You successfully launched your kids fitness program. YAY! But now what?
Part 2 of ‘So You Want to Launch a Kids Fitness Program?’. See Part 1 here.
You kicked off your kids health program, visited the kids participating, and distributed the fitness trackers to them. Now comes the tricky part, making sure all of the kids trackers stay charged & the fitness data gets stored. This is where our awesome intern (or Fly Movement volunteer) comes in. In the past, we had the teachers charge and sync the trackers but due to their busy schedules, there were times when the trackers weren’t synced on a consistent basis. So, we take it upon ourselves to make sure the trackers get synced on a scheduled weekly basis.
Our intern is tasked with visiting the school(s) weekly to charge and sync all of the trackers. Although it might seem like a pretty easy and straightforward job, it can get a bit complicated if you do not have the necessary resources.
Jennifer from Fly Movement, syncing the kids fitness tracker data.
The following are items you will need in order to charge and sync the trackers successfully, and make the process as efficient as possible.
- A spacious area: Keeping track of 40+ trackers that belong to two different classes can be difficult if you do not have enough room to lay out all of the trackers, charging docks, and your laptop. Make sure that before the program begins you coordinate with the school staff in order to designate an area spacious enough where your intern can work. This will streamline the process by preventing any confusion and thus causing delays.
- Outlets: An area with at least two outlets. Through our intern’s experience we have realized that an extension cord might be the best way to go because not only are two charging docks needed for the fitness trackers, but the laptop you are syncing the trackers with will most likely need to be plugged in as well.
- Charging Docks: At least two charging docks that allow you to charge more than one tracker at a time. The docks we use are capable of charging 10 trackers at a time. (NOTE: these are just charging docks – you still need to sync the fitness tracker to your laptop). Charging docks for the Movband2 trackers we use can be purchased at Movable.com
- Wi-Fi: In order to sync the trackers, you will need an internet connection. Make sure you coordinate with the teachers ahead of time in order to receive the login information for the Wi-Fi before the program begins. Otherwise, chances are, your intern or the person in charge of this task, will spend more time trying to access the internet than actually syncing the trackers during the visit. (Learned from experience ; ))
- Software: Make sure that the person syncing the trackers has the necessary software already download onto their laptop. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. This warrants repeating, make sure that your intern or your designated person in charge of syncing the trackers, has downloaded the software and familiarized themselves with it ahead of time to prevent any delays or complications.
- A chair: I know, it sounds silly, but it is something that really makes a difference. The whole process of syncing and charging the trackers can take anywhere from 2 – 3.5 hours. Turns out that sitting without being able to lean back for that amount of time can really put a strain on your back. Our intern had this experience during her first visit while sitting on a stool the entire time. So make sure that when you are planning & coordinating with the staff that you mention that a chair with a back on it would be HIGHLY appreciated for the intern while she’s syncing the trackers. It is not something that is ABSOLUTELY necessary, but will make the process more comfortable for the person completing the task, which is always a good thing.
- Paper Bags (optional): We have found that keeping track of what tracker belongs to who can be difficult seeing as how most sticky notes and most labels don’t stick properly to the bands. For this reason, we use brown paper lunch bags with the names of the students on them. This makes it easy for the intern to distribute the bands after the trackers are done being synced and charged. One practice that our intern found useful is to keep the bags with the names once the trackers are distributed. This way the following week she already has a designated area to place the trackers without worrying about mixing up names & fitness trackers.
Syncing the kids fitness trackers for Fly Movement program.
Kids fitness trackers are assigned individually.
Keeping the kids excited to MOVE during routine maintenance visits. Just because your intern is there to sync & charge the trackers does not mean he/she should not interact with the kids. The intern should remind the kids at the end of each visit that they need to wear and bring their trackers into the classroom each day in order for them to not only accumulate moves, but so they can get synced & charged. In addition, announcing how their teacher is doing compared to them really helps get the kids excited about continuing to wear their trackers and be more active in order to score more moves than their teacher.
If the kids yell things like “Whaaaat” “Wooooow!” “How?!” as you share this information, then you know the kids are encouraged to push themselves to be more active and they are having fun participating in the kids fitness program.
This post was written by our awesome Fly Movement intern Jennifer Gomez.
See part 3 of ‘So you want to launch a Kids’ Fitness Tracker’ – Analyzing Kids Physical Activity using Fitness Tracker Data
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