The truth is that exercising doesn’t have to be boring – not for kids or adults! If you find it hard to motivate your kids to work out and stay active, here are ten ways you can do it. These are the super simple ten ways to get your kids exercising.
Cycling to school/shop/to friends houses
If at all possible encourage your child to pick the bicycle when it comes to travelling from one place to another. Cycling to school or to visit the friends can be an easy way to get 15-minutes of exercise into your child’s day. You could even do small shopping trips on bikes.
Get a dog and allocate walking routines
Pets are a fantastic motivation for staying active. If you don’t yet have a dog, consider getting one and allocating few of the weekly walks to the children. You could even consider a so-called hypoallergenic dog if you have allergies in the family!
3. Turn chores into an exercise routine
You can do all sorts of exercises while doing chores. For example, jumping jacks in between folding clothes or squats while vacuuming. If your child’s responsibility is to take out the trash, they could run an extra lap around the house.
4. Join up a sports challenge
Your local sports clubs or charities might be running challenges regularly and these can be something fun to do as a family. It might be a park run to raise money or a swimming pool challenge for the local community group. Your child won’t just stay active but also learns the value of doing good.
5. Turn TV commercial for a fitness break
When your child is watching a TV show, ask them to have a short fitness burst during the commercial break. This could be a few jumping jacks, squats, push-ups and so on. It won’t last long but it’s enough to get your child off the couch.
6. Have a dance night
Dancing is a fun way of moving your body. It can elevate your heart rate and get your core muscles working hard. Therefore, you could organize a dance night every week with dance-offs and challenges. It’s something fun to do as a family and you all get to bust a few moves. Just remember to also reward your children with healthy snacks!
7. Try something different each month
You could also set up your own 12-month challenge where everyone gets to pick a new sport to try that month. It could be anything from football to rock climbing and you’d have to do it at least once a week for a single month. It’s a great way of trying new things – your child might find something they really enjoy doing and increase their activity as a result.
8. Build and create as part of exercising
Exercising can also be linked to things like building and creating. Flying kites is a great example of this. You can first spend time making kites and then go run around in the park with them. Another cool thing kids will love to do is building a tree house.
9. Become active in a local sports club
Exercising can be more fun when you’re kids are also into following sports. Whether it’s soccer, football, basketball, baseball or athletics, joining a sports club can be a great idea. Visit the local matches and watch sports on TV whenever possible. By having heroes in the sporting world, the child might feel more interested in staying active too.
10. Make your holidays active
When it comes time to school holidays, add a healthy dose of exercising into the mix. If you fly abroad, walk as much as possible and spend time on the beach playing different games. But you don’t have to travel far to have fun. You can go camping or hiking in your local national park, for example. Many cities even have free walking tours and you can experience those for fun!
As you can see, exercising can be part of other daily tasks and it can be fun. You and the kids don’t need to spend an eternity sweating it out – just make it part of the play and incorporate small activities into things you normally do anyway.
The above ways also prove that exercising doesn’t have to be expensive. You don’t need to spend money on a lot of equipment to be active. For the basic things like bikes, rollerblades and skates, you can find offers with sports retailers through Frugaa.com. You can compare prices from different retailers and ensure you get your children moving without damaging the bank account.
So, incorporate the above exercising methods into your family’s life. You’ll have a healthier and happier family as a result!