Childhood obesity is a concern for doctors, parents and even politicians. To prevent childhood obesity, it’s important for parents to take an active role in getting their kids to participate in physical activities. You don’t have to put your kids on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day or set up a rigorous boot camp in your backyard–there are many ways children can be active and healthy with fun exercise games designed to keep them engaged.
Try These Fun Exercise Games
Fun exercise games for kids are beneficial in keeping them fit and active. Kids Health, an online resource for parents, suggests that children who exercise have stronger muscles and bones and reduce their risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the possibility of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Scheduling Time to Exercise
Create a workout schedule; pick a designated time and stick to it. Reduce the amount of time your child spends playing video games, texting and surfing the Internet to make time for exercise games. Kids Health suggests that school-aged children get at least an hour of physical activity daily, while preschool students need at least 30 minutes per day.
Everyone Get Involved!
Games that get the whole family involved can help motivate your child to participate. Get your child active with fun exercise games such as kickball, basketball and softball. Have a dance contest at home, go swimming or see who can rake the most leaves in the yard. Have a relay race in your backyard or at a park during the spring and summer months.
Other activities include jumping rope, rock-climbing, snowball fights, hopscotch, catch and playground fun.
Keep These Tips in Mind
Your child might find it boring to participate in exercise games alone or with the family. Motivate your child by letting him invite a friend along. Inviting a friend is a good idea, according to WebMD, but you should make sure that your child focuses on the fitness aspects of the games, rather than turning them into a competition.
Don’t Force Fitness
Although fun exercise games are a away to get your child physically active, children may be resistant if they feel like they’re being forced. WebMD suggests giving children choices when it comes to deciding the types of exercise games they want to play. If they get tired or bored, let them stop or move on to another activity.
