FRIDAY: Exercise and Activity Ideas

When I read Liz Rosenbaums post about her whole family having an exercise party, I was delighted!  I love when families exercise together and enjoy each others company!

I’ve had my kids try to copy whatever exercise I’m doing (which is super funny to watch when they are toddlers!).  I’ve seen my kids do various strength training routines through soccer and gymnastics.  And sometimes they can be WAY stronger and have more endurance than me.

So, what are some good exercises for them to do?  We recieved in the mail a small, palm size, deck of exercise cards from Nuru.  My kids decided they would blindly choose a card and try the exercise.  Here is a very short (because I know you like short) video clip of them “playing their little game”. You need to click over, because I don’t think my video’s feed into a feedburner.

These cards are great for home exercise, taking to the gym, taking on vacation, etc.

I have two more decks to giveaway!!! Leave a comment below through the weekend, and I’ll choose a winner on Monday morning.
Have a great weekend.

Friday: Exercise and Activity

If I had a quarter for every time we drove past a park when my kids asked if we could stop and play there, I’d be a rich lady.  I would venture to say 99% of kids under 5 years old would rather play at the park than watch TV.

Take them there while they are young!  Because by the time they hit the tween years and beyond, they won’t be so hip on the idea.  When they are very young it does take more diligence on your part to constantly be in tow while they try to jump off the 5 foot landing instead of go down the slide, but as they get older, the park visits get way more fun.  Visiting with neighbors, reading a good magazine while your kids are working out every muscle in their little bodies and tiring themselves out can be fun for you.

Don’t wait for perfect weather!  Once its warm enough, the excuse becomes its too hot. Go today. Kids do not mind if its 40 degrees or 100 degrees, they LOVE THE PARK. 

Make it double the exercise.  Walk, ride your bikes, rollerskate, or run there.  No park?  You can play at your local elementary school when school is not in session.  

Make a goal to take your kids to a NEW park every week till fall.  They will enjoy the diversity and see new places.

FRIDAY: Exercise and Activity

It is shocking how few moments you need to spend with your children in physical activity to have an impact.  My daughter will ask us to go on a roller blade ride every night.  Although I have a million other things I’d rather do than roller blade when its 45 degrees and windy, it usually only takes us about 15 minutes or less to go around the neighborhood.  This is NO BIG DEAL.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper M.D. says, “

The Most serious threat to physical activity begins as early as age nine.  Many children feel that they’re not good enough to play sports or they don’t react well to competition.  As a result, they drop out of organized sports programs and sometimes are turned off to any type of physical activity.”

Here’s any even faster activity that literally took 10 minutes out of my day, but my kids had a blast!  This is my first blog video! And its only 30 seconds, I think you have time.

Friday: Exercise

The American Heart Association recommends children get 60 minutes of physical activity DAILY! 

The very creative Marie, over at Make and Takes has a fun Valentines game that gets kids doing exercises, while having fun!  Check out her Heart Healthy Valentines Game.

What we did for exercise this week: 

A good friend invited us to a class at the local college where she teaches the students to be dancing teachers.   The kids had a blast and it was a great way to get some exercise.

Find a free dance class, host a neighborhood dance, or just blast your music and let your kids boogie down. 

Have a great Valentines Weekend.

On Monday, I did this series of exercises.  Ten reps of each item. Flip-flopper always wants to exercise with me if she sees me doing it.  I’m still sore! And its Thursday! She is not.  She can do a better push up than I’ve ever been able to do. She can do more sit ups, and of course is way more flexible.  And she’s only 7!  These were the exercises.

• Squat (wide leg)
• Push up
• 45 degree lunge
• Superman
• Prisoner squat
• hip-up
• lunge walk
• alternating leg v-sit
• lateral squat
• push-up centerfold
• reverse lunge
• side stabilzation 

Dave Grotto, R.D., was kind enough to answer one my readers questions from our Quaker Weekend.  He has posted an answer here. http://asktheguytitian.blogspot.com/2008/11/potassium-calcium-and-magnesium.html.  If you have dietician related questions, you can ask him.  Great blog idea Dave!

My kids will go ride their bike without any nudging or encouraging from me.  But that is about the only activity they ever think of to do outside.  Cereal boy is a bit of a bookwork and would rather read alone in his bedroom than go round up the neighbor boys for a pickup game of soccer.  This is why I like organized sports.  However, this has also been the source of great disagreement between my husband and I, as he doesn’t believe you should have to pay for such things that should be free. 

The flip-flopper loves gymnastics, which happens to be one of the most expensive activities out there.   But I think its a great activity.  According to Kid exercise website,

Gymnastics requires fitness, balance, coordination, and overall conditioning, making gymnastics a wise choice for kids from toddlers to teens.

My solution: Our rec center has a trade program where I can help set up the gymnastics equipment once a week in exchange for free tuition! I was thrilled. It takes only about 20 minutes (there are 15 people there) and its great exercise for me, hauling the mats around and such. Flip-flopper can take gymnastics, husband can’t complain, and we are all happy.  Other organized sports team often allows for free registration if you volunteer to be the coach or help out.  Ask in your neighborhood and see what they offer.
Kid Exercise has tons of great articles about getting fitness in. Ideas for games for kids under 5 all the way through teens and families to do as a whole! Check it out.

Come back tomorrow.  I’ve got a whole week of healthy Halloween snacks!!

I know I don’t have enough posts about getting active with your family, and it’s because I feel like all we ever do is hike together. But in my defense, it’s because we live in the mountains of Utah, so we must take advantage. 

We took a two mile hike round trip to Stewart Falls above Sundance. The leaves are changing and it is beautiful.  We took a few leaves for an art project for later.  The kids did great with one draw back. We let them take their CamelBak’s for water.  This has proven a huge mistake. Both Ketchup boy and the flip flopper had to pee 4 times in an hour and a half!!!  After the fourth time my husband said to ketchup boy, “You are not to drink any more until we are back at the car!”  A minute later, he’s got the Camelbak hose in his mouth again! Finally my husband took it away from him. Luckily they can pee anywhere, but it just slows us down.

I need more get active ideas.  Anyone? What does your family do?