Parents want the best for their children, and that means helping them with many of the same diet and exercise goals that you have. Just like adults, kids need to eat healthy and be active for long-term health, but just like with adults, it’s not always that easy to achieve recommendations.
Kids need exercise just like parents do, but unlike us, they’re not likely to hit the gym or go for an intentional walk. Some children are naturally active with sports or while playing with friends, while others opt for coloring, reading, or other sedentary – albeit valuable – activities in their spare time. How can you get them to be active without fuss?
Here’s how you can get your children to be active without realizing it to help them with physical and mental health now and in the future. There are even tips for when you’re too tired to play active games with them after a long day of work, chores, parenting, and your own workout.
Why Exercise Matters for Kids
Benefits of exercise are for now, not just for the distant future. Physical activity helps build bone density, manage weight, and improve measures of heart health like blood pressure and cholesterol. Exercise lowers blood sugar. Diabetes may seem like a far-off, abstract concern when you’re thinking about your children, but consider this: about 1 in 5 US kids already have prediabetes, which means they’re at high risk for developing diabetes within 10 years!
If you need more immediate benefits of kids exercising, think about improved learning, increased confidence, and better immune systems. If you’re wondering what the immediate benefits to you of getting your kids active are, remember that they’ll be happier (think: less whining and fewer tantrums) and more tired (think: easier bedtimes) when they’ve been active.
How Much Exercise for Kids?
Kids age 6-17 should get at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. As with adults, it doesn’t need to be a single 60-minute session in a day; kids tend to be active in fits and spurts, and that’s just fine.
They should also include muscle-strengthening exercises, though it doesn’t need to be pumping iron. Tug-of-war, playing on playground equipment, and doing cartwheels all count.
Only about 1 in 4 children meet daily activity guidelines. More than half of daily waking hours are spent sedentary, such as in front of screens. How can you help get your kids active, especially if you’re tired, they’re not naturally active, or they prefer to stay home? It’s possible to get kids active every day without a daily struggle.
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“Move” to a Fun Destination
Try some sneaky bribery if you and your children both need exercise. Choose a fun destination that’s an appropriate distance away, and go there and back without a car. You might walk or jog. Your children might walk, scooter, bike, or roller skate. You’ll both get in a good amount of movement.
Here are some ideas for destinations.
- The public library – children’s rooms often have crafts and toys to amuse young people, and, of course, unlimited books.
- A supermarket that’s known for handing out samples or that sells a special item, like a particular snack food, that your kids love and don’t often get.
- A farmers market that has samples of fresh fruit.
- A dollar store.
- A public park.
- Your neighborhood high school – check the schedule to see if any sports teams are playing, and watch a game!
Here are some more tips.
- Figure about 20 minutes per mile. If the destination is 1 mile away, the round trip will be about 2 miles, or 40 minutes.
- Agree beforehand on the “treat” at the destination, whether it’s a single item at a dollar store, a coffee beverage or doughnut for all of you to split, or one train ride at a farmers market.
- Choose a close enough destination so that you’re certain your kids are physically capable of the round trip. You can always expand your range.
Organized and Unorganized Activities for Exercise
Organized activities can be a great option if you have the opportunity and your children enjoy them. Sports clinics and leagues are an example, as many children enjoy soccer, baseball, flag football, and basketball. Dance classes are another option, with options as varied as break dancing, ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and lyrical. Each time your child goes to a practice, game, or class, you get to rest easy knowing that someone else is taking charge of their physical health for a while.
Here are some other options for outdoors activity that’s not organized.
- Have sports practice, but let them do the work. Kick a ball and have them chase it, or pitch to them and have them run the bases.
- Organized park playdates and let kids run while with their friends.
- Have them find objects in the park that you name.
Getting Kids Active When You’re Too Tired
How often are you too tired to move by the afternoon. It’s just you and the kids, and they need exercise! Maybe they’ve been in school all day, or with their grandparents, or sitting quietly while you worked from home…and now it’s time for you to get them active.
It’s time for some super sneaky fun time on the couch! Well, you can sit on the couch, and your kids can get some activity in.
- Get a soft (indoors) ball and throw it to them, making them jump and dive for it.
- Set up an obstacle course and time them as they go through it, then challenge them to go faster. When they start to get bored, have them rearrange the course and do it again.
- Have them hold pillows like “shields” and throw balls at them, but make them chase errant balls and throw them back to you.
- If you have a spare mattress, let them jump. Make up challenges for different types of jumps, or catching the ball while jumping.
It even doubles up as quality time with them!
These strategies can help you do your best for your kids’ health while staying sane, even if you’re tired. What do you do to keep your children active every day?
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