The Alfred-Plantagenet & Bourget Community Hosts The Big Crunch Event

January 3, 2018

Written by Isabelle Lalonde, a Public Health Dietitian for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.  

On October 5th, 2017, many partners from the Alfred-Plantagenet & Bourget Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) got together to organize a big outdoor event called “Le Grand Croquant” (The Big Crunch, in English). This event was organized to launch the third theme of the HKCC project “Choose to Boost Veggies and Fruit!”. Approximately 1000 students from 6 schools within this community gathered in the backyard field of the French Catholic High School in Plantagenet for a day of fun activities with a focus on healthy behaviours.

During the first part of the day, students were divided under 3 large tents, based on their grade. Different activities relating to physical activity, water consumption, as well as fruit and vegetable intake, were organized in all tents. Games were played to get the students moving, different beverages were examined for their sugar content, and a game of Bingo was also played using the names of different fruits and vegetables in the place of numbers! And these are only a few examples of the many activities that were organized for the students!

The morning was followed up by the big event of the day, where everyone got together to bite into an apple. What a great experience to see 1000 students, teachers, volunteers and community partners get excited about biting into an apple all at the same time!

In the afternoon, the younger kids had the opportunity to participate in a private concert by a popular French-Ontarian singer known for her songs that encourage children to have fun in the kitchen. Kids got the chance to sing along to songs with messages encouraging them to enjoy fruits and vegetables! As for the older students, different activities were organized for them on a large track where they got the chance to run, jump and play together. More activities were also organized for them related to water and fruit and vegetable intake. Overall, the event managed to combine great learning opportunities with fun and exciting activities!

This event would not have been possible without the help and support from all the partners and volunteers involved in planning this day. And we can’t forget to thank Mother Nature for cooperating with us! We have heard nothing but positive feedback from this successful day… and we are sure that the students will definitely remember this day for many years to come!

Check out a video from this memorable event here.