The Power of Movement

Last week my husband was browsing target with our kid after his class at The Little Gym. This kid is never out of energy, so it was a last ditch effort to run an errand and get him a little worn out so that maybe he would nap on the way home. They were checking out the electronics section which is always a dangerous idea, when they saw something actually really cool. It’s called the KidPower band by UNICEF, and is a mini activity tracker for kids.

“What toddler needs an activity tracker?” You ask. “What a dumb idea.” Actually, it’s awesome. The band adjusts from a perfect fit on my 18 month old’s teeny wrist to fit a larger child, possibly a teenager’s wrist. But why is it fitting, awesome?

Toddlers are full of energy. They never stop moving. What if we could harness their energy and use it for a positive cause? That’s exactly the innovative thinking that got UNICEF here. As you probably know, UNICEF provides aid specifically to children in many developing countries. They reach a number of public health causes including education, sanitation, food security, housing, so on and so forth. They meet a child’a most basic human needs and move forward from there.

Food.
Water.
Shelter.
Everything else.

UNICEF has partnered with a number of organizations that have pledged to provide food packets for specific milestones met by your child- one point for every 2,400 steps, 10 points to a packet while operating in one of the challenge modes. 25 points to unlock a packet in non-challenge mode. So you take that energy and movement they are already expending and match it with humanitarian aid. This is a double public health win. We are encouraging the next generation to start out leading active lifestyles, to run and play, and are asking them to continue leading active lifestyles into adolescence. But not only are we encouraging our own children to lead healthy lifestyles, we are teaching them about humanitarian aid. Helping other children lead healthy lifestyles.

An added benefit of these bands is the simplicity of their systems. These bands track steps and tell time, that’s it. They are not tracking GPS location through the bands and information is extremely limited. This is great for parents with privacy and security concerns regarding the bands. Perhaps for those parents who see GPS locations as a plus, UNICEF could consider creating a higher-end band that permits this option.

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It has never been about the individual. It is about all of us and about teaching our children that they have the ability to help others. Our children can help feed others with the steps that they take every day. It is such a powerful message to send to our children that they are able to help with just their steps. In the pilot operations of Kid Power, bands were distributed to students as part of a school project. Students racked up nearly 300,000 food packets to be distributed in just three months. As more children start joining the KidPower mission, more partners and more food packets can be provided to those in need. What a great lesson to teach our children!

So in brief, thank you UNICEF for developing a tool to harness the power of the overactive toddler and for putting it towards a cause I can get behind. I’ll take food packets for those in need over achievement badges for meeting my goal three days in a row. And thank you for a great teaching tool for me to help explain to my son as he gets older- that although we live in one place, it is our human responsibility to think of others and do what we can to help. I feel like this band is just the start of innovative development tools and I am very excited to see what other tools emerge over the next few years.

The power of movement helps our own children as well as those around the world.

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For more information regarding KidPower and UNICEF’s mission, please visit the links below:

UNICEF Kid Power http://unicefkidpower.org/About UNICEF https://www.unicef.org/about-usUNICEF partnerships https://www.unicef.org/partners/Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF, explaining the mission behind the KidPower bands http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caryl-m-stern/unicef-kid-power-innovati_b_10246102.html