10 ideas to exercise with your kids

It´s easy to say that we should exercise with our kids, but the difficult part comes when we have to choose an activity where they exercise and have fun at the same time.

After giving it much thought we have been able to gather 10 ideas to exercise with your kids, in the city as well as in the country, and above all, they are simple and a lot of fun.

But you might ask yourself; what real advantages does exercise have for kids? We verify there are many, both physical as emotional.

We are not talking about competitive sports or extracurricular activities, but those you can do with your kids, be it taking a walk or playing with them at the park.

+ Self-esteem

Better encouragement and ability to meet the goals of each day.

Improves health

Prevents injuries and pain from poor posture.

Concentrate

Strengthens the ability to concentrate and participate.

Stronger

Provides stronger muscles and bones.

– Weight gain

Reduces the possibility of weight gain.

Diabetes

Lowers the risk of getting type II diabetes.

Sleep

Ability to sleep better.

Now it all depends on you so your kids exercise and take up a sport, which has several influential factors. The main one is the kid´s social and family environment, which is expected.

If your kids have been raised surrounded by poor lifestyle habits, with parents who don´t practice sports or exercise and prefer a sedentary life, or they see their family circle avoid exercise, kids will probably not be interested in exercising and put aside everything related to a healthy lifestyle.

With all the distractions they have lately, such as TV or videogames, don´t pretend that your kids will decide on their own to exercise.

You must be a physical education teacher at home and establish exercise plans so your kids don´t become couch potatoes.

You should set aside time for homework since you don´t want them to fail at school and for everything to have a balance.

Here are some suggestions to promote exercise in your home environment:

• You must contribute to their physical activity so it becomes interesting for them.
• You must help them find a fun sport that they enjoy.
• You must be interested in what they do, attend their games or talk about their sport with them for example, etc.
• Reduce sedentary activities such as TV or videogames…
• In short, you must teach kids to have an active lifestyle, practice a physical activity with them as much as possible. As they grow, encourage them to keep it up. All of this, in addition to a healthy diet, promotes a healthy lifestyle.

And now, what can I do with my kids in order to exercise regularly during the week?

You probably have a couple of bicycles, laying around in the storage room so take them out, dust them off and take a bike ride with your kids and get some fresh air.

If you have some time on the weekend, we suggest you organize a bike route in a more rural area, since nature is the perfect spot to spend the day with kids so they can enjoy riding their bikes with classmates or with the family.

Before we suggested you go on a bike ride during the weekend at the country, but if you enjoy walking you can also take your kids on a nature walk away from the city.

Kids love to investigate new things where they can move around freely. They can run around in the country without having to worry about the busy street traffic and can be in contact with nature and breathe fresh air, which is also good for them.

Maybe you wonder …

What do I need to do trekking? Do not worry, here we leave you the most important thing to go hiking in the countryside.

Comfortable slippers

Appropriate clothing

Backpack that is not overweight and comfortable.

Bring water, caps, sunglasses and sunscreen.

During the summer why not ward off the heat and go swimming? The trips to the beach or pool can be used to swim with your kids and do some exercise.

This activity can also teach them to swim since maybe some of them are learning to swim during these months.

Afternoons can be quite long and signing your kids up for an afterschool sport is a great idea.

Team sports are great options since along with exercising, kids learn to get along with new friends and can be encouraged to exercise.

You can try several disciplines until you find a sport kids enjoy the most. Try not to leave them in an activity if they are not happy, since they won´t enjoy themselves and this can create a negative impact on exercising.

We talked about bikes, but we know that some of you are not very familiar with them and you prefer to leave them parked at the store. For those of you who look for something similar to biking, you can choose skating, on-line or the classical four-wheel skates of the 80s.

You can ride on your skates near home or go to the park with friends who ride their bikes. Skates exercise your legs quite a bit as well as perfect your sense of balance.

Think you have seen the best?

Music is one of the best things in life, and why not take advantage of it this way?

Thanks to Internet we can access all types of music at home these days, so don´t give it a second thought, look for your kids favorite songs and start dancing with them and show them your favorite moves.

In addition to having fun, spending an afternoon jumping and singing with your kids, dancing is a great way to exercise all parts of your body.

If your kids haven´t found a fun extracurricular activity, all they need to do is go outside in the afternoon and play with friends, be it with a ball, skates or play traditional games (hide and seek, play hopscotch, etc.).

No TV or videogames for a few hours!

As you see, exercising is not that difficult, we don´t need much effort to go outside for a few hours so your kids can enjoy their afternoons. You can also organize a few games inside the house.

You don´t need a gym to use your body, with enthusiasm and some space you can create a routine of exercises with your kids several times a week.

In addition to getting your kids to exercise, we also benefit from exercising our bodies. Even better!

And that´s not all, here is a video with several exercises you can do at home:

How can you achieve this?

Teaching kids that household chores are a family activity is one of the best things we can do. And if we get them to move about and prevent them from becoming couch potatoes, even better.

Vacuum the house, clean the furniture or make the bed are daily mundane chores that can help your kids move around a bit and help parents keep homes more organized.

A simple walk around the city, may be all you need. One or two hour walks near home is also a form of exercise as well as go grocery shopping or take a walk to visit the grandparents.

So you see, you can be in shape by exercising and promote that your kids live healthy lifestyles. If you combine this with a healthy diet, you will be thankful in the future, so please remember to take a look at our previous post where we talk with several nutritionists who suggest daily meals for your kids. Keep up with our social networks and blog to find out more about nutrition and exercise.