Unfortunately, due to the colder weather and shorter daylight, it's sooo tempting to just stay in our pajamas and snuggle on the couch watching TV all day. However, as enticing as that sounds, it's good to get your little ones movie & active for the sake of both their mental and physical health. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, it reported that about 80% of children between the ages of 11-17 aren't physically active enough.
In addition, in another findings, it is reported that more than half of children in the United States aren't getting the recommended physical activity a week.Research has reported that there is a link between higher levels of physical activity and better mental health in adults and children. That is why it is so essential to get our kids moving! It is recommended that kids 5-15 years of age need at least 1 hour of mild to moderate exercise a day. So what can keep them active despite being stuck indoors? Here are 6 of our favorite indoor activities you can try with your kids!
Why not make exercising fun with some music & dancing?? Turn up some of your kid's favorite music and get them off the couch! Simply have them dance however they want while the music is playing. Then have the designated DJ stop the music randomly. When the music is stopped, everyone has to freeze! The person caught moving still will become the next DJ.
How can you read and workout at the same time? Easy! Pick a book for your kid that has a word that is repeated often. For example if the book is "Little Red Riding Hood", then choose "red". Each time that word comes up, have your kid do a jumping jack!
If you have the space and a hula hoop handy at home, this is the perfect equipment to keep kids entertained and active. Hula-hooping is a great way for the entire family to work out and strengthen the core muscles. Be creative! You can have hula hoop competitions by having them race across the room while hula hooping. Or see who can hula hoop the longest, hula hoop walking backwards. Just make sure that you have nothing around that will get easily smashed or broken! Safety first~
So okay, we did say stay away from the TV, but if you have the Wii Fit, it might not be a bad idea to let your kids play some games that keeps them actively moving! Right? It's a fun way for the entire family to come together to spend time and stay physically healthy!
Teach your little ones to balance small objects and walk like a crab by placing their palms and feet to the floor while raising their front side (belly) to face the ceiling. You can have short races across the room or do a relay race where you have to keep the small object balanced on your stomach across the room. The options are limitless!
Using a pencil, write down a workout move on select JENGA blocks or all of them if you prefer. Set up the tower and play the game as usual. Each time a block is pulled out, the player has to do the specific workout move on the block. If the tower falls as a player is pulling out the block, pick a penalty workout move as a punishment - such as doing 50 pushups. Make sure to set a reasonable workouts and penalty depending on the age of the child.
