Fitness Tips for Kids
How much exercise do you need?
Be active for 90 minutes – every day!
Even five minutes of activity counts towards this total. You can count in the active time during recess or nutrition break; walking to or from school; after school sports and activities; walks to the post box or corner store; riding your bike or skateboard; walking the dog, or walking to a friend’s house, etc.
If you fall short, you can do 10 minutes with a jump rope (inside or outside); do sit ups and push ups in front of the TV; do 10 minutes of streching; or put on a CD or your ipod and dance around your room. You can be creative – get a group of neighbors together to play tag or some of the games on our gamepage.
Have a game of hopscotch on the driveway. Offer to dog walk an elderly neighbor’s dog. There are lots of ideas for getting active on this site. Try hula hooping. Learn some dance moves then choreograph your own dances to your favorite song. Get a skipping rope and learn some of our rhymes, and make up some of your own.
Try juggling – start with something easy – like scarves, then move up to balls or oranges. Do some stretching, sit ups or pilates. Practice your cirque du soleil moves: balancing, doing flexible poses, handwalking, etc. Get some friends together to play some of the games on this site – have fun and make up your own variations.
Agility training does not require a gym membership. You can train outdoors on the lawn or at the park with an agility ladder.
There are even ways you can be active and make some pocket money:
Get a newspaper route. Be a dog walker (provided you like dogs). Mow lawns for neighbors. Offer your services to shovel snow.
Do yard cleanups or rake leaves. Help a neighbor with their little kids by taking them out to play or to the park. If you are old enough, babysit and play active games with the kids – teaching them to be healthy and active too!
