Helping Kids Become More Active

Get Your Children to Be More Active at Home: Easy Suggestions for Busy Families That Cost Little or No Money

Aug 29, 2006 Jaime L. Hebert

Part one of a two-part series on getting kids to be more active. Offers reasons kids need to be active and suggestions for families with limited time or money.

It is often hard for families to be active with work or school all day, homework, housework, cooking meals, and all the other activities that make up daily life. But overlooking daily physical activity could be hazardous to kids' health. In addition to physical benefits, daily physical activity can actually help your children do better in school, too. Here are some compelling reasons to make getting your kids active a priority, and five ways to easily include more activity in your family life.

Physical activity is good for your children's bodies and their minds. All children over 2 years of age are encouraged to be moderately to vigorously active on most or all days of the week. This recommendation comes from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Exercise helps children's bodies:

  • By helping to prevent obesity.
  • By helping build strong bones and muscles
  • By reducing later risk of type 2 diabetes, reducing blood pressure, and reducing cholesterol.
  • By helping children sleep better.
  • By helping children handle the stress and activity of everyday life and improving their mood and outlook.

Exercise also helps children perform better in school:

  • By helping them concentrate better.
  • By reducing absent and tardy days.
  • By helping improve testing scores.

Now that you are convinced that helping your children increase their activity level has many benefits, how do you go about adding more physical activity to their days? It's easy, even if you have little time or money to spend.

  1. Make physical activity a part of your routine. Doing errands? Walk as much as possible. Housework? Involve your kids-even putting on music. Then vacuum, dust, rake leaves, etc. It doesn't have to be a big block of time. Even 10 minutes of activity makes a difference. Getting 3 or more ten minute blocks is an easy way to get thirty minutes or more of activity.
  2. Buy (and ask friends and relatives to buy) gifts for your children that encourage them to be active. A baseball glove, a lawn game, a gift certificate to a sporting goods store, or an outing to a fun place, like mini golf could all be fun and memorable gifts.
  3. Get your child involved in an organized sport or activity. Dancing, soccer, football, martial arts, swimming-the list (and the benefits) are endless!)
  4. If you don't have the time or money for organized sports, there are many activities that you can plan as a family for low or no cost. Walking the dog, playing tag or hide-and-go-seek, and jumping rope are just a few examples. You can even plan to roller blade, golf or ski without having to buy expensive equipment. There are many places that will rent equipment by the hour or by the day.
  5. Instead of offering food or TV as a reward for good behavior, offer an activity instead. Canoeing, gardening, a trail ride on horseback, or a nature walk could be good rewards. The hidden benefit? Your kids will get to spend more time with you, too!

There are many other ideas you can use to help your children be active. These suggestions are meant to be a starting point. Be creative-and ask your kids for suggestions. Their ideas could surprise you. In Part 2 of this series, you will find ideas and activities to help children be active at school. In the meantime...get moving!

The copyright of the article Helping Kids Become More Active in Primary School is owned by Jaime L. Hebert. Permission to republish Helping Kids Become More Active in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.