Going to the park

I don’t mean for the parents to sit and watch while the kids play. Pushing kids on the swing can be a small workout for your arms. If you have two young enough to enjoy being pushed on the swing, you can do what I call ‘kid juggling’ and push one with each arm. If you get them going at the right rhythm, it’s pretty constant.

If the playground equipment is strong enough, you can climb and slide with the kids. Yes, it’s undignified. It’s also fun.

Older kids can enjoy playing sports at the park. Kick a ball around, play a bit of baseball, whatever appeals to your family.

Go swimming

Well, probably not right now, in the middle of winter, unless you have access to a nice indoor pool. But once things warm up this is a great form of exercise.

The younger your kids are, of course, the more limited your own activities will be, but even with babies you can do a lot of exercise. Even jogging in place in a swimming pool takes some effort. So does swinging kids around in the water.

Walk, skate, ride a bike…

You get the idea. Whatever your family will enjoy doing together. The nice thing is that these can be done along your own street if you like, or you can venture further afield.

Play in the snow

It’s winter, and while exercising outside is a bit harder to do, taking advantage of the snow is a really fun way to do it. Bundle up and play in the snow if it’s in your local area, or drive out to enjoy it!

Kids can maker it harder to go to the gym, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work out. Making the time for exercise as a family can be loads of fun.

But I have one rule I tell people when they ask me. If it’s a toy that encourages activity, creativity or is educational, go ahead and get it. Hard to get too much of quality toys in that area.

There are a few toys that I think are really great to give to children to encourage them to be more active. Some are more for indoors (great for winter if they don’t want to go outside) while others are for playing outside.

The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle is one example. A lot of people laugh at the idea, since it is far better to encourage kids to be active outside than in playing video games, but if you’re getting a toddler a video game system, better to get one that encourages activity.

For older kids, the Wii is a decent choice. Just get some of the more physically active games to encourage the kids to get up off the couch when they play. Alternatively, Dance Revolution is popular, and you can get the dance pad for a variety of gaming systems.

NERF makes a lot of really great active toys. The big one this year is the Nerf N-Strike Disk Shot, but they have a wide range of toys that encourage kids to run all around and play. Some are good for indoors but many really do best outside.

For outdoor toys, in addition the the usual bicycles, inline skates and skateboards, consider the Ripstik Caster Board. It’s a cool twist on the usual skateboard and looks to be a lot of fun. People describe it as a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard, and the reviews on it have been excellent.

If your kids don’t have a lot of toys that encourage them to go outside, now is a great time to start changing that. If the weather is such that they don’t want to spend a lot of time outside, find variations that allow them to play more actively inside. Many of them will utterly delight the recipient.

I meant to mention this the other day, but it’s currently Take a Child Outside Week. It’s an internation program aimed at encouraging parents to get their children to play outside.

There are a lot of great reasons to do this. Playing outside does more than just fight obesity, although that is one of the key benefits. But kids who do a lot of playing outside tend to do better in school, and they can be more in touch with nature.

This program doesn’t count sports in the same way as other outside activities, as this is more about getting the kids out into nature than playing team sports. Team sports do have much to be said for them in terms of fitness, of course.

Whether you want to take your child for a hike, play in the back yard, go to a neighborhood park or indeed, have him or her join in some team sports, it’s a good time to get moving on having your kids play outside more.

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I took a look at the section on soccer, since that’s what I played for about 4 years growing up. They offer videos on basic skill such as trapping the ball with the foot all the way up to advanced dribbling techniques. I don’t think I got quite that far when I was playing.

Perhaps even better in these days of excessively competitive parents and coaches is that they also share tips on keeping sports fun for the kids. That should always be a focus of children’s sports, since too many kids are overstressed about their performance on their team, or are worked so hard so young that they ruin their chances at the professional sports career they and/or their parents dream of.

