Talk N Walk to School

a group of people posing for a picture next to a sign

Nature Play WA and the Department of Transport’s Your Move Program have teamed up to support you in organising a Talk N Walk to School  Day  for student wellbeing!

Why Participate?

By organising a Talk N Walk to School Day you can highlight, to your school community, the wellbeing benefits associated with walking and talking to school. 

Conversation typically flows more freely when you’re walking and being active outdoors has many powerful and wide-ranging health benefits: 

  • Boosts mood 
  • Clears the mind
  • Helps relieve everyday stresses
  • Inspires creative thinking 
  • Promotes communication  
  • And much, much more! 

Nature Play WA, with more than 100 children and young people, has co-designed a free Talk N Walk app - with conversation starters, walking challenges and digital stickers – that’s about having fun and honing-in on how walking and talking makes you feel. The app is family friendly with no links to social media, in-app connectivity or personally identifying data.  

Families participating in your Talk N Walk to School Day are encouraged to give the app a go and have some fun completing the walking challenges as they make their way to school. 

PLANNING YOUR TALK N WALK TO SCHOOL DAY

1 - REGISTER:

Register your Talk N Walk to School Day with Nature Play WA.

Empty heading2 - SCHEDULE:

Choose a date for your Talk N Walk to School Day

3 - PROMOTE:

Download the Talk N Walk to School Toolkit and:

  • Promote your event and countdown to the day using the social media key message tiles
  • Email the event flyer to parents
  • Print some event posters and put up around the school
Empty heading4 - HOLD YOUR TALK N WALK TO SCHOOL DAY:

Remind families to download the Talk N Walk app and change up their commute to school – with conversation starters, walking challenges and digital stickers - on your designated Talk N Walk to School Day. Consider adding some fanfare with some of these ideas: 

  • Draw some promotional messages, conversation starters or walking challenges (from the Talk N Walk app) in chalk on footpaths leading to school.  
  • Organise some wellbeing activities that families can participate in when they get to school (eg: rock decorating, yoga, nature bingo, breathing and bubbles activity, dance party etc.) 
  • Set up a ‘Wellbeing Wall’ for students, staff and parents stick up pictures and/or write about activities they do or strategies that they use to support their wellbeing. 
  • Ask students to create their own walking challenges and conversation starters and arrange a 'Talk N Walk' during recess and/or with buddy classes. 

For inspiration and ideas check out some real life Talk N Walk to School Day events.

5 - SHARE:

Email info@natureplaywa.org.au to let us know how your Talk N Walk to School event went, what you did and how we could support you in running future Talk N Walk activities in support of student wellbeing. 

We would love for you to hashtag photos of your event on social media with the #TalkNWalk and #NaturePlayWA so we can share them in our website gallery and inspire other schools to get involved. 

If you’re a Your Move school, don't forget to post about your Talk N Walk to School Day on the Your Move portal.

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TALK N WALK TO SCHOOL STORIES

Term 4 2022 saw 12 schools and 2,000 students participate in Talk N Walk to School activities. Schools that took part received a Talk N Walk to School deck of cards – with the conversation starters and challenges from the app – and some Talk N Walk merchandise to use as prizes. Nine schools provided feedback about their Talk N Walk to School event with all of them indicating that they would be ‘very likely’ to run future Talk N Walk to School activities in 2023.

Scroll through the image below to see some examples of the great Talk N Walk to School Day events and activities run by schools.

Click to access the login or register cheese