Today, children should be getting a minimum of 60 minutes of heart-pumping exercise a day. Within the last 30 years, children’s obesity rate has tripled! Along with increasing your children’s activity, the intake of fruit-flavored juices, soft drinks and sport drinks should be reduced. Fitness expert, Brent Bishop shares 5 tips and exercises to get your children’s heart pumping and get them off the electronics.

Tips:

1. Turn screen time to lean time
2. Interest is Everything
   Choose interest-driven activities:
   • If pushed into an activity they aren’t interested in, often the opposite effect happens = frustration
   • Make activities relevant
   • Consider temperament and personality according to sport or activity choices
   • Some children may be less competitive and more self-conscious in team environments. Sometimes activities like martial arts, gymnastics and skateboarding are better suited.
   • Age appropriate
3. Get Creative
   For example piggy back racing, game creation, run and fetch toys etc.
4. Be Actively Present
   Children require more stimulation nowadays – you MUST be present at least some of the time.
5. Lead by Example
   Parents dedicated to exercise = kids interested in exercise.

What to do:

4-8 years old

• Keep it basic (ex. non-competitive games like moving like an animal)

9-12 years old

• Coordination and complex movements can be enhanced
• Open to competition but base this on temperament – kids receive competition differently

Exercises

Exercise 1. (4-8yrs old)
Game – Move like an animal/superhero

• Call out or show pics of different animals – children imitate for a specific distance.
• Ex. bear crawl, kangaroo jump, Superman, Spiderman, etc.

Exercise 2. (4-8yrs old)
Follow the leader

• One leader faces group, every move they make the group copies/follows.
• Change leader each minute.

Exercise 3. (9-12yrs old)
Cone reaction drill

• Place children around one cone in a circle format and one child (or parent) as the role of ‘coach’.
• While running on the spot the coach calls out a movement (ex. jump, squat, twist, etc) and children make that move.
• When the coach calls out cone, they all try to pick up the cone in the center as fast as possible.

Exercise 4. (9-12yrs old)
Partner reaction

• Stimulate the mind, proprioception and body.
• Partner faces one direction while running on the spot. Other partner taps head, shoulder etc to elicit specified reaction.

 Exercise 5. (All ages)
Mission impossible

• Mini-obstacle course set up with hurdles, cones, markers, chairs etc.
• Add items to retrieve at the end of the course to add competitive component.