I'd like to create an activity where I can share my thoughts on the fact that recently two older students sat down at the table in class. They opened best essay writing and then put the laptop with the student help service on the drawer under the table with the key they took from the teacher's room, and they called the first kid, a blond kid.

• What can I get you? - The older boy asked with a chime, taking the "passport" from him.

The boy chose a basketball, and after receiving it, happily ran out into the street. Following him, the round-faced black-haired girl asked for a jump rope. And so it went on until the long line of lively kids dispersed.

I was curious if the experimental state program here was as successful as in our Helsinki school. So I went over to the table and asked the older students if they had noticed that the children in their school were now more active during recess. Of course, they responded positively.

But that didn't convince me of the widespread effectiveness of the program either. Yes, I saw for myself that the younger students were now moving around a lot at recess. But what about the older kids? After all, pilot tests have shown that the propensity to be passive increases steadily with age. In addition, more recent studies have shown that only a third of seventh- through ninth-grade students became more physically active despite participating in the program.

So I went to talk to the physical education teacher who coordinated the program at our school. Although this teacher was happy with the work of "activators" like Emmy and Marianne, she also felt that she needed to influence the older kids in some way. And she had a plan for that.

It was decided that the school would switch to a new schedule to give the students an opportunity to engage in the physical activities that were most appealing to them. Instead of short breaks, the children were offered at least one half-hour break each day. This was expected to be especially helpful for seventh through ninth graders, who had outgrown games like tag and needed something more age-appropriate to get the physical activity they needed.

With this new model, older kids were able to find appropriate activity options to be active during the day, such as yoga, Pilates, floorball (indoor hockey), or gymnastics. Now the kids could make their dreams come true. Interestingly, all classes in Finnish schools are led and organized by the students themselves, and this is done on purpose. In this country, children are encouraged to take responsibility by inviting them to express ideas and then allocating time and space for them to do what they are really interested in.