58% of children are inactive and have very minimal or no exercise at all. A lot of the blame has been put on the advancement of technology and the proliferation of computer-generated, little hand-held machines like ipads, androids and whatever new techie toys they’ve come up with lately.

But these machines, in truth, are not really the root of the cause for the lack of physical activities among children. Time with these things can be controlled but parents sometimes choose to hand over these gadgets to sneak in a few hours of hands-off time for themselves. It’s really become the most handy daycare available.

58% of children are physically inactive and have very minimal or no exercise at all

58% of children are physically inactive and have very minimal or no exercise at all

Perhaps, the solution is for parents to go through effective time management training wherein time with family and children is given priority. Nowadays, a regular man’s schedule are filled with business matters, client calls and the ones in the list easily crossed out are the ones involving our kids.

Something to ponder on: If you won’t be taking your kids’ health seriously, who will?

With that in mind, here are some suggestions on how parents can usher exercise back into their children’s lives:

5 Exercise Suggestions For Kids

1.Swimming And Other Pool Activities

This is an easy thing to do especially if there is already a swimming pool at the backyard. But there are other ways such as visiting a public pool or beach and hanging around there with your kids.

Strap them up with arm floaters so they’ll be free to swim around on their own. You may even be able to sneak in a few laps of your own.

2.Obstacle Courses

Your backyard is a great place to start introducing your children to the fun of exercise. Set up tires to jump on, ropes to swing at, benches to balance on and all that. Kids will enjoy doing this with you plus it gives you the opportunity to bond with them.

3.Kiddie Boot Camp

Sometimes we think kids won’t be interested with regular exercises but you’ll never know unless you let them try.

Kids like winning, so maybe a little competitive atmosphere would help. Like have a contest of who can do more squat jumps or who can do a thigh raise longer.

Here’s a video of a child teaching exercises to presumably kiddie viewers:

Exercise For Kids

http://youtu.be/yxRj9CIBLHU

4. Wacky Races and Party Games

Invite other families for some get together and have games like sack races and newspaper dance games. We can never underestimate these little games, they can actually be physically beneficial for you and your children.

Seriously, think about the core exercise you get to keep those toes on that small piece of newspaper while you try to support each other?

5. Hiking

Hiking is a fun, natural way to get some exercise. Gearing them up might be helpful because kids love costumes and it gets them excited. It gives them a sense of “event” which they love being part of. Lead them to safe trails and if you can, let them experience climbing hills and low mountains where they can enjoy and appreciate the beauty of nature, as well.

Exercise for children has one secret ingredient: Fun. When kids are having fun, they stick to it and they want to do it over and over again.

Let us help you teach your children about exercise, fitness and health. Sign them up for our Active-After-School program.