Morning beatLet me be honest: I never really thought I needed to encourage my kids to be active. Aren't kids just naturally (too) active? With all the press about obesity and children, I have now started to rethink our family's lifestyle in order to keep our family fit.
We have tried to schedule exercise into our day with a video or CD but that hasn't worked effectively for us. Instead, I now try to incorporate activity into our every day routine. Here are my best tips for encouraging your kids to be fit and active throughout the day.
1) (Obviously) Turn off the TV. We've all heard it before. Kids turn into vegetables (and not the good kind!) when they watch television. What I hadn't realized is that my kids also tend to spend good chunks of their day reading. While normally this is a good thing, it also gets in the way of them being more active. When that happens, then I make sure to...
2) Send them outside. I am thankful that, even though we live in a small apartment, we have a fenced in backyard. I try to make sure that at least a part of each day, even in the wintertime, is spent outside. I love to do this when I'm making supper so I have them out of my hair during the "witching hour" and also have a few minutes to myself. Of course, they need to be reminded that they can entertain themselves. To that end, I make sure to...
3) Provide plenty of options. There are a lot of cheap and easy toys that can keep the kids entertained. We have jump ropes, balls, bikes, hula hoops and gardening tools. The kids can make an obstacle course, have races or play tag. If the kids still can't think of anything to do, then it is time to...
4) Get the whole family involved. After a crazy and hectic day of running errands and getting chores done, our family really enjoys taking walk together after supper and before bedtime. It is an opportunity for all of us to get some exercise, as well as providing an opportunity to connect as a family and share about our day. Of course, it is also fun to...
5) Look for fun and unique classes. We recently discovered a family Zumba class. None of us had thought about trying this before but we gave it a shot and ended up having a really good time. Now we are much more likely to turn on some music at home and show off our new moves. I know sometimes parks have family square dance or line dancing as well.
The nice thing about exercise is that it is contagious. The more fit my kids are, the less likely they are to complain about being active.
If all else fails, you can do what we did and move to a third floor apartment. Walking up three flights of stairs multiple times a day has built in an exercise requirement for each day!
Melanie tries to stay sane while parenting her four kids. You can read more of her daily adventures in parenting at her blog, tales from the crib.
