Get Your Kids to Love Fitness

Author: Shannon Miller Lifestyle

Do you have fit kids, children who enjoy being active and getting healthy exercise?

Or do you find yourself often saying, “Get off the computer and play outside!”

If that sounds familiar, you are like most parents; modern technology is both a gift and a vice. It’s a gift to our families, because we can contact people quickly and easily, we have new educational tools that are simple to use, and we can be more productive than ever. But what about when our tools for productivity lead to hours of inactivity? Specifically, what about our kids and their fitness?

Tip 1: Encourage fit kids by starting where they are.

If they are always using the Wii or the XBox, start by introducing your children to the great, interactive games that require body movement. Popular series include:

  • Wii sports
  • Just Dance
  • Star Wars
  • Ski and Snowboard
  • Kinect Sports

Guess what? These games can be fun and good exercise for YOU, too.

Tip 2: Use the DVD player for some family workouts

If you love that DVD program for your workout, you kids might, too. Invite them to join you and see if they are up for the challenge!

Specific family workouts on DVD include Shaun T’s Fit Kids Club and Tony Horton’s Tony and the Kids, available through Team Beachbody.

Tip 3: Make fitness exciting for your kids; make it an adventure

Do you like to hear “Go run,” or do you like to hear “Let’s take an adventure!”? Most kids will choose the adventure. An adventure could be searching for seashells, hiking through the woods, or going on a scavenger hunt on the bike. Be creative and find a way to get the kids up and moving in the name of FUN.

Tip 4: Make the outdoors enticing for fit kids

Do you have a deck? A garage? A playground? Add a Hoola Hoop, a ball, or even sidewalk chalk, and you may find that your kids are more able to take over their own fitness than you thought! Do your kids know how to play hopscotch? Teach them! Make up jump rope games. Add a relay race where they have to pretend to be an animal. Make it FUN.

Tip 5: Set a good fitness example for your children

The honest truth is that kids look at what their parents are doing, above and beyond anything else. They won’t tell you. At certain ages, they will even pretend to ignore you. But, they know. They notice. They see if you are happy and enjoy a high level of energy all day after you exercise, or if you sit and watch TV instead. Let your kids see that you exercise. Invite them to come along, even though they say “No” every single time. Continue inviting, helping, and leading. They will do what they know.

What do you do to encourage your kids, your family to be active and fit?

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