Four-year-olds in full swing
There was plenty of hopping, dancing, running and playing on 7 February 2007 when Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg opened the doors for the first of 10 exercise days for 200 preschool children at the site’s recreation centre.
The instigator of this TakeAction! activity is Helle Nayberg, an environmental coordinator at Novo Nordisk. She knew that the recreation centre stood empty every morning, which had often struck her as wasteful. As the mother of Alberte, who attends nursery school in Kalundborg, she came up with the idea of having the nursery schools in the area use the centre’s facilities, thus helping meet the children’s need for physical activity.
Student teachers
The working group behind the product, all volunteering employees, developed a good working relationship with Slagelse College of Education, which provided expertise and student teachers. Students from the college have the opportunity to put theory into practice by instructing the children in physical activities and games. Kalundborg local authority also found the project a good idea and helped facilitate cooperation with all the nursery schools in the area.
Think out of the box!
Hanne Radich Hoffmann, who works with communication at Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg, describes the project like this: “It took a lot of work to realise the project, but we think it is a good example of what we as employees can do to really benefit public health, if we think out of the box. Working on the project has been fun, challenging and rewarding.”
Exercise days will run once a week over a three-month period with physical activities for the four-year-olds from local nursery schools.
