1. What is CircusFitSM?
2. Why did Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® develop the CircusFit Program?
3. Do I need to pay to access CircusFit information and lesson plans?
4. Is the CircusFit Program easy to use?
5. What age group is the CircusFit Program designed to reach?
6. How can I customize the CircusFit program for my classroom?
7. Can parents get involved in the CircusFit Program too?
8. Where can I send comments and/or suggestions back to Ringling Bros. about the CircusFit program?
9. Will there be an opportunity to submit photos of my classroom or my family participating in the CircusFit program?
10. What are CircusFit downloads and are they free?
11. How can I let others know about the CircusFit program?
12. Where can I find information about the www.CircusFit.com privacy policy?
13. How can I get my school/youth program to use the CircusFit program?
14. Can the CircusFit program be conducted in a library?
15. What can I do to motivate my students throughout the CircusFit program?
16. Are there any programs available for my disabled child?
17. Is the program available in Spanish or other languages?
1. What is
CircusFitSM?
CircusFitSM is a new national fitness program from
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® that encourages America's youth to lead healthy,
active lifestyles by combining the fun of circus skills with stretching, strength building and aerobic exercise.
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2. Why did
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey develop the
CircusFit Program?
The combination of childhood obesity and inactivity is an epidemic impacting the youth in America.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of children and adolescents who are defined as
overweight has more than doubled in the past 20 years. If this trend continues, overweight children are more inclined to be prone to a host of
weight-related illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease in adulthood.
Through the
CircusFit Program, the
Ringling Bros. acrobats, clowns, high wire and trapeze artists, and many of our other accomplished performer-athletes
help show youth an awe-inspiring and action-packed approach to health and fitness – motivating them to get up and move with games and activities
that are more play than work.
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3. Do I need to pay to access
CircusFit information and lesson plans?
Ringling Bros. is providing the
CircusFit program information for FREE!
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4. Is the
CircusFit Program easy to use?
The
CircusFit Program provides educators, youth group leaders and parents with an easy-to-follow, flexible structure. A variety of implementation
options can be customized to a wide range of group sizes, funding or scheduling constraints – whether your group meets once a day, or once a
week. Each
CircusFit Lesson takes about 20 minutes and lesson tools can be made with readily available materials, such as plastic drink bottles
or jump ropes. Once youth discover the FUNdamentals of fitness, they are likely to get active and develop a genuine fitness habit!
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5. What age group is the
CircusFit Program designed to reach?
CircusFit lessons and program materials have been written specifically for youth in grades 2-5, but can be utilized by Children Of All Ages
in both school and at home!
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6. How can I customize the
CircusFit program for my classroom?
On-line instructional materials provided by
The Greatest Show On Earth will enable you to customize your own
CircusFit physical education adventure.
CircusFit Lessons combine educational health and science information with physical movement and exercise so that you can integrate fitness into almost any
curriculum or time frame. Each Lesson also features a
CircusFit character and “Word of the Day,” allowing you to incorporate character education and vocabulary
building with fitness development. Teachers are able to incorporate complementary video clips of performer demonstrations and testimonials into their customized
plans in order to enhance the understanding of the lessons.
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7. Can parents get involved in the
CircusFit Program too?
Ringling Bros. invites parents to work with their local school or youth organizations to learn how they can reinforce at home some of the healthy
living and fitness lessons their children are learning. Reinforcement at home can help make healthy living a habit not just for kids, but for the
entire family.
Family fitness tips, healthy recipes, and fun physical games for the family can be found in our
For Parents section.
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8. Where can I send comments and/or suggestions back to
Ringling Bros. about the
CircusFit program?
You can use
this page to contact us regarding
CircusFit.
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9. Will there be an opportunity to submit photos of my classroom or my family participating in the
CircusFit program?
Ringling Bros. encourages you to submit your photos, stories and accomplishments for the
CircusFit Scrapbook in
the
CircusFit Mania section of the web site. This section of the website will launch later in this summer.
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10. What are
CircusFit downloads and are they free?
The
CircusFit downloads are located in the
CircusFit Mania section of the website. There are a variety of materials that can be downloaded from home!
You can access all of the downloadables for free; however, you may need to pay for materials in order to create certain items, such as magnets,
t-shirts and stickers. Other items are absolutely FREE, such as the greeting cards, desktop backgrounds and AOL buddy icons!
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11. How can I let others know about the
CircusFit program?
Tell your family, friends and colleagues about
CircusFit by sending them an
E-card.
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12. Where can I find information about the
www.CircusFit.com privacy policy?
CircusFit values and respects your personal privacy. Our
privacy policy provides complete information about how we handle any information we obtain on this site.
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13. How can I get my school/youth program to use the
CircusFit program?
Share the
CircusFit program with youth group leaders/counselors, classroom teachers, physical education teachers, and curriculum
advisors in the local school/district. Ask them to
register so that they can review all of the customizable lesson plans and materials.
Offer to help with a kids’ circus performance at the end of the program. Then send us a snapshot of the performance for the
CircusFit website!
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14. Can the
CircusFit program be conducted in a library?
The
CircusFit program can be done in a home, school, library, club or park. For the library program, use our
CircusFit activities,
and ask the librarian to use our recommended reading list to create a circus-themed kids reading area.
The kids will be even more enthusiastic to participate in the program when it involves both fitness and literacy.
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15. What can I do to motivate my students throughout the
CircusFit program?
There are many downloadable materials you can print out and use to periodically reward your students for their good work. Check out the
sticker pages,
and the Certificate of Participation for starters! Performers also motivate the participants in video clips throughout the program.
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16. Are there any programs available for my disabled child?
The
CircusFit Program can be adapted for kids with special needs. We do provide low impact activities which may be more
suitable than strenuous exercise routines.
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17. Is the program available in Spanish or other languages?
At this time, the
CircusFit Program is only available in English. However, if there is a high demand for other language content,
we will consider providing the material at a later date.