There’s plenty of sports-related content for both young players and their parents to enjoy on this site. While it might be nice to have more obvious links to the motivational articles and the articles discussing good sportsmanship, the site overall does a good job and is worth checking out if you have a child who wants to play a sport or is currently playing a sport.

Kids need exercise. You probably remember how much fun you had running around outside as a child. But now parents are very protective, and kids are quite content to sit indoors and play video games, watch television or surf the Internet.

It’s not all that healthy.

Children do not start out hating exercise. They love it. Just watch any young child come up to a playground. They’re delighted. Most children will run around and play no problem.

I have also noticed that in my own family if I want to keep my kids busy for a time so I can get something done, kicking them outside to play works far, far better than turning a movie on for them. The television really does not make a great babysitter. The backyard, on the other hand, does a brilliant job most days.

Many popular childrens toys are in fact good for exercise. Just think about bicycles and roller skates. Just as with playgrounds, these are tons of fun, yet also really good exercise for kids.

Exercise has a lot of really great benefits for kids. It helps them sleep better. They’re likely to do better in school, as it helps to improve concentration. It teaches great habits for a lifetime. Kids just plain feel better.

Team sports in particular can help children to learn about playing fair. The exact benefit can depend on how the sports are handled in your area, as sometimes kids are pressured too much in team sports to win, and the interpersonal skills they should be learning vanish under the pressure to just be the best. It can be a fault of the parents as well as the coaches.

However you prefer to do it, limit your child’s screen time and get him or her out to exercise. The benefits are tremendous, and your child will almost certainly grow to love it if you give them the chance to exercise in a way they prefer.

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It’s back to school time. This is a really hectic time of year for many families, and it can mess up your exercise routine. But if you can spare the time, there’s a great opportunity for just a little bit of exercise.

How?

Walk your kids to school!

This may be a very simple thing to do. It’s far from the most challenging workout, unless you and your kids want to jog to school, or the distance is particularly far. But it has the advantage of beating the crowds driving in to drop their kids off at school from their cars.

Of course, it is not practical for everyone. If dropping the kids off is done in a race to work, with no time to walk back home to get the car, this just won’t work. But if you can get up just a little earlier, why not? Just walk it.

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School is out or about to be out for a lot of children. This is the time of year that many children declare themselves “bored” as they sit for hours in front of the television or computer.

But it’s also a great time for them to exercise. The weather is perfect and there are many fun fitness activities for them to try.

Start off by limiting their screen time, just as you should do during the school year. Children have so much reason to go and do interesting things during the summer; there’s no reason to encourage them to do nothing memorable.

Encourage the fun kinds of exercise. Swimming, riding bicycles, playing tag and so forth can all be great exercise for kids. You don’t need to start them on weight lifting when they can get themselves fit in a much simpler way.

Make sure you include family activities. Swimming will just naturally be a family activity when children are younger and require more supervision, but it can remain a wonderful family activity. You can also include hiking around various natural areas around where you live, trips to the park and so forth.

Plan a camping trip or something else to keep the kids busy. You can sign them up for day camps on topics they may enjoy or that keep them active. You will have the most trouble with boredom when your kids don’t know what to do with their time.

But don’t limit them to planned activities. Having time to do something spontaneously is one of the delights of childhood.

Have a great variety of healthy snacks available. I’ve found that the frozen berries at my local Costco, for example, cost less per ounce than fruit snacks. Obviously these have much less sugar, and my kids just wolf them down. Healthy snacks don’t have to be boring. You can also keep a great variety of fruits and vegetables around while only rarely buying sodas and candy.

The more you encourage your children to live in healthy ways, the easier it will be for them. If bad habits are already set you may encounter some resistance, but this generally fades with time.

And make sure you all have fun.

Technorati Tags: summertime, summer, kid fitness, kid exercise, playing, healthy lifestyle

While it’s not really summer yet, you’d never know it from the weather in many parts of the country. Sunny, warm, and beautiful in many areas. Very much so time to think about enjoying the water sports available in your area.

One of the wonderful things about playing on the water is that it is so easy to do things as a family, pretty much no matter the ages you’re dealing with. All you need are enough adults to handle the amount of supervision the children need.

It’s easy to go to the pool with babies. Babies take quite naturally to the water. Even doing a back float with a baby on your stomach is pretty challenging. But babies love it when you can take them around the pool that way.

And of course older children love pools too. I strongly recommend regular swimming lessons whenever the weather is regularly warm enough for all children, even if they won’t be near a pool regularly at your home. You never know when they will be near a pool, and learning to swim is relatively easy for children.

But you can go beyond just swimming at a pool. Beaches, lakes, water parks and more offer quite a bit of fun. You can go kayaking, rafting, float down a river in an innertube, all kinds of things, and most of it easy to do as a family.

But one of the most important things to remember before you head out on the water is to put a good coating of waterproof sunscreen on everyone on all the skin that might be exposed to the sun. Reapply every few hours. It doesn’t matter if you’re already tan or have naturally darker skin… protecting your skin is important for everyone.

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As the weather continues to improve, it’s time to think more about getting outside and hiking with your family. Even if you live in the middle of a city, it shouldn’t take long to find a place where you can take a pleasant hike.

Your city may have a park that is sufficient for a basic hike, or there may be a state or national park within easy driving range. Any of these should suffice for getting out there as a family.

Figuring out what gear you will need can be a challenge. If you have an infant or toddler, a hiking backback can be a great idea, and much simpler than a stroller.

Once a child can walk, of course, you should encourage his or her participation in the hike for at least a part of the distance. That hiking backpack is likely to be necessary for a toddler unused to walking long distances, but as children get older they won’t need such assistance.

Always bring enough water. The warmer the weather gets the more important this is.

If you’re doing a serious family hike, think about what each person ought to carry. You do not want to overload the children.

Start out simple. Find a nature trail or similar if your family hasn’t been hiking in a while (or ever). Let the children explore the plants and animals they see in a safe manner.

Talk to your children about things they shouldn’t touch. You don’t want to watch anyone suffer through a bout of poison oak or poison ivy. You also don’t want the kids chasing after the animals, especially if Lyme disease is a problem in your area. Most wild animals are really best left alone.

Remind your children not to wander too far off. Most kids will be pretty good, but being lost while on a hike is not a good experience for a child.

However, hiking has great benefits for children too. It allows them to appreciate the world around them. It’s great exercise. There’s even some evidence that contact with nature can help children with attention deficit.

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As summer approaches, it’s time to think about your children’s bicycle helmets. With better weather hopefully comes more outside play, and that can mean mor time on bikes. You don’t want to suddenly realize that their helmet doesn’t fit properly anymore.

You can buy bike helmets online, but doing so should only be done with caution. It’s a real pain to return the wrong size. But if that’s your preference, there’s nothing wrong with it.

A properly fitted helmet should fit as low as possible on the head. I know my preschooler loves to push hers up, which keeps it from protecting her correctly, so make sure your children understand that the helmet needs to sit a certain way for safety. Then enforce it.

The padding should feel snug, not tight. The straps should be tightened sufficiently to keep the helmet from moving when the wearer shakes his or her head. A wobbly helmet won’t stay in place in case of a fall or crash. There’s a balance between tight enough and comfortable that you need to maintain. The Y of the straps should come together just beneath the ears.

If you’re choosing a helmet for a child, there are some checks you will want him or her to make. If the helmet is for you, of course, you would do the same checks. The chin strap should pull just slightly when the mouth is opened. The rim of the helmet should be just barely visible when you look up.

It’s easy to think of the requirement to wear a bicycle helmet as simple overprotectiveness, but it really is important. Head injuries resulting from bicycle accidents can cause brain damage or even be fatal. I’d rather replace a cracked helmet than deal with either of those.

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