Young children and teenagers need 60 minutes of aerobic exercise per day. However, only a third of children are physically active on a daily basis in America, with many spending over 7 and a half hours of each day behind a screen. Exercise is vital for physical and emotional health, as well and can have a huge influence on children’s future health too. Just as there are many ways of making learning fun for children, children’s exercise can be extremely varied, playful and enjoyable. Here are a few examples to help encourage children to be active.
Make your own obstacle course
Finding activities that get your legs moving is important, as doing so can help build muscle, prevent back problems and is also good for your heart, especially when paired with healthy nutrition. Getting the kids to construct their own obstacle course (with your guidance) is a great way for them to burn some energy while being creative and having lots of fun. Obstacle courses can be completed as part of a team challenge or individually. They be made inside or outside, although work particularly well in outdoors, and research shows that outdoor activity lowers stress and boosts concentration in young people. You just need enough space to safely accommodate all the obstacles and the children. Tunnels work well, as do small hurdles to jump over. You can add challenges such as balancing beams, which need to be crossed without touching the ground, for example.
Have a dance
It can be easy to forget how physically exerting dance is. Yet, dancing can burn up to 250 calories and gets your whole body working. What is more, it helps improve balance and musicianship. The vast range of music children can dance to mean that there is something out there for everyone to enjoy, whether it be pop, rock, musicals or jazz. Dancing also offers children (and adults) a way of expressing themselves an has been shown to reduce anxiety. Its benefits are therefore far-reaching.
Get the hula-hoop going
Sometimes, classic games can be the most effective. Cheap, portable and easy to use, hula hoops offer a fun way of exercising without you really realizing. Start out by tasking the children with spinning the hoop around their waist for as long as possible, without it falling down. This will require them to practice lots and persevere. It is also a very effective way of building core strength and focus. The key is to make sure the hoop is the right size for the child. Aim for one that measures from the ground to three inches about their belly button.
Other fun ways of exercising with a hula hoop include using it as a ring to jump through (perhaps as part of the fore-mentioned obstacle course), or using several laid out on the ground as a game of hopscotch.
Make exercise more like a game
Exercise certainly doesn’t have to mean hours of time spent in a gym. There are plenty of ways of being physically active and, for children in particular, games can be a great way of showing much fun exercise can be. Whether it is having a kick-about in the backyard or playing games with friends, the important thing is to keep moving regularly and to have fun.
Credits:
Article submitted by Karoline Gore
