10 Ways to incorporate ‘exercise’ into your child’s day!

With the increased number of sedentary play options available and obesity on the rise among children it’s clear that children need to sit less and exercise more. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids need at least an hour of physical activity every day. It doesn’t matter how kids get that hour, and it can be broken up into smaller pieces, but for children to stay healthy they must be physically active for one hour per day at a minimum.

Consider these 10 suggestions for incorporating exercise into your child’s day:

1. Walk or bike to and from school. For families who live within a mile of school, walking or biking to and from school each day can be part of the daily school year routine.
2. Do jumping jacks during commercials. When a commercial comes on the TV compete with each other to see who can do the most jumping jacks.
3. Take a family bike ride. Kids learn by example and if you exercise as a family they will learn that being active is just what families do.
4. Go on a walk after supper. Taking a walk after dinner will increase your metabolic rate and will help you work off the calories you just consumed.
5. Play a game of Frisbee after school. Exercising right after school will let your kids get their wiggles out before sitting down to do their homework.
6. Join a sports team. Going to practices and games will give your child lots of opportunities to exercise.
7. Cross the monkey bars. Kids love the challenge of getting themselves all the way across the bars. Without knowing it, kids are building their muscles with this activity.
8. Take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. Making the switch to stairs can create a lifelong habit of walking, rather than riding, up the stairs.
9. Go on a hike. From flat terrain to hillier, hiking can build endurance and muscles in both children and adults.
10. Turn chore time into dancing time. Few people enjoy cleaning, but it’s a lot more fun when you can add some music and dance around as you are dusting or vacuuming.

Being active together with your children will not only encourage the kids to get more exercise, it will also help them develop healthy habits for life.

Submission thanks to: NannyPro.com