Whether you are self-isolating from a pandemic or it is a rainy day, keeping your kids active while having to stay indoors can be tricky. But it isn’t impossible! Exercise is so important for kids to release some energy and get some time away from video games and television. Here are some fun and easy ways to keep them active.
Recess at Home
Just because your kids aren’t at school out of the home, doesn’t mean they can’t still do recess! Chances are, a lot of the activity they got during the day was during recess. Try to schedule at least two a day, for 20-30 minutes each. If you have a backyard, they can head out back to throw balls or go for a walk. For indoor recess, play jump rope, do a family-friendly workout or jump rope. Also, you can actually work out an exercise routine that goes along with a book they are reading. Have your son or daughter pick a word and every time you read the word outline they have to do 5 jumping jacks or whatever exercise you decide on.
Play a Game of Freeze
Freeze is a fun and active game that lets your kids get a little more exercise even while stuck inside. To play freeze, you will have all the kids stand up, and then turn on some music. Get your kids involved by letting them choose what songs to use for this activity. You can incorporate reading into this by having your child read the titles of the songs to you. Everyone dances while the music but at random intervals, press pause and when the music stops, they have to freeze wherever they are. Have them hold in place until it the music starts again.
I used this a lot when I was teaching music to elementary school kids. I left about 5-10 minutes at the end of the class to do this. The kids knew that if they were good they would be able to freeze dance and they looked forward to the end of each class. I will have to say that a majority of the children behaved just so they could get those 10 minutes of freeze dance.
Try Kid-Friendly Workouts
YouTube has a lot of kid-friendly workouts. Depending on the age of your kids they might even want to do a video of their own or even make a tic toc video.
Tech-Free Activities Indoors
If you are worried that your kids are spending a little too much time sitting around during the day, then try activities that require no tech at all. This might mean some activities that aren’t super physical, but still require more movement than just watching TV, such as working on a puzzle, coloring, or playing with any toys or games they have. Or like I mentioned before trying to come out with a cool way to incorporate what they are reading into a form of exercise.
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