Family fixtures: let’s get training for ‘Travel to Tokyo’

An initiative inspired by the Tokyo Games to encourage young children to develop a passion for sport is picking up the pace despite lockdown restrictions. See how the latest changes to Team GB's and ParalympicsGB's GetSet youth programme are shaping up...

‘Travel to Tokyo' has been inspiring families nationwide to get moving in the run-up to Tokyo 2020 and beyond. The initiative is part of Get Set, Team GB and ParalympicsGB's youth engagement programme and encourages young people aged 5-11 to get active in their schools and with their families. Children can log their activity on the Get Set website and with their team ‘travel' from the UK to Tokyo to win fantastic prizes including fitness trackers, sports equipment and school visits from Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Given the current situation, Team GB and ParalympicsGB believe remaining active matters, now more than ever, for both physical and mental well-being. While we might not be heading to the Tokyo Games this year, Travel to Tokyo is still supporting millions of 5 to 11-year-olds and their families from across the UK to get active together.

To date, Travel to Tokyo has used schools as a gateway into families, and schools have been encouraged to register and complete weekly challenges and activities. Under current Covid-19 lockdown guidelines, with everyone staying safely at home, a few changes have been made to the programme:

From today (15 April 2020):

• The Travel to Tokyo team are creating a team for every school in the country. This makes it as easy as possible for families to get involved. All they need to do is search for their school's team by using their school postcode and start logging activity - that's it! By logging activity, families can meet weekly goals, enjoy fun and flexible activity ideas and win fantastic prizes.
• Most resources are designed for children to use at home and the team has packaged this existing content into a ‘Home Learning Pack' which includes:
  • Tokyo Tens -  fun 10-minute activities and animations to inspire children to get active with their family.
  • Active Challenges - longer activities which set pupils a challenge to complete at home with their family.
• The promotion of the programme directly to families is being increased via social media.
• Athlete ambassadors are also supporting the programme and will be creating engaging videos around getting active in the home and garden, e.g. 20 second challenges, Workout Wednesday sessions and video diaries.

It's free to use, inclusive and fun, so let's go!