Video games dance into class - Exergames DDR

By Daniel Pepper
Staff Writer

Video games aren’t just for good kids to do when their schoolwork is done anymore.

For some Otsego students, video games are the schoolwork, as PE teachers have incorporated the game “Dance Dance Revolution” into their gym class. The Otsego school board received a demonstration at their April regular meeting.

Teacher Kyle Uramkin gave a report on “Exergaming” at Alamo elementary during the building report.

“It’s the fusion of exercise and gaming,” Uramkin said.

The concept uses the idea of gaming to attract kids to getting exercise which, Uramkin said, kids sometimes find boring.

“Exergaming changes that and games are the hook of something that’s fun and exciting, but they’re getting exercise while they’re doing it,” he said.

“Dance Dance Revolution” is video game that features a pad on the floor that players step on, controlling the motions of their dancing character on the screen.

The use of the videogame is part of the PE for Life concept, which Otsego has been adopting from the public schools in Naperville, Ill.

Uramkin said that studies have been done showing that kids who play the game have better than average physical fitness.

The school has a few of the dance pads that control the game, so the concept is currently for one or a few kids to control the game and everyone else in the class to mimic their movements.

Kids at the school are also using pedometers paid for by a donation as part of PE for Life and have formed an Alamo walking club.

Exergaming products such as DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) and more can be found and researched at a website called Exergame Fitness.

Exergame Fitness is the world’s largest distributor & supplier of Exergame fitness products to YMCA’s, Schools, JCC’s. Park Districts, Health Clubs, Hospitals, Kid Zones, Family Entertainment Centers, Casinos, Government/VA and more. Exergame Fitness provides Facility Planning & Installation, Grant & Funding Assistance, Program Design & Product Training, Turnkey Marketing Support, Free Layout Designs & Concepts, Detailed Programming Curriculums, Finance & Lease Options and more. Exergame Fitness offers the lowest prices on any of the products they carry backed by a 110% Lowest Price Guarantee.

Dan Pepper can be reached at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 685-5985 or (269) 673-5534

RiverPlex to introduce 'Exergaming'

Studio will encourage kids to exercise by using interactive video games

Thursday, April 24, 2008

By Brian Feldt

Of The Journal Star
Peoria - In efforts to reduce childhood obesity in central Illinois, the Peoria Park District Board of Trustees will fund an "exergaming" studio in the RiverPlex to promote physical fitness among young people.

The board voted unanimously to give the RiverPlex a $56,000 loan to complete the project, which will fill the empty space of the former Peoria Athletic Club, RiverPlex Superintendent Brent Wheeler said Wednesday. The club will be using an American company called Motion Kids to install, train and educate the entire facility on Exergaming. Motion Kids is located in the Buehler YMCA in Palatine, Illinois and provide solutions to the growing epidemic of Childhood Obesity.

Exergaming is a new and innovative approach to traditional exercise programs that caters to children and teenagers by incorporating video games into an exercise regime.

In theory, young people can play video games while enduring physical activity instead of sitting on the couch and pressing buttons.

While the popular video game Dance Dance Revolution may be the most popular form of exergaming at the moment, many other programs exist.

"Your body is the controller," said RiverPlex General Manager Matt Freeman. "We are recognizing what this generation likes to do, and physical activity is something that doesn't excite them. They are excited about gaming, and this will get them excited about physical activity again."

Upon completion, the exergaming studio will be used for a 16-week program that will focus on keeping kids active and healthy while keeping the family involved.

Once drawn into the exergaming programs, the hope is that the kids will then continue to exercise throughout their lives.

"This is what can get some young kids started with physical activity," said Wheeler. "Then, it can prepare them for more traditional means of exercise."

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center has already jumped on board with the program and will split all project-associated costs with the park district while providing nutritional information for the 16-week course.

The program is believed to be the only one of its kind between Chicago and St. Louis.

Park District Board Vice President Roger Allen saw the addition as a no-brainer and described the equipment as cutting-edge.

"The park district will be better and the community will be better with this," he said. "We'll all be better for it."

Wheeler said if the RiverPlex gets three family memberships per month - which he thought plausible - studio costs should be covered.

The studio also will be used for a number of other activities, including open play, birthday parties, field trips, lock-ins, private rentals and other such activities, which Wheeler said also will help the studio pay for itself.

Brian Feldt can be reached at 686-3194 or bfeldt@pjstar.com.