If you’ve been cooped up at home with your kids, it can get hard to get through the day. The kids might be happy to sit around and play with toys or watch TV, but you’d all feel a bit better if you got yourselves moving. I know I always feel better when I get out and about with the kids. It does wonders for my mood plus they sleep better. So, here are some ideas for how you can get your body moving while hanging out with your kids.
In this guest article, Cristin Howard explains wonderful things you can do with your kids instead of staring at yet another screen.
Garden Games
If you have a garden, then take advantage of it. You can also play these games on pretty much any open outdoor area.
With a ball, you can play any number of games. You can set up a goal and take turns trying to score. You can play catching games, or if you’re feeling daring – dodgeball.
If you’re looking for a more sedate option you could try playing Croquet. It’s a fun game with a surprising amount of tactics involved. If you’re short on grassy spaces, you could try bowls or skittles instead.
Go For a Bike Ride
A bike ride is a great way to enjoy exploring your local area. Even if you don’t have the most scenic places to explore, it can be fun to ride your bike around.
Even if your kids are young, you can still all get out on bikes together. There are child seats for bikes that can go on the front or back of your bike. You can even get versions with harnesses to keep your child safe. There are also bike trailers for kids to ride in.
Kids who are old enough to ride their own kid bikes, but can’t keep up yet could ride on a tag-along. These are a fun way to turn your regular bicycle into a tandem. One option allows you to add an extra wheel, seat, and handlebars onto the back of an adult bike.
Other versions allow you to attach a child’s back to your bike. This is an excellent option if your child already has a bike. If they get tired, you can hook them on, and they don’t have to peddle as much, or at all.
Take A Nature Walk
Walking is a perfect form of exercise. Going on a walk is excellent when you have energetic kids because they tend to run around and tire themselves out while you can walk along at a more comfortable pace.
Going on a nature walk is a great way to give your walk a purpose and to keep your kids engaged. You could try to collect as many different coloured leaves as you can find, search for the biggest tree, or try and spot some wildlife.
If you want to try and add a STEM element to your walk, you could hunt for objects that are a certain length. Then when you get home, you can measure up and see who got the closest.
Dancing
I’m a big fan of a dance party. Dancing is fun and a great excuse to be silly. You can all take turns picking the music, so no one has to listen to music they don’t like for too long.
If you need some inspiration, you could try finding videos of dance moves that you can all try.
Another option is to turn it into a game. You could play musical chairs or freeze dancing. It’s an excellent way to get the whole family involved in the fun and activity. You could even let your kids take control of the music. It’ll make them feel important if they get to be in charge of the game.
Exercise Classes
There are loads of great exercise classes aimed at kids online. A quick search on youtube and you’ll find all sorts of things from Yoga to aerobics. While these classes are aimed at kids, I can assure you that if you join in, you’ll get a pretty good work out as well.
Exercising together with your kids is a great way to encourage them to be active. If you can get them into good exercise habits while they’re young, it will stand them in good stead as they grow.
Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger hunts are a great way to encourage everyone to get moving. You can easily set them up anywhere at all. You can spend an evening hiding items around your home for instance. Try to find as many nooks and crannies as possible to hide the things on your list.
The more creative you get with finding hiding spots, the more you’ll be moving around without even realizing it. Plus, you’ve got an activity set up to keep your kids entertained when you need a moment. The better the hiding spots, the more time you get.
Red Light, Green Light
Toddlers love this game. You can be the one calling the shots, or they can! It’s a game that encourages you to get moving so you can freeze in silly positions to entertain your kids. It’s also a sneaky way to reinforce some road safety while having fun.
You can play this anywhere and doing anything. It can be an excellent way to make a trip around the shops more fun.
Use Your Kids As Weights!
If you really want to get your body moving and build some muscles, why not use your kids as weights? Obviously, this works better with smaller kids. Don’t do too much, and always lift carefully.
That said, kids love being lifted into silly positions, turned upside down, and thrown in the air. If your child insists on being picked up, why not do a couple of squats with them in a fireman’s lift. It’s a lot more fun to do weightlifting when your weights are giggling.
Simon Says
Why not introduce your kids to Simon Says. You can teach them all sorts of exercise activities this way. For example, holding a plank position, doing sit-ups, press up, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, frog jumps, the list goes on! All these activities have fun names and will get you moving and your heart pumping.
If your kids are old enough, let them call the shots. You can pretend you have a new personal trainer. One that you get to ignore every now and then as well.
Obstacle Course Challenges
Kids love to be challenged, and most of them love a bit of competition. So why not set them obstacle course challenges. You can do these anywhere at all.
For instance, the challenge could be to run up and down the stairs twice, run to the kitchen and tap the fridge, then out the back door, ten jumping jacks at the end of the garden and onto the sofa to finish. You can demonstrate, while they time you, then it’s their turn to see how fast they can do it.
The only limit with these is your creativity, and of course, common sense. Try to avoid anything that might end in bumps and trips. If there are danger spots in your route, then make sure you require something slow through that section, like walking lunges, to avoid accidents.
The Floor is Lava!
The floor is lava is such a classic game that Netflix actually made a game show out of it. So, unless you think Netflix is more fun than you, it’s time to get in on the action.
The basic rules for The Floor is Lava are as follows. Anyone can shout at any time ‘The floor is LAVA!’ The more dramatic, the better, in my opinion. Everyone then has 5 seconds to get off the floor. Anyone who doesn’t move fast enough has to die a horrible (silly/noisy) death. If everyone makes it off the floor in time, then life returns to normal.
Once your kids get in on the fun, you’ll find yourself jumping onto kitchen counters at a moment’s notice. It’s a fun game that will keep you on your toes.
Home Olympics
Why not create your family’s version of the Olympic games. You can find creative ways to design events modeled after the Olympic Games.
Some easy events are running, cycling, or throwing events. You can make the throwing competitions focus on accuracy and distance, so everyone has a good chance to win. You could do handstand or cartwheel contests for the gymnastics events.
But why stick to the classics? It’s a family Olympics, so get creative. You could add events like a plank challenge, a dizzy racing challenge, or running through a maze drawn in sidewalk chalk. You could each take turns coming up with events to challenge each other and keep score over a week or two.
To really make it an event, I suggest crafting some medals to crown the winners at the end of it all. You could even create a podium for the medal ceremony. Just remember the Olympics is about sportsmanship as much as it’s about winning.
Author Bio: Cristin Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to purchase.