Family Activities to Help Parents Get Active with Their Kids

Getting active with your kids is a great way to get you and your child moving this year. Make a commitment to be more active and more involved in your child’s life. As obesity grows at alarming rates across the nation, there is a call to establish a more active lifestyle in every household. You can break the chain of stalemate and laziness in your home by makings some lifestyle changes in your home. Here are a few ways that you can get active with your child and get your entire family moving!

Teach your child some “old school” techniques
Remember when roller skating was all the rage? Buy yourself an old fashioned pair and go skating with your kids. Let them try skating on a pair of roller skates as opposed to the new style roller blades.

Let your kids teach you some “new school” techniques
Don the appropriate safety wear such as knee pads, elbow pads, and helmets and get the icy/hot ready! Have your kids teach you how to jump ramps on their bicycles or how to skateboard. Remember to be very careful!

Walk the dogs
Make a daily appointment with your kids and your beloved family pet. Take turns holding the leash and try out new routes each day if possible.

Let them tag along
If you have regular tee-times, invite your kids to come along. Perhaps they are not into a regular golf game, but maybe they would enjoy driving balls.

Bike together
Take a couple of days out of the week to ride your bikes together. Remember to wear the appropriate safety equipment. Alternate coming up with new and exciting routes.

Make like fishies
If you have a local pool, go as a family and spend a few hours. Swimming is an excellent cardiovascular activity, and the kids will enjoy splashing around.

Strike out
Call your local bowling alley and find out which night is family night. Bowling is a fun activity to for everyone.

Have a ball
Invest in a multi-sport pack from your local sports store. Baseball, basketball and volleyball sets are many times sold all together. Alternate between sports, and get your kid’s friends involved.

Hold your own Olympics
Sit down with your family and come up with a handful of “events” to hold. Have your children make home-made invitations to hand out to their friends’ families and other neighborhood families and hold your own Olympics one weekend. Communicate with other parents to coordinate a “pot luck” for the event and enjoy the festivities.

Family Time
You can also plan your own family events. Sack races may seem “out of fashion”, but they are still loads of fun and entertaining to watch. You can also try out other older games such as a three-legged man’s run and so on.

Get Equipped
Plan ahead by purchasing some of the items to make your plan of action smoother. Install a basketball hoop and stock up on tennis balls and racquets. Don’t forget to stock up on band aids, anti-bacterial ointment and other first-aid items that you may need in case of an accident.

Make a commitment
Sit down with your family and make a family charter outlining the details of your commitment to be active as a family. Set aside one day a week at least where you will do things as a family. Have your kids write down ideas for fun activities to do, and make a “wish list” of things that you would all like to try to do, or a new skill you would like to learn.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun. You will be doing a wonderful thing for your entire family by getting active and staying motivated.