Week 16 of the Mom Challenge – Raise an active child

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This week we are talking about raising active kids. With the Xbox, 3DS, and Angry Birds it can be hard sometimes to peel your child away from the screen long enough to be active. Remember back when you were young? What did you like to do? We used to ride bikes all day long! We would ride everywhere! We were always outside playing, riding bikes, rollerblading, and pretending. Now, my son comes home and wants to pick up his 3DS first thing. In fact the other day he was just complaining about the bus ride home. He wants to bring his DS with him on the bus because he “has nothing to do”. I found myself giving the old “When I was young…” speech. Geez.
Being active is such a vital step in living a healthy life. It not only decreases the chance for obesity but it also helps teach socialization, confidence and a positive self image. Plus, if your kids learn to live (and love!) an active lifestyle now they are much more likely to live that lifestyle when they are older (and to pass it along to their children!).
I think that most of us wish we could live a little active. And guess what? It all begins with you! If you make active living an important part of your life – your children will notice! We need to show our kids that there are fun and exciting things to do that don’t involve video games and television!
Let’s be honest. Exercising is hard if you aren’t used to doing it. Some of us (myself included!) don’t do it enough. For those of us who are trying to live an active life it can be a slightly negative. We think of things like running, lifting weights, and sit ups. But there is so much more! Living an active lifestyle isn’t just about exercising.
Your challenge this week is to do something active each day with your kids for at least 20 minutes. Sound daunting? Here is a list of ideas to get you started.
* Go on a bike ride as a family
* Walk to a close by grocery store, church, or park
* Go bowling
* Play mini-golf
* Take a class – try karate, zumba, swimming
* Get a pedometer – see what family member can get to 10,000 steps first
* Go to a nearby state park to hike
* Go for a canoe or kayak trip
* Try horseback riding
* Go swimming or stay at a hotel with an indoor pool
* Go to a batting cage or play catch
* Play basketball
* Play flashlight tag
* Walk the dog
* Try laser tag
* Go rock climbing
It’s super important to introduce your children to new activities! Things to do, places to visit and games to play! Not only will being active together help you physically but it will also help develop an awesome family relationship.
To talk about how you are going to get active with your kids visit us on The Blog Frog! Or tell us what you are going to do this week over on Facebook!

Comments

  1. says

    Yesterday I brought my boys basketball hoop from the back yard to the front. Before we knew it a few other kids had joined us. When I tucked my oldest in, he said he wanted to do it again tomorrow and would give up his “screen time” any day to have that much fun again! I love the pedometer idea!!

  2. says

    We make sure to get outside everyday by having outdoor animals to care for. Feeding and cleaning their area’s daily mean activity, interaction, science experiments, body language, lifecycles…etc. I highly recommend chickens! We love our birds!

    ~Honey

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