[subtitle]
In the absence of organized sports, keeping your kids active will require a little more creativity and energy this year.
[/subtitle]
Physical activity for children is an important part of their development and not only keeps them healthy, but also teaches them important things like fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and team/co-operative skills.
In this article, we will provide you with 10 ways to keep your kids active using a variety of resources like YouTube, Pinterest, and imagination.
PE Central Video Library
PE Central is an online resource that collects lesson plans, videos, and other tools to help parents and teachers prepare for physical education. Their video library includes videos for dances, fitness, gymnastics, and even fitness testing.
The great thing about PE Central is that their video library includes exercises and activities that use things like hoops, scarves, and jump ropes. These inexpensive tools may already be lying around the house, and if they’re not, they can be found easily online or in sports and toy stores.
This website is full of helpful tips and resources for parents and teachers, making it a great go-to resource to help keeps your kids active.
Printable Activity Chart
Kids love games. If you can gamify anything, your chances of getting your kids on board go way up. Using a print-out activity chart for each of your kids will help them visualize their activities and make it fun to keep track of.
Let’s face it, with things like iPads, laptops, and the TV, it can be really tough to convince your kids to play more. Those devices have been shown to give humans a hit of dopamine every time we use them, which is what makes them so addictive. However, checking things off of a list and celebrating a new activity on the activity chart also gives humans a dopamine rush.
Every morning ask your kids to write down what activity they want to do for the day. This can be steps goals, or jump rope, or play outside for a certain number of minutes. Really encourage them to think outside the box and get creative about how they will find time for play.
Post the activity charts somewhere that they can see, like in the kitchen on the fridge, and then remind them to check off their activity at the end of the day.
You can even take it a step further and ask them what they liked about playing. This will really help them see the value of play outside. Remember to keep play-time as a positive thing in their lives. Speak to how it helps them grow tall, strong, and healthy.
You can find activity charts here, or you can make them using things like spreadsheets or Microsoft word.
YouTube Channels
Not every day will be a great day for playing outside. On these days, you can use YouTube channels designed to keep kids active to help out. If they’re going to be in front of the TV/laptops/iPads, they might as well do a bit of physical activity while they’re there – right?
Here’s a list of some great YouTube channels to help kids get active:
- Dance Sweat Live: dance videos to popular songs. Great for all ages
- Cosmic Kids Yoga: This YouTube channel takes kids on adventures through yoga. This is a great resource for younger kids.
- Move to Learn: Kids of all ages can benefit from these simple workout videos for kids.
Video Games
Video games are another great resource to help get your kids moving while using the tv and game systems they are already using. With popular game systems like the Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect, and the PlayStation Move motion controllers, you can get your kids off the couch and moving.
Some popular games to help get kids moving are:
- Just Dance: available on all platforms, these games have dances to popular songs and include a kids section that teaches dances for younger kids.
- Wii Sports: great to help kids learn the rules and language around sports like tennis, boxing, and golf.
- Kinect Rush: if your child loves Pixar films like The Incredibles, Finding Dory, and Cars, then this game is for them. It takes kids on an active adventure through some of the most popular Pixar stories. Games like this are also great for developing problem-solving skills and spatial awareness.
There are a ton of video games available on these platforms. The key is to make sure the games are using the Wii remotes, the Kinect, or the PlayStation motion controllers. Kids have to be up and moving to play the games on these devices.
Active Board Games
Board games are a classic way to gets kids thinking and working together. There are a number of board games that can help get your kids moving or help them develop more defined skills like hand-eye coordination and aim. Here’s a shortlist of great board games to get your kids moving:
- PongCano: Using a ping pong ball, a plastic volcano, and a few gold coins, kids will shoot the ball into the volcano. If they miss, they give up a gold coin. This game will help kids work on hand-eye coordination and aim.
- Twister: This one requires no introduction. A great game for teaching balance, colours, and the difference between right and left.
- Sturdy Birdy: this is a level up from twister as it gets kids to try and balance in specific poses provided by the game.
- The Cat In The Hat: I Can Do That! Game: This is a simon-says type of game where kids have to copy what the beloved cat-in-the-hat does. This is a great game to get kids thinking and teach them body-awareness.
Hide and Seek Games
Hide and seek is another one of those classic games that kids absolutely love. It also gets them running around and being curious about how household spaces can become hiding places.
If you want to step up the original hide and seek game, you can hide objects and create scavenger hunts around the house. These types of games are free and easy to organize. They’ll get the kids active, and using their problem-solving skills to figure out where the item has been hidden based on the clues you give them.
This would be another great option for kids to add to their activity chart that we mentioned previously.
Family Physical Activity
One of the best ways to get your kids active is to make it a family activity. Plan for the whole family to go for a family walk or bike ride after dinner. If you’re doing a workout in the basement, encourage your kids to do kid-friendly exercises with you.
Things like running on the spot, squatting, push-ups, and jumping are just a few simple exercises that are great for kids. Don’t worry if their form isn’t perfect, just focus on getting them moving in different directions, at different speeds, using their whole body.
Making it a family activity also helps create a positive association with physical activity, instead of it feeling like another chore.
Organized sports may not be something you’re willing to put your kids into this year, but there are still many ways to keep your kids active. From resource collections like PE Central to YouTube channels, or family activity – there are so many ways for you to ensure that your kids will continue to develop and learn from physical activity.
