The study consisted of three segments. Firstly, one purpose was to design a physical exercise guide Movesta virtaa! for Finnish 5th grade students in basic education and study the guide’s user experiences. Secondly, the thesis studied how students’ physical activity, positive attitude toward exercise and sport skills affect the use of the guide in their free time. The emphasis in this study was to find out exercises that can improve students’ physical health and be motivating for them. Finally, the thesis studied if a written guide is useful for students and for their parents. A literature review and a questionnaire were used as methods. The questionnaire included open and closed questions. It was conducted in three different Finnish comprehensive schools, in each school; one or two classes participated in the questionnaire. There were 74 students, 43 girls and 31 boys from 5th grade. In addition, 27 students’ parents answered the questionnaire. The data was analysed by using quantitative method. The SPSS-programme was used for closed questions and for thematising open questions.

The results showed that twenty-four percent of the students found the guide to be useful and thirty-nine percent found it to be somewhat useful. The majority, sixty-five percent, found the guide to be somewhat useful in improving for instance their stamina, strength, speed and mobility. The study found out that those students, who already have a physically active life, do not need the guide or they did not have enough time to focus on it. Some students responded that the guide offered new exercise movements, tips and it encouraged them to be more physically active. Twenty-four percent of the students’ parents thought that the guide was useful and forty percent of the parents thought that the guide was somewhat useful. However, the majority of the parents found that the guide instructed them to help their child to develop their physical skills.

The attitude towards physical activity and sports had a statistical significance for those who read the guide. Physical activity nor the capability to be physically active had no statistical significance in using the guide. However, there was a statistical significance when parents’ answers were compared. If a parent had a positive attitude towards physical activity, it was more likely that he or she was more active in using the guide with the child.