[Video] Fun Family Workout With Little Kids

These workout ideas are great for families with little kids - the kids will have a ton of fun crawling, running, jumping, and balancing, while you get a great workout!

It doesn't need to take long - just a few simple exercises will have you burning when you add the weight of the kids to the equation, as shown in this video. This mom and dad do a great job of showing how fun it can be to get fit while enjoying your kids!

It's also a great way to set a good example for your kids by teaching them that exercise can be fun and enjoyable.

If you're a busy parent with small children, you will definitely want to check this one out!

Keeping Your Kids Fit for Life

Have you ever heard a kid say that they were bored? In case you hadn't noticed, kids have shorter attention spans, and it takes constant stimulation to keep them motivated (which is why kids can become such TV and video game addicts). And, to keep them fit for life, it will take just that if you don’t want boredom to set in.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This nation is facing an epidemic. Obesity has not only taken over the lives of adults but children as well. Technology in part has helped us to become a society that sits rather than moves. This is good for the electronics industry but bad for a long healthy life.

And, if adults aren’t moving about, how are kids going to be expected to? They follow the example set for them. Let’s break the cycle of a sedentary lifestyle and teach our kids how to be fit for life.

Here are some ways that you can get your kids up off the couch and moving each and every day.

* Do something you love – For just about anyone this is the biggest boost to motivation. If you try an activity and it doesn’t work for you, then don’t be afraid to try something else. Kids will be quick to tell you that they don’t like something and probably won’t do it again. Ask them what activities they like to do and  choose one each day to participate in. When you like what you do, it feels natural to do it all the time.

* Don’t think of physical activity as exercise – Instead of saying "Let’s go exercise," say "Let’s go have fun." Exercise can sound like work. Make it fun and kids will forget to be bored and just enjoy themselves. It could be as simple as shooting hoops in the driveway after dinner or riding bikes in the park after school.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

* Exercise WITH your kids – It’s easy to sit back and tell your kids what to do, but what kind of example would that be? Get going with them. Ride bikes together; hike in the woods; play kickball in the backyard. Before you know it, you’ll feel like a kid again. Not only is your child staying motivated but you are as well!

* Invite their friends along – Exercise is great when you have a partner. If you are getting up a pick-up game of basketball, invite your kids’ friends to participate. Activities like this are more fun when you have lots of people. Form a neighborhood team or get involved with a church team. This promotes competitiveness and keeps kids motivated to get moving.

* Set goals – If your child is a little bit heavier than others their age, the goal could be to slim down a bit. Goals give us something to work towards, a motivation for staying fit. Kids can often be motivated by the same types of things as adults.

Want to keep your kid fit and break the epidemic of obesity? Use these ideas to make it happen - and give them a healthier start to life.

Video - Fun Kids Game of Crazyball

Here is a short 6-minute video of a fun game you can play with your kids with just a ball and a wall. It can be played against an inside or outside wall, a garage, or even a fence. It's great exercise, and she gives helpful tips for exercising with kids throughout, including stretching at the end. Keep in mind that, as she mentions, kids naturally exercise in short bursts - so you don't need or want to really make them exercise hard for long periods of time. It won't be fun anymore, and it's really hard on the body too (this goes for adults as well, which is why we so often emphasize the benefits of interval training). Have fun, and let them exercise at their own pace.

Check out the video, and feel free of course to improvise and make up your own rules and variations!

Fun kids game - crazyball with www.DawnBland.com
Youth Fitness. This is an excellent game to play with your child for cardio, speed and hand eye coordination

Fun Summer Activity: Water Balloons

In the winter everyone loves a good snowball fight - build a fort and stockpile the snowballs and you are set. Kids AND adults can enjoy this fun game - and get some great exercise at the same time. The same idea can be implemented in the summertime too.  If it’s a nice day, just fill balloons with water and have a balloon war! This can be a fun activity for the kids, but why not join in, yourself, as well? Not only will you have fun, spend some family time with the kids, and get some exercise running around, you'll also get to cool off, too.

Water balloons filled with water and ready for use. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But if you don’t like the idea of your kids throwing balloons at each other (or at you), there are other
uses for water balloons that are just as fun.

• Set-up a target and have a competition to see who can hit it the most times.  You can make it a challenge to break the balloon each time or make it harder by setting the rule of hitting the target but not breaking the balloon.
• Play water balloon baseball; replace the baseball with a water-filled balloon.  Of course the person up at bat is going to get wet if they are able to hit the target.  If a child hits the balloon and it doesn’t burst it is considered a strike.  When the balloon is hit and does burst it is an automatic home run.
• A simple game of catch can be fun too.  Trying to catch the balloon without bursting it can be hard – see how long one balloon can be tossed before it breaks.  As you are going to get wet, it is best to play any of these games on a hot day (which I don't think there will be any shortage of this summer).

Clean-up after any game that has involved water balloons is very important.  Small children and pets could pick up the small pieces and choke on them.  You can make picking up the most balloon pieces a game at the end for incentive.  Let the kids know that whoever has the most balloons after they are all cleaned up will get a special surprise. Or, give each a different color of balloon and make it their job to pick up all the balloon pieces that are of their color. This will give them another burst of exercise after the balloon fight has ended.

There are endless fun and creative ways to get some exercise into your day during the summer. Just use your imagination, or if you have kids, or family that has some they'll lend you, ask them what they'd like to do outside, and they'll be sure to have some ideas. We'll also be sharing more of these here throughout the season, so be sure to check back for more fun ways to exercise this summer!

Summer Fun - Games with the Kids

Well, the kids are out of school, and looking for fun things to do. Rather than trying to think of ways to send them off somewhere to keep busy, why not embrace their energy as an opportunity to get more exercise, yourself? A great example of a fun type of exercise you can enjoy with your children is running games - these often have the simplest of rules (like tag) that require nothing more than space, imagination, and energy.  These games don’t need any preparation and can be played almost anywhere.

Image by tyfn via FlickrHere are a couple of ideas for the little kids:

Red light, green light is a game where one person is “it” and the rest of the children have to try and sneak up on them.  The child that is “it” stands at least 20 feet away from the other children.  When they are ready to start they turn their back towards the kids and yell green light.  All the kids run towards “it” until he or she turns around and says red light.  Everyone must freeze, if anyone moves they have to go back to the beginning.  The purpose is to reach the person who is it while they have their back turned during green light.  Whoever reaches “it” first gets to play the traffic light in the next round.

Mr. Wolf is a game that is set-up similar to Red light, green light. The child who is “it” is Mr. Wolf.  The rest of the children ask, “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” and then take the appropriate number of steps depending on what time it is.  For instance if Mr. Wolf said it was three o’clock than all the children would take three steps towards him.  This continues until Mr. Wolf decides that it is lunch time.  When the children ask what time it is and Mr. Wolf replies, “It’s lunch time!”  Everyone runs away, and the person Mr. Wolf catches is the new Mr. Wolf.

For older kids, you can also form teams and have fun at a local park where there may be more space than in your backyard.

Image via WikipediaSoccer is always popular and everyone knows the basic rules.  If there are no nets, make some with either rocks, natural posts such as trees or use outdoor toys.  The same idea can apply to football, don’t worry if you don’t have the right kind of ball anyone will do – kids have great imaginations.

Or run just for the sake of running by having a relay race.  You can use sticks as the batons or get more creative.  Have the kids say silly word or a joke as the pass-off instead of physically passing something back and forth.  Or it can be a getting to know you came, each kid has to tell their partner something about themselves for the pass-off.

Remember that while these are kids games, there's no rule that you can't play too! They are GREAT exercise, and also give you an excuse to spend more time outside with your kids this summer - just call it working out - for fun!