Especially if they don't like being active!
Many children love being active. They love being outdoors, running, walking, chasing, kicking a ball... but not mine! They aren't totally disinterested, but let's put it this way, if there was a choice of staying indoors playing or going out in the fresh air in any form for any activity, they would almost always choose to stay in. My eldest daughter particularly does not enjoy P.E.. She will tell you that she doesn't enjoy it at all and she dreads P.E. day at school. So at home, I have had to come up with inventive ways of keeping them active without them realising that's what we are doing. Here are some ideas that have worked for us.
Nature reserves
My girls don't like walking at all ha-ha. They have always been the same. I think the main thing is that they get bored. If we are somewhere fun, like a theme park or a beach or something then they are fine but any other kind of walk, nah, too boring. Last year we started to visit nature reserves in Tamworth. They actually loved this as there was so much to see. Lots of trees and wildlife, water, fairy gardens, it's just lovely. You can find out about some lovely ones we have visited here in this blog post.
Find me games
We have played this many times at home, in the garden, around where we live and when out on walks. All you need is a bit of imagination, a notepad and a pencil. I make a list for the girls and they go hunting together for everything on the list. It will say things like 'something round', 'something hard', 'something with wheels', 'something taller than you' and the list goes on. I write about 20 things and then set them off on their task. They then either write or draw the answer, bring it to us or take a picture of it. They absolutely love it and once they've found everything, they make their own list up!
Den building
Who doesn't love building dens?! I remember building them as a child, whipping the cushions off the brown sofa (weren't sofas ugly in the 80's!) and spending hours constructing and reconstructing dens in the living room. We would get the sheets out of the airing cupboard and carefully peg them all where we wanted them. Then we would play inside for approximately 7 minutes before destroying it and making a new one. Den building is a good activity for indoors and outdoors. Last Summer the girls built one in the garden using the washing line and all the cushions from the patio set. We had so much fun and they played in there for ages with their dolls and drawing box.
cosmic kids yoga
The girls love these short, kids yoga sessions. They have everything from themed ones such as superheroes and Frozen to stories. They are really engaging and have fab bright colours and pictures on the screen as well as the yoga teacher, so the lessons are really interesting. They don't actually feel like they are exercising as they are more like interactive stories. Check out Cosmic Kids on YouTube! I def recommend!
Get them lending a hand
I often get the girls involved in things around the house with me. They love it. They actually ask me sometimes if they can go get a duster out of the kitchen cupboard and clean around for me. It's good for them to learn life skills like this, too. My girls are responsible for their own things. They tidy away their toys when they have finished playing and make their rooms tidy. They can even make their own beds in the morning! They help to cook sometimes, they make their own lunch sometimes and they even help to put the washing on! All these activities add up to being active as well as being educational.
The floor is lava
Our girls LOVE playing this. It is literally one their favourite games and they get so excited. We put various obstacles out around the house for them to jump over, climb on etc and they will happily navigate their way around it for ages. When they start to get a bit bored of the layout, we just switch it up a bit and start again. Their favourite thing is making Daddy end up in the lava!
Dancing
Who doesn't love a good old boogie? We do this simple and easy and we also jazz it up. Super easy is asking Alexa to play your favourite songs (or any other music playing device) and having a dance. Sometimes the girls make up dances and they video each other to watch back later. They pretend they are on stage and dress up. We also have disco nights, where we set up the disco lights in the living room, get some music on and actually have a boogie around the living room. The girls absolutely love it and get excited about choosing songs for us to dance to.
On your bike!
Exactly what it says, get active on your bikes or any other wheeled toys such as scooters or skates. Our eldest daughter learnt to ride her bike without stabilisers during lockdown last year and the youngest is not far off, either. It's good to get those little leggies busy and riding a bike is brilliant for balance, stability and gross motor skills.
I hope you find some of these activities useful and maybe you can give them a try with your little ones. Being a good role model should always be forefront of your mind with regards to exercise. Your children will have active lifestyles if you model how to do it. You don't have to be in the gym for hours and running around the block all afternoon, just show them easy ways to stay healthy and active without it feeling like a chore. Make it FUN!!!
** Must remind myself that putting washing on, cleaning and cooking are fun ha-ha**
