Have you noticed just how much toddlers and preschoolers move all the time?
As any parent will tell you, as soon as babies can wriggle, they're off!
Yet somehow, as children grow, they get the message that exercise is boring or unpleasant.
Like adults, children need to move to keep their bodies strong and healthy.
So just how can we make keeping fit fun and natural for kids?
How to Make Keeping Fit Fun and Natural for Kids
If children learn healthy exercise habits, they’ll likely take them into adulthood with them which is what we want so our children can have a healthy future.
But, if kids learn to dislike or even hate exercise they’ll also take that attitude with them into adulthood.
It’s important to make moving fun and a part of your daily life as a family.
Here are a few tips and suggestions to make keeping fit and moving fun and natural for kids.
1. Focus on fun
Some children are naturally coordinated and enjoy sports.
While others are not and sports may be a source of embarrassment, struggle and pain for them.
Find activities that your child enjoys that involve moving.
Often, it’s just a matter of getting kids outside.
Take your child for daily walks with the dog. Ask them what sports they enjoy.
If they enjoy running, consider signing them up for soccer.
If they enjoy individual sports, consider golf or tennis.
Find sports you can enjoy as a family and do more of them.
2. Make movement part of their daily life
Daily movement helps to make physical exercise a habit.
But try not to label it as exercise or your child may not want to do it!
You need to think of other ways to make movement a daily habit.
If you live close enough, suggest your child ride their bike to school.
If you have a dog, have it be your child’s responsibility to walk them every afternoon.
If they’re too young to manage these responsibilities by themselves, then have a parent or older sibling go along with them.
When moving is also family bonding or one-on-one time with a parent, children will look forward to the daily event, so ride or walk with them and enjoy your time together.
3. Make it a game
Even the most reluctant children still love to play games. Make moving your body a game.
Embrace their interest in video games and use the Wii to add some exercise to your week!
Make it competitive and they will love it more!
However, it’s also important to get outside.
Sunshine and fresh air are important for child, and adult, health.
Encourage your child to climb trees, do cartwheels or play kick the can.
It may be a simple game or activity but they’re still moving their body and getting exercise and fresh air.
4. Take lessons
Children often want to learn new things. After all, that’s part of the joy of being a child!
So, sign them up for martial arts lessons, dance lessons, swimming lessons or other physical activities they might enjoy.
Help them learn about their body and become comfortable with their strength and their abilitiy by exploring new activities.
Remember too that it’s important for you to be a good role model to your child, so let them see you moving too.
Exercise Every Day as a Family
Did you know that families that exercise together have been found to have less stress responses than other people?
Exercise is an important part of keeping yourself healthy, but how do you find the time to do it as a family?
As always, the secret lies in where you can fit exercise into your life.
Here are some ways you can fit in exercise as a family:
1. Use Yard Work as a Workout
Yard work can be fairly strenuous work for a fully grown adult, so it could end up taking a spot on your list of ways to get some extra exercise in.
When you need to approach a task, you can just assign everyone a job that is more suited for their individual talents.
If you want to add a little extra flair to the yard work, then you can add some dancing and singing to the mix.
That will help to keep things light, and keep the kids happy and having a good time with you.
Just because it’s important doesn’t mean that it has to be silent and foreboding.
2. Do an After-Dinner Walk
In a lot of families, it’s pretty customary for every to scatter to their respective corners on the dinner is done, but some people have found after dinner walks to be the answer to their situation.
Once the dinner is finished, the family rinse off their dishes, and go on a walk together.
You can just make a plan to walk around the block, as long as it takes about 15 - 20 to complete.
This way you can get your heart rate for the entire walk, so you can sneak in a little of that heart health for the day.
3. Plan Family Outings Where Everyone Walks Together
Sometimes it’s easier to go to a center or mall areas where everyone can walk easily.
This is especially true when there are elderly members of the family who might not be able to keep up on the uneven terrain that you find in some trails.
In 30 minutes or so you could easily make a few laps around an entire mall.
4. Make Commercials a Time for Fitness
For this last one, you don’t even have to leave your house.
Just wait for the commercials to come on, and then just up and perform an exercise.
If you like, you have even make it a game where someone gets to have control over which exercises are going to be at the next break.
When children develop a habit of moving their body at a young age, they won’t stop.
They’ll grow up physically active and they’ll take those lessons into adulthood with them.
As parents, it’s our job to help our children to find physical activities they enjoy and to support them as they learn to enjoy the many benefits of moving their body.
Follow these tips to help even reluctant kids become fond of exercise and movement they love.
More ways to keep kids active:
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