Gold medal winning athlete and father of three, Greg Rutherford, today announced that he is teaming up with Entertainment One’s Peppa Pig to unveil a new Summer of Sport campaign in partnership with Team GB that aims to get pre-schoolers across the UK moving ahead of the highly anticipated Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021.
Greg, Peppa and the Team GB mascot, Pride the Lion, feature in a series of high energy and fun, physical activity videos aimed at children aged 0-5 years. These videos show easy-to- follow ways to get active, focusing on the essential fundamental movement skills linked to the curriculum.
Greg has even been transformed into a Peppa Pig-style animated character for a range of fun educational activity sheets and fitness video tutorials. Twinkl has worked closely with Get Set – Team GB’s education programme- to help deliver the interactive content, which families, schools and nurseries can access the for free this summer on Twinkl’s online educational resource platform via this weblink .
“With the Summer Olympics around the corner, there couldn’t be a better time to inspire the next generation of young children in the UK to get moving and educate them about the positive benefits of being active and doing your best,” said Greg Rutherford. “It’s a cause that’s very close to my heart, so I’m really pleased to be joining Peppa Pig for this Summer of Sport campaign with Team GB. We hope we’ve created some helpful resources for preschool kids that will teach them that moving is not only great for your health but also good fun!”
British Olympic Association’s Head of Retail Paul Ellis, said: “Peppa and her friends are known throughout the country and can often be seen showing off their sporting skills, so what better way to get our nation’s pre-schoolers active ahead of Tokyo 2020 than by teaming up with Team GB great, Greg Rutherford and our very own Pride the Lion in this range of simple and fun activities. It’s also great to see both Greg and Pride brought to life in the animated world of Peppa Pig.
“We think this will be a really successful and fun collaboration and with the expertise and knowledge of Twinkl partnered with the know how of Team GB’s education programme – Get Set – we think it will provide families a great way to get active and celebrate the Tokyo Games this summer.”
This Summer, Peppa Pig is an official children’s ambassador for Team GB. Peppa Pig’s Summer of Sport campaign aims to inspire young children to get active whilst cheering on Great Britain’s national Olympic team. Peppa has always been an active little piggy, and the show includes many episodes where Peppa along with her friends and family enjoy different sports and activities including swimming, basketball, cycling, skiing, football, ice skating and more. Peppa Pig will also be releasing a new sports themed music single entitled, Bing Bong Champion, on 11th June to tie-in with the activity and get the little ones up and dancing along.
According to a survey commissioned by Sport England*, the number of children and young people who were physically active fell during the 2019/20 academic year in England, as the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic restricted the type of activities available. 31.3% (3.3 million) children and young people did less than an average 30 mins of physical activity a day. The report also highlighted the importance of developing the physical literacy of young children- including motivation, confidence, competence and understanding- that is essential to enjoy the long-term health and social benefits of living an active life. As restrictions start to lift this summer throughout the UK, Peppa Pig’s Summer of Sport campaign aims to inspire young children to have a positive outlook towards sports, movement and getting outdoors again.
