How To Keep Active And Incorporate Kids
Keeping active with young kids is difficult. Difficult but not impossible!
We hear every day that it is important to stay healthy, keep active and look after your health but for some families it is not as easy as just going off and doing it. Sometimes parents need to get creative with the ways they incorporate fitness into their daily regime.
Get the kids involved and stay fit as a family
Keeping fit as a family is a great way to encourage and instill a healthy lifestyle for your children now and in the future. Try these easy to achieve activities to stay active and include your kids.
Sport
Whether you are big sport fans or not, by going down to your local sporting oval and kicking the football or soccer ball around is a way to burn off extra energy. Throwing the Frisbee is another great choice because it is also a lot of fun and requires bursts of running, leaping and stretching.
Explore
Get out of the house and explore your surroundings. If you are lucky enough to have National Parks or walking tracks nearby (click the link for information in your state or territory), these are a great way to introduce fitness with the great outdoors to your children. They can learn about nature while embarking on adventures in different terrains and be able to enjoy amazing views once they arrive!
Swim
Swimming is not only a crucial life skill, it is also a great option for fitness. The water allows you to feel lighter but also provides resistance when swimming laps or having races with the kids.
Also playing games like Marco Polo, Water Volleyball, Gladiator shoulder rides, mermaid races and diving comps are a great way to have fun while working those muscles.
Backyard fun
These activities don’t cost a sent because you already have the gear.
• Trampolining – the jumping and bouncing provides your body a full workout while having fun.
• Cricket – If your backyard isn’t large enough the local sports oval will be just fine.
• Totem tennis – It encourages hand eye coordination and works your arm muscles.
• Skipping – Having skipping challenges with the kids a great way to get them involved.
• Weights – I’m not talking about gym weights, use the kids. Lift them up, hold them and then lower. Repeat. Repeat and repeat. Workout for you and fun for them!
Dance
Who doesn’t love to dance? Dancing not only relieves stress but it also gets your blood pumping and works up a sweat. Add in some well-known exercise moves like lunges and burpees and you have yourself a 3 minute workout!
Fitness at the park
These days it isn’t uncommon to see workout stations at a children’s playground. This is because parents want to be able to keep fit while they have young children and these stations make it possible. The benefit to these are that parents can watch and talk to their children while they are moving and exercising. It is the best of both worlds for mums/dads and kids.
Yoga and Pilates
While this is not everyone’s cup of tea, for some it is the perfect start to the day. As a result, there are becoming an increasing amount of family sessions where both parents and children can enjoy the benefits for these classes. There are several health insurance providers that offer these types of classes as an extras option on certain policies. Click here to find out more!
Your health is crucial and while it can be difficult to work out or be as active as you would like, it isn’t impossible. By implementing the suggestions above, you can encourage your children to get active with you and promote a healthy way of life.
How do you keep active and incorporate the kids?
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We haven’t been very active at all these school holidays. I bought a tub of Lego and my kids have been totally absorbed by it for 2 days now!
Sometimes a bit of quiet is close enough. haha. We have been a little slack these school holidays as well.
We are big sports nuts in our house and love to kick the footy, play basketball out the backyard and jump on the trampoline. Oh and a little walk with the dog never hurts other.
When it is fun, it never seems like a chore to get active! Loving sports makes it easy to get out there.
Babywearing is great for new mums who want to keep active- they even hold KangaTraining classes where you wear bub while you exercise!
I babywear a lot when we do bush walks because it allows me to have my arms free plus she provides some extra weight resistance.
It was so much easier to do this when mine were little. Now that they are older, we do attempt the odd Geocaching adventure day or a family bike ride.
We are yet to try the geocaching but it sounds fantastic and something my older boys would love!
They’re great ideas and a good reminded that exercise can be both incidental and free! I walk most days on the beach and get a lot of that both emotionally and physically. Thanks for the linky too! Denyse
Every bit makes a difference and if you can do it with great views it just makes it that bit more relaxing.
I love taking the kids out on their bikes – you can cover so much ground compared to walking and we can ride to the beach from our place which is another great place for them to run around!
I think I need to invest in a bike! The kids and the man all have one but I don’t. I tend to run but sounds like it might be a good investment. Thanks for the heads up Emma.
Fabulous ideas, anything to get them off technology and devices.
Exactly!!
Thanks for the heads up at Blog Exchange for this link up! 🙂
My pleasure Beth!
There are some brilliant tips here. I definitely need to start thinking about some garden activities now that summer is just around the corner. You’ve also reminded me that I really need to get my little girl to the local swimming baths. I’ve stumbled and pinned this – thanks! #Twinklytuesday
Thanks so much! Swimming is great fun for the whole family, our kids love it!
We love getting out and about and a beach or forest walk is out chosen exercise. I also like the station at out children’s playground but really just mess about on it with my eldest. I need to make more of an effort to get out with the dog now the lighter nights are here.
We love the bush/beach walks as well! They are on the top of our list. We have one of the workout station parks close by but it’s maintenance has been lacking so it isn’t as appealing anymore. Hopefully the council fix it back up so it doesn’t go to waste.
After a grade 3 sprain earlier this year I’ve been very inactive and so have the kids. Love these ideas to get us back in the swing.
Ouch! I hope you are on the mend now. Just take it easy and slowly work your way back into it.
My older son and I exercise together in our basement on our treadmill/ elliptical and my middle son and I love to play just Dance on the Wii u together. We all enjoy hiking, biking, and swimming together.
Way to go mumma! Get the kids moving by doing stuff they love.
I have really felt the difficulty of exercising with kids lately. I was so on top of it when they were little and I could dump them at the gym creche. Now I’m no longer a gym goer I can’t work out how to get the exercise happening. I have managed to do a morning Yoga with the kids most mornings which has been really nice. Bron x
It really is a juggling act isn’t it?
Gret tips! We usually do family fitness activities together like going for family walks, playing a sport together in a park or going swimming. It is important that parents show a good example for their children. Your kids learn from watching you. If they see you sitting around in front of the TV all day, they will believe that is okay and copy you. But, if they see you getting up and moving, they will do the same. Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Monkey see, monkey do and all that. We are consciously making an effort to be more active and these are just simple ways we have found we can do it while encouraging the kids to join in. We get quality family time and keep active – it’s the best of both worlds!