Top 10 Healthy Kids Activities
Healthy kids activities
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~Walt Streightiff
And of course, with daily scientific inventions, technologies and other alluring things, our kids and their lifestyles are getting dramatically altered. Now, playgrounds for the games like cricket or football are being replaced by computer screens and laptops. Activities of meeting and socializing with friends are rapidly getting replaced by texting, tweeting and chatting on internet. All said and done, we are happy that our kids are keeping up with changing times, knowing everything about the latest technologies, learning well and getting smarter. But, how much of the physical activity do we notice them doing on a day to day basis?
Research has shown that childhood obesity has grown many folds in last five years amongst the kids. For an instance, according to a study done in year 2003 by Louisiana State University, over-weight children have increased risk of having many related chronic diseases, to continue for a long time. Therefore, childhood inactivity can prove really derogatory in future run of the children.
We all know that managing a healthy lifestyle and fitness routine is pretty difficult for us, adults, but it can be just as tiring and troublesome for a child too. Proper nutrition and exercises are absolute necessities for children, but with all the modern gadgets around, it becomes pretty difficult to convince and motivate kids to come out of their comfort zone and indulge in some enjoyable physical activities. The best way of course, is to educate them about the fitness and make it a habit for them, in their early years. But, still it is never too late to get started. There are loads of enjoyable and convincing tactics by which children can be convinced to stay active and fit. There is no need to spend hours of exercise or equip certain specific instruments for your child to go for a fitness regime.
Following are certain simple tips to inspire and convince children to stay active and interested in exercises and fitness:
Healthy Diet Recipe Book for Kids
1) Dancing: Kids love music and absolutely adore to dance. Even an infant reacts with dancing movements and smile on his face to the music he likes. Just play some good fast music, and engage your children to dance on it. The best way is to invite their friends and siblings to join in. Make it a group activity, and make it fun. Kids don't find it boring or monotonous. They can enjoy completely and your purpose is solved.
Jumping Ropes Available online
2) Try to go for family outings: Instead of lazing around at home on a holiday, try to go for activities like hiking or backpacking on vacations as a family outing. It can be fun to explore new areas, get a change from daily routine, and help you and your family stay active and fit.
3) Jumping rope: I remember, when I was a kid, our group used to hold competition over jumping ropes, like how many times one can jump a rope non-stop, forward, backward, two at a time!. This can be real fun, as I can tell from my personal experience, and an absolute way to make kids fit while enjoying the activity.
4) Bicycling: Bicycling at 5 mph can burn about 174 calories an hour. Encourage your child to the benefits of bicycling. Make it fun by encouraging his/her friends to accompany too. You can organize simple homely bicycle races to get kids moving actively with motivation.
5) Playing recreational sports like tennis or badminton: Make it a habit to spend some time daily in playing recreational sport of your kid's choice. Check, what interests your child the most. Is it tennis, or badminton, or basketball, baseball, volleyball? Encourage your child to join such groups and sport clubs where he can play, enhance his skills, get motivation from others and stay fit at the same time.
Tennis and Badminton Rackets Available Online
Bicycle for kids Available Online
6) Swimming: Children love water, and if you have an access to a swimming pool near your house, grab the opportunity to let your child enjoy the wonders of swimming. Swimming is the best and most enjoyable exercise and can burn about 288 calories an hour.
7) Household Chores: Try to indulge the children in household work that require physical activities like mowing lawns, washing cars etc.
8) Active Transportation: Encourage your child to use more active transportation modes like staircase, instead of lifts. You can make this fun by keeping a stopwatch and motivate your child to keep a record of his own timings in which he can climb staircase, but keep a watch so that no accidents could occur. You can also get him roller skates to enjoy and stay active while commuting.
Swimming Tools for Kids
9) Use Video Games to Child's benefits: If your child loves to play action packed video games, or games related to martial arts, then you can use this to your advantage by letting your child know and get enrolled in professional martial arts training institute (if you have an access to it).
10) Get a Pet: This is the most efficient and sure-shot way to make your child moving. Kids love to play with pets. Get them the animal they love and give them the responsibility to take care of it, make it go for a walk. This way, you can ensure that your child gets at least minimum of his/her physical activity in rather sedentary routine.
As adults, we all know and realize the importance of a regular physical activity to stay healthy and fit. But, usually we don’t give much attention in letting our kids know that it’s just as important for them too. There are numerous ways to be more active with your kids and exercise that can reap amazing benefits. And it’s certainly a win-win situation: You will be able to spend good quality time with your child and you will be enhancing his/her fitness as well.
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