When adults think about exercise, they imagine lifting weights or working out in the gym. Whereas for kids exercise means playing and being physically active. As a parent, you can encourage your kids to do a variety of activities so that they improve their endurance, strength, and flexibility. It’s incredibly important that you teach your kids early that exercising can be fun.
Benefits of Physical Activity for Kids
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When your kids are physically fit, it reduces the risk of various health disorders. For instance, exercise strengthens the heart. The heart is a muscle and like all of your other muscles, its performance increases when an activity challenges it. Strengthening the heart muscle will undoubtedly ward off heart diseases. Additionally, exercise reduces the amount of cholesterol and fats that are present in the blood. Correspondingly, it increases the flexibility of blood vessel walls and thus helps to lower blood pressure.
As if all that were not enough, exercise also helps to increase bone density and prevents osteoporosis later in life. Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones lose mass, becomes porous and fragile albeit increasing the risk of fracture. Finding fun ways to exercise can also release beta-endorphin a substance that is hundred times more potent than morphine. It increases calmness. Likewise, another chemical serotonin is secreted during exercise. It increases feelings of well-being, appetite and fights depression.
Finally, strengthens the lungs, reduces blood sugar levels, controls weight, helps prevent cancer and significantly boosts your kid’s energy levels.
How to Plan Fun Ways to Exercise
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Make sure your kids are excited to go out and exercise with you. Ask them to brainstorm what activities they are going to do after reaching the park. Make it a big deal and ask all of the other family members to come up with a couple of fun ways to exercise at the park too.
Further, you want to try to make simple games more challenging and surprisingly an old game will suddenly become everyone’s favorite. Take a game like a tag and make it more interesting by crab walking or bear crawling instead of running. You can even ask each of your kids to tell a game, then set a timer and complete the games in a quick sequence. To illustrate, first, play a game of tags coupled with monkey bars and finish off by climbing a slide.
As a parent, you need some fun workouts too. For example, you can make jumping lunges within the time your kid makes it down the slide. Likewise, hold a plank for the time it takes them to make it back to the top of the slide again. Your kids will enjoy the competitive element and you will get a great workout in.
Fun workouts for kids
Children must be active but in reality many of them are are leading sedentary lives. Video games, computers, tv and lack of physical education in many schools are some of the primary reasons for kids inactivity. Fun workouts will pull the kids out of their lazy lifestyle. While planning fun workouts for kids, make sure that they meet the needs of their developmental age. Here are some
Hula hooping
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Hula hoops are old school, but they are one of the best fun ways to exercise. They are inexpensive, simple and effective. Challenge your kids to get a hula hoop to spin around their waist and keep it rotating for more extended periods of time. Once they master it, then try other variations like hula hoop targets, roll along and hula hoop high.
Rock climbing
Kids rock climbing can be an outdoor or indoor activity and is a fun way to exercise. Indoor rock climbing is built on artificially built rock structures and allows your kids to climb in all weather conditions. Outdoor rock climbing is good for sunny days. Alternatively, make a small mountain using pillows and cushions ask your kids to jump and have fun.
Obstacle courses
These races are simple to set up either at your home or park. Get creative and use toys, soccer balls, soup cans and old rugs to set up obstacles. Try to make each obstacle fun and keep the game going for 20 to 30 minutes.
Follow the leader
Begin the game with slow movements such as walking or marching with silly arms. Next, move into an active phase of faster, more prominent movements. Follow these with a leapfrog, push-ups, and burpees. Finally, cool down with some stretches.
Cardio without running for kids
Cardio exercises get the blood pumping faster around the whole body. Additionally, it makes the heart beat faster and makes the lungs take in more oxygen. As a result, you tend to breathe faster during these exercises.
Jumping rope
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It is a favorite pastime for kids everywhere and one of the fun ways to exercise. Jumping rope helps to boost overall fitness. Skipping rope promotes the development of the left brain and the right brain. Moreover, it helps the kids to develop a sense of balance, agility, coordination, endurance, and rhythm.
Karate
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Martial arts help children to develop self-discipline and socialization skills. Many parents with ADD/ADHD kids report significant improvements after their kids start learning martial arts.
Riding a bicycle
The special bond between kids and biking can never be broken. Bikes represent fun, fresh air and freedom for many kids. Cycling boosts the overall fitness, balance and develops strength. It strengthens the lungs, heart, and lower body muscles and bones.
Rollerblading
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Kids love rollerblading, but they may be not so excited when they try it out. Once your kids get the hang of it, then it’s had to keep up with them while they are on their skates. Rollerblading is a great cardio workout. Additionally, it improves coordination and endurance.
Skateboarding
A skateboard and a bicycle are the kids first set of wheels and are some ways to exercise. While skateboarding makes sure your child wears the appropriate safety gear. Skateboarding promotes a healthy outdoor lifestyle. Nevertheless, it can be a dangerous sport, and you must exercise caution. The game offers full body workout and improves flexibility.
Top 10 Kids Exercise Games
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The exercise games help your kids to enjoy themselves and move away from the screens a bit. These games are a simple way to build a movement in your child’s life. Scroll down the list to find some inspiring ideas to get your kids moving.
Headstands
These exercises strengthen the core muscles and increase blood flow to the head and scalp. Headstands improve focus, digestion, stimulates the lymphatic system and flushes out the toxins from adrenal glands. And, of course, they are one of the most fun ways to exercise with your munchkins.
Balloon ball
Use your creativity to make your kids play with balloons while they are indoors. One of the fun ways to exercise indorrs is to play catch or shuttle different colored balloons at the same time. This exercise improves coordination and enhances muscle movement.
Freeze dance
Play beautiful music, and when the music stops ask your kids to freeze in a pose and move once the music starts again.
Scavenger hunt
Neatly write some clues and hide it in different places in your apartment. Ask your kids to race and find each evidence. Make the game more special by giving them small gifts at the end of the game.
Parachute
Recreate this game at your home with sheets. Each kid can take the end of the chute and fan it upward while one of the kids runs underneath. Alternatively, you can place some bean bags or cotton balls into the chute and shake to make them look like popcorn.
Clean-up race
A sensible way to clean up before your kids wrap up their play. Set a timer or play the music to see who is the first ti cleans the room.
Bubble wrap attack
Take a bubble wrap and jump on it until all of them gets popped. You can even ask the kids to dance rhythmically according to the music.
Bubble bashing
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Blow some bubbles and ask your kids to smash them. Allow the children to blow bubbles; it would be a good lung workout for them.
Sock skating
Sock skating requires a big imagination, a thick pair of socks and a slippery floor. You can try spins, or hockey stops to make the game more exciting. Alternatively, you can see who can slide the fastest. Speed up the skating game with a couple of wax papers under each foot.
Full Body Workout for Your Munchkins
The following exercises guarantee a full body workout. These workouts can be done anywhere without zero equipment:
Have Fun!
Games are essential to healthy brain development. Playing encourages your kids to use their creativity while developing their imagination and ability. A good workout improves the physical, cognitive and emotional strength of the children.
