Having trouble getting your kids to exercise?
Well, swimming is one activity that you generally don’t have to convince your kids to do. But when you can’t jump in the pool, how can you get your kids to exercise?
First, you might consider what your kids like. Besides candy, I’m sure they like to have fun!
That was easy. Now consider how you come up with exercises that are really fun and really effective.
Maybe it’s best to reverse engineer this one by asking yourself a few questions:
- What do your children consider to be fun?
- Which of these fun things requires movement?
- Which require movements that are similar to real exercises?
- How can you convince (or trick) your kids into doing these activities long enough to have exercise value?
Here’s how to make sure these activities are really “exercise”.
Make sure that your fun exercises get their heart pumping, bodies moving and muscles working up a sweat. Whether you compete, imitate or dance your way into a sweat, the benefits can be amazing for your kids and for you.
What are the benefits?
Kids who exercise rest and eat better, think more clearly and have happier dispositions.
And – by the way – they are also healthier.
And since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns us that the lives of more than 17% of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 in the U.S. are affected by obesity. Simply “fun” exercises can help keep your children from becoming part of that 17%.
Charlotte Parent Magazine’s article “6 Ways to Make Exercise Fun for Kids” has some great ideas for getting kids quickly engaged and excited about exercise. And they probably won’t even realize it’s “exercise”.
How do we know this method works? Sarah Kendall, author of the article, is the mother of tow daughters who were her test subjects for her “make exercises fun” theories!
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