Exercising with your Children: Healthy Habits to Last a Lifetime
Angela Jenkins
| 2 min read
Regular physical activity isn’t just great for adults – kids need it, too. When children are active on a daily basis, the benefits are just as amazing as they are for adults.
The Perks
- Healthy weight
- Improved mood and attitude
- Increased sleep quality
- Lower risk of developing ADD or ADHD
- Better self-esteem and self-confidence
- Socialization skills are stronger
- Lower risk of getting sick
- Better grades
- Building muscle strength
- Developing fine motor skills
These benefits are reason enough to get our kids to be physically active with us. It is our job as parents to be great role models.
Lead the Way
Our children love it when we are involved and interested in what they are doing – and physical activity is no exception. If you are willing to participate in an activity with your children, they will more than likely be willing to try it and continue on by themselves. Not only that, but when kids are active at a young age, the habit tends to stick throughout their lifetime.
A successful and healthy child is more in our control than once thought.
Start with something familiar: It is good to start with activities that both you and your child know how to do. Participating in activities your child is comfortable with will build their love for being active and give them confidence so they will want to continue.
Keep it competitive: This challenges everyone to give the activity their all. If you are swimming – for example – see who can do the most laps in a certain amount of time. Be sure to keep the competitions friendly and positive. Negative words and actions can turn a child off very quickly. Winning isn’t the goal – having fun as a family and getting exercise is our goal.
Variety: Kids also get bored easily, so doing a variety of activities throughout the summer will alleviate that and keep the kids (and you) interested in staying active.
Try something new: Trying a new activity as a family strengthens the bond because everyone is experiencing something together as a family. Everyone is in the same boat.
Also, here are 99 Tips for Family Fitness. What is your favorite family activity?
Photo credit: eyeliam
Resources: www.myfamilyexercise.com/; www.shapeup.org
