Julian dashed to the computer every day after school for the final part of this past school year. He was wearing a little plastic meter that allowed him to earn points for physical activity and he needed to plug the meter into the computer to see his points.
The website he was logging into is called Zamzee and the idea behind it is that if you reward kids for movement, they’ll be motivated, and eventually will develop healthy habits.
I first heard about Zamzee from my friend Dan, a local dad who works for the company. A couple of months ago, he asked me and Heather to do some consulting for them. I went home from our first meeting with a Zamzee meter, but had no idea how Julian would take to it. Like an Olympic gymnast to glittery hair spray is the answer.
Julian loved seeing his points on the screen. He would put on his Zamzee, run around like a crazy person in our backyard, and then come inside, slide the USB connector out, plug the meter into the computer, and upload his data to see the chart change.
Unlike a pedometer, Zamzee meters measure movement in all directions, so jumping on the bed, karate chopping one’s little sister, and somersaulting down a hill will all earn points for kids. This is not just about measuring steps.
At the EVO conference Heather and I attended a few weeks ago, we got the opportunity to pass Zamzee meters out to parents and kids who wanted to try them out. It was so much fun to see how excited people got about them.
Moms wanted to know if they could use the meters themselves. Why yes, yes you can. But note that it is designed for kids, so everything from your avatar to the lingo used on the site is going to feel very tween. You’ll be earning Pointz and setting Goalz. If you’re cool with that, like, rock on.
The company behind Zamzee is a non-profit devoted to wellness. Their mission is to battle chronic illness and to help kids develop healthy levels of physical activity, as a lifelong habit.
What do you think? Would you like to geek out on your activity data? Do you have a niece or nephew who needs an extra little push to get more exercise?
Note: Zamzee is our client and we are having a lot of fun telling people about it. All photos by Wendy Copley.
My Weight Watchers leader is testing this type of thing out, apperantly WW will be introducing it soon as an add-on to their program. What a great idea! I love that there is a version for kids that makes it FUN.
Our Head Start program might be interested in this, or a version of this. Is there any talk about promoting it with that population?
Hi, Julie – I’m with Zamzee. Thanks for suggesting Head Start. Zamzee has been designed for middle-school-aged kids, so the Head Start audience is a bit young. We’re focused on middle school kids because data show that between the ages of 9 and 15, kids’ physical activity level decline precipitously and that sedentary kids often grow up to be sedentary adults, leading to a host of major health problems. Our goal with Zamzee is to help establish a healthy habit of regular physical activity in kids as a way to reverse this trend toward sedentary behavior and, ultimately, to improve kids health. All that said, anything that gets kids and families active is a good thing, we think. Little kids are pretty active by nature, but Zamzee can be fun for everyone, regardless of age! Feel free to email us at zed@zamzee.com if you’d like to discuss Head Start further.
And thanks for the great post, Rookie Moms